Word: lemmon
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Billy Wilder, who wrote and directed Some Like It Hot, is an ingenious man: he plays on erotic fantasies for every taste, manipulating all the tested devices of the "Amazon" movies. Imagine being a jazz musician (Jack Lemmon) who has to escape a gang of Chicago bootleggers because you inadvertantly witnessed the St. Valentine's Day massacre. Imagine that your only traveling to Florida. Finally, picture yourself on a train way out is to disguise yourself and join an all-girls band with nothing but girls, all of them in flimsy negligees, one of them Marilyn Monroe, crawling all over...
...that's just the titillation. Imagine being Lemmon's buddy, Tony Curtis, changing from your girl's costume and convincing Marilyn Monroe--voluptuous, innocent, stupid Marilyn--that you are a rich, kindly, and impotent millionaire. Naturally, Marilyn insists on trying her hand at curing you. ("Oh, you play water polo?" she asks, batting her eyelashes. "Isn't that dangerous?" "Yes," you answer, "I've lost two ponies out from under...
...Wilder is not merely ingenious; he is down-right clever. And Some Like It Hot is not merely titillating, but very funny. Jack Lemmon's portrayal of the hungry little boy turned loose in a lollipop factory with his hands tied behind his back (he's got to keep pretending he's a girl) is one of his most delightful movie performances. Marilyn Monroe is perfectly cast, and she is great. And she sings, too. Tony Curtis makes one of his rare appearances as something other than a stud, and though he lacks Lemmon's and Monroe's sense...
...were written by Mr. Wilder with sharp satiric bite, and they are played by just the right actors. Pat O'Brien is the loud-mouthed cop who always catches the crooks just after they've destroyed all the evidence. Joe E. Brown plays a millionaire who's hot after Lemmon, not being able to see through the disguise. And George Raft plays Spats Colombo, the dapper bootlegger, the part he's been playing since they started making gangster movies...
...Jack Lemmon might pass for a businessman, except that he moves too quickly and talks too volubly. He has close-cropped dark hair and large expressive eyes which grow increasingly intense as he warms to a particular subject. "Almost everybody I know is crazy about this guy," said the producer of a rival play, sitting in on the interview. "Success hasn't changed him a bit, not a bit. Look at him. He doesn't even know how good he is. No use asking him what makes him funny. He won't tell...