Some Like It Hot (1959)

Mirisch Company

When two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.

"Some Like It Hot" is a 1959 American romantic comedy film set in 1929, directed and produced by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. The supporting cast includes George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee, and Nehemiah Persoff. The screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on a screenplay by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan from the French film Fanfare of Love. The film is about two musicians who dress in drag in order to escape from mafia gangsters whom they witnessed commit a crime inspired by the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. The film was produced in black and white, even though color films were increasing in popularity. Despite Monroe's contract requiring color film, she agreed to film in black and white after seeing that Curtis and Lemmon's makeup gave them a "ghoulish" appearance on color film.

The film is also notable for featuring cross dressing, and for playing with the idea of homosexuality, which led to its being produced without approval from the Motion Picture Production Code. The code had been gradually weakening in its scope during the early 1950s, due to increasing social tolerance for previously taboo topics in film, but it was still officially enforced. The overwhelming success of "Some Like It Hot" is considered one of the final nails in the coffin for the Hays Code.

Genre': Comedy, Romance
Release date: March 29, 1959

Director: Billy Wilder

Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien

Distributed by: United Artists

Want More?

"Some Like It Hot" at IMDb

"Some Like It Hot" films, books, & soundtracks