Word: wilder
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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directed by Billy Wilder...
...Some Like It Hot," a gangster-era comedy directed by Billy Wilder and scripted by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, features Lemmon's best performance ever. Lemmon and co-star Tony Curtis play a pair of Chicago musicians who witness the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The Mob wants the two permanently silenced and the musicians decide to leave Chicago any way they...
...Wilder's and Diamond's writing is crackerjack, and Wilder's direction snappy and inspired, but the success of "Some Like It Hot" rests primarily on its legendary cast. Marilyn Monroe is sweet and voluptuous, and gets to sing "I want to Be Loved by You." Curtis acquits himself with grace, especially in the millionaire bit. Joe E. Brown gives an impeccable performance, the apogee of a lifetime of acting...
...acting honors in "Some Like It Hot," however, belong to Lemmon. Wilder referred to Lemmon as a ham, and here it works to the film's advantage. Lemmon's complete surrender to his role, his willingness to look absolutely ridiculous, mirrors the comedy of the musician's giving in to the pleasures of being a woman. Daphne loves wearing the clothes, and loves the attention she gets from men; she begins to think of herself as a really sexy girl...
...Wilder's camera is generous to Swanson, playing with the copious material she gives him to create confusion between light and shadow, cinema and life. The camera chills, not only with beautiful photography, but with inspired editing which creates a dialogue of images, blending forms from one scene subtly into another...