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Think, Therefore I Review's
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Therefore I Review presents in alphabetical order...
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I
Think, Therefore I Review began
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Think, Therefore I Review.
There are so many reasons to love the 1959 comedy caper Some Like It Hot. Lemmon, Curtis, Monroe, music, slapstick, and merriment- fifty years on and director Billy Wilder’s gem shows no signs of slowing down.
Poor musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) are on the run after witnessing Chicago gangsters in action. The boys flee on a Florida bound train and end up taking a gig as disguised members of an all-girl band. Josephine and Daphne, as they are now known, soon run into more trouble- both fall head over heels for singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe). Joe puts on another façade as an oil tycoon in an attempt to win Sugar’s affections, but real millionaire Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown) pursues Daphne-er Jerry. When mob man Spats Colombo (George Raft) also arrives in Florida, romances, disguises, lives and all become hopelessly and humorously entangled.
It seems contradictory to say Some Like It Hot is innocent and full of innuendo at the same time, but Best Director nominee Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Stalag 17) and co-writing nominee I.A.L. Diamond (Monkey Business, The Apartment, The Fortune Cookie) take Michael Logan and Robert Thoeren’s source story and develop a well-rounded tale mixing songs, wit, and charm. The dialogue is subtle yet multi-layered, memorable, and famously quotable. The switcheroo, fish out of water, and battle of the sexes hijinks are chock full of subtext both hetero and homosexual. Some Like It Hot is largely open to interpretation, but it’s all played for innocent laughs and misunderstandings in this era of Beaver Cleaver. Of course, the black and white silver screen had to happen to cover up the heavy, ill-colored makeup on the boys, but it’s also fitting to see a colorless and thus ‘old’ film dealing with such wonderfully taboo topics.
Even if we expect the drag, the first shrill dialogue from the boys and the quintessential pan up of those seamed stockings and wiggling backsides is a still wonderful introduction. Both our guys look a little fake with their musical instruments; but honestly, the Jazz era hats, bobs, and furs help the boys look like old school dames. Maybe it’s because we’re used to their iconic drag images by now or other seemingly old and ugly photos of the time, but yes, Curtis and Lemmon actually look all right! Best Actor nominee and Golden Globe winner Jack Lemmon (Mister Roberts, Days of Wine and Roses, Grumpy Old Men) is perfectly comedic and still believable as a manly man’s jazz musician, yet he skillfully blends effeminate mannerisms and nudge nudge wink wink at the same time. Only Lemmon could complain about high heels, subsequently compliment Marilyn Monroe as ‘jello on strings’, and then imitate her wiggle. Jerry and Daphne begin as distinct characters, but somewhere along the line, Lemmon expertly merges his two halves into some lovely comedy ambiguity. And he has such rhythm with those maracas!
Likewise Tony Curtis (The Defiant Ones, Sweet Smell of Success, Spartacus) is delightful between his switches as Josephine and the fake millionaire Junior. Perhaps his half of our duo has been overlooked or unloved in comparison to Lemmon’s yarn, but Curtis is up to the task as the straight man-or woman-against the outright hijinks. Yes, he needed a little dubbing help with the high-pitched voice, but Curtis’ little send up of patterning Junior after Cary Grant is another cool layer on the subtext. It’s ingenious really, as it plays on our perceptions of the traditionally macho and suave Grant-who was also rumored to be bisexual. It’s wonderful writing and performance skill- and Some Like It Hot gets away with it.
Sugar Kane! It’s nearer the end of Marilyn Monroe’s (Gentleman Prefer Blondes, All About Eve) career, yet Some Like It Hot is one of her most beloved films. We have some serious shimmying and jiggling, but the top-billed star and Golden Globe winner doesn’t have as many musical numbers and dancing tunes as we’ve seen previously. Thankfully, Monroe gets all her sex appeal and then some across in the ‘I Wanna Be Loved By You’ serenade. Betty Boop has a run for her money! Not without skill beyond her leggy charm, Monroe’s ditsy and comedic timing works wonders with Curtis. Despite her off screen ill romances, health and pregnancy issues, and difficulty onset; Monroe charms us into loving the innocent and oh so lovable Sugar. Of course, the costumes go a long way in amping up the Sugary sweetness. Monroe’s tiny, see-through and studded sheer frocks reveal just enough whilst the comedy suggests plenty for our imaginations. In our modern obsession with thinness and youthful appearance, it’s delightful to see such a mature, curvaceous woman exuding such innocent sex appeal. Again a seeming contradiction, but sometimes its as if Monroe doesn’t know what she does to the camera, and that makes us love Sugar all the more.
Naturally, Some Like It Hot can’t be done without a few straight laced folks. Joan Shawlee’s (The Apartment) Sweet Sue is great fun as the oblivious manager who has no clue what’s really going on in her girl band. Likewise, Joe E. Brown (Show Boat, The Comedy of Terrors) is delightful as the ‘dirty old man’ pursuing the be-dragged Lemmon. Fielding isn’t portrayed as overtly gay, but the chemistry and charm of the mistaken (or is it?) relationship is wonderfully played. George Raft isn’t given much more than a stereotypical mobster thug, but there’s a kinship to his earlier Scarface role adding extra peril to the pursuit. The Prohibition and gangster angles are themselves little more than a simple frame story to set up the drag and disguise comedy at hand, but it’s also neat to see 1929 as portrayed by 1959. The Tommy guns and fedoras, frocks and bobs are somehow more believable with the black and white photography-even though there are a few fifties anachronisms for careful viewers to find. Despite production mistakes of the time, Some Like It Hot still looks dang good-worthy of its Art Direction and Cinematography Oscar nominations among numerous other accolades and awards.
I suspect you have to like jazz music and fifties scoring to enjoy the music in Some Like It Hot, but the tunes, mannerisms, and Oscar winning costumes by Orry Kelly (An American in Paris, Gypsy) are a lovely time capsule. Not only are the hats, gloves, cigarettes, casual drinking and beachfront locales of the day delightful, but its also amazing to consider that such a clean cut, old fashioned looking film is dealing with such innuendo. Yes, there’s gay subtext and lesbian suggestion that any modern and mature person will see. All this naughty built-in subtext still works precisely because it was so risqué for the time. Monroe in her itty bitty and very revealing little nightie, climbing into Lemmon’s bunk and rubbing his legs to keep him warm- the subtle hijinks never get old and it’s all the more funny and shocking because they got away with it in 1959. No wonder the infamous Production Code disapproved of this one!
Adults and folks looking for the kink can find it, but kids can enjoy the innocent funnies, too. Young eyes can take the humor at its honest level while the kinky folks delight in the hidden mastery. Film scholars can enjoy the numerous awards, recognition, and honored place in movie history-you don’t have to take my word for it, but maybe the American Film Institute’s ranking of Some Like It Hotas Number One on its 100 Funniest Movies countdown makes a statement. Several DVD editions, including Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder collection sets are affordable for the laymen or extensive for the classic completist. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the blu-ray edition is out just yet. I protest!
Classic film fans, comedy lovers, fans of the cast, gay film collectors, and family audiences can adore Some Like It Hot again and again. All this drag hysteria might be too much for a prude or two out there, but you can’t please everybody. No film is perfect, but Some Like It Hot comes damn close to it.
Tans are bad for you, so take a day in with the gang and have a belly of laughs with these classic comedies and recent capers. Yee-haw!
Fanboys – This 2009 ode to the Star Wars fandom isn’t actually as geeky or obsessive as it could be-going for a more mainstream Star Wars versus Star Trek angle before some finite EU mystique. Thankfully, there are some finely preposterous and witty gags here. The tragic drama and coming-of-age angles also don’t go far enough, but all in all not a bad little movie-especially since it takes place during the 1998 anticipation of The Phantom Menace. We all know how that turned out!
The Front Page (1974) – Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau lead an all-star cast in this Depression era tale of newspaper capers and Chicago wit. Yes, Billy Wilder’s update is a step down from Howard Hawks and Cary Grant’s charming His Girl Friday, and I don’t know about Susan Sarandon’s pre Rocky Horror singing or the misuse of the wonderful Carol Burnett. Nevertheless, the period style and fun from the leads keep this one watchable. Can you honestly picture any other pair as such crabby newspapermen?
The Invention of Lying – Ricky Gervais’ 2009 charmer has some greatly funny and blunt scenes thanks to its built in premise about no one ever lying and always saying exactly what he means- but such a notion has its problems, too. It’s a little iffy to say religion is just something some guy made up, the higher concept ideologies don’t always pan out, and the onscreen relationship with Jennifer Gardner is a little devoid. However, the seriously touching and absolutely endearing debates on appearances, loneliness, and well, lying win out.
The Out of Towners – Modern viewers can enjoy some of the fun from the 1999 remake with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn, but the original 1970 kitschy whine fest starring Jack Lemmon is full of sardonic nostalgia and then some. Sandy Dennis matches Lemmon wit for wit as one bad New York turn after another follows the yuppie Ohio couple. Though not a laugh out loud comedy per se, the simple absurdity mixed with true to life ridiculousness can make the audience laugh aloud all the same. Don’t we all have the annoying woman and disastrous vacation sometime?
Sixteen Candles – Eighties teen comedy fans unite! Director John Hughes and star Molly Ringwald were funny, fresh, and delightful in 1984 and this very quotable flick still has its moments today. Sure maybe we haven’t all been the geek sealed inside a glass coffee table or paid to see girl’s panties for a case of floppy disks-remember those? However, we’ve all had a crappy birthday, and those bad eighties memories still put a smile on our faces-and quotes in our mouths. “What’s happenin’, Hot Stuff?” Actually, anyone interested in classic comedy should just get a print out of Hughes’ filmography, rent them all, and make a lot of popcorn.
The Terminal – Yes, this 2004 Stephen Spielberg vehicle starring Tom Hanks is more appropriately a drama or dramadey. Hanks and leading lady Catherine Zeta-Jones have plenty of despair, seriousness, and sadness here-but the wit and comical personas are all well and good, too. Hanks is delightfully charming in his innocence and simplicity, and the quirky crew of the terminal in which he’s bound is given room to make us laugh and put a bittersweet smile on our faces. John Williams’ witty score also gives us the appropriate cues when its time to laugh or cry. I don’t know why this film gets such a bad wrap.
Who’s Harry Crumb – Dated, yes; predictable, of course. Side splitting laugh fest with wonderful quips, sarcasm, and physical comedy? Always! The late John Candy once again uses every ounce of his wit, stature, and charm to best an on form supporting cast- including Annie Potts, Jeffrey Jones, Tim Thomerson and Shawnee Smith. So what if the mystery isn’t super deep or more than a glorified Macguffin- the delightful hijinks in solving the crime keep this one watchable twenty years on. Goodness me, has it been that long?
Lastly, here’s a note on a few to keep out of your DVD corral.
Land of the Lost – Will Ferrell’s 2009 spoof of the classic series hits all the wrong notes and them some. It’s not really a nostalgic homage, but has too many themes towards adults, like the usual unfunny sex and stoner puns. Then again, the storyline and characterizations are just too juvenile. The science is silly and the Cha-Ka jokes are too dang dumb. Stick with The Brady Bunch movie parodies instead.
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard – Another miss vaguely associated with this growing old fast Frat Pack, starring Jeremy Piven and a useless cameo from Will Ferrell. All the car clichés, relationship runarounds, rock dreams, and sex stupids are here-and every single thing falls flat. The cast is unlikable and it’s a very long hour and a half. Save yourself the absurdity.
Despite my sister’s avid collecting of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, she’s not a big fan of 1955’s The Seven Year Itch. Some may find all that iconic white blowing dress and neighborly temptation played, but audiences unfamiliar with Monroe can still enjoy this witty and complete comedy.
Dime Publisher Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) keeps himself in check around the ladies while his wife is vacationing with their son for the summer. He does well: eats right, no drinking, and no smoking-until ‘The Girl’ (Monroe) enters his life. She’s renting the apartment upstairs for the hot New York summer, and Richard- married for seven years-sees no harm in being neighborly. The Girl and Richard play chopsticks and take in the air conditioning, but is it too much for this loyal husband? Richard tries to calm himself by reading a potential manuscript, but unfortunately, it’s a psychology book about man and his understandable ‘seven year itch’.
Marilyn Monroe. No one can help but notice that her torpedo boobs enter before she does. Indeed, Monroe (How to Marry A Millionaire, Gentleman Prefer Blondes) was actually quite curvy and full figured-not like today’s obsession with sickly thin. Naturally, director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, The Lost Weekend) uses every camera angle and movie making trick in the book to show Monroe in all her glory. The Girl keeps her panties in the fridge when it’s hot…and that’s all it takes for Richard to break out a cigarette. Her costumes are perfection, and Monroe’s wispy and husky delivery works for comedic timing. Even if she is a little over the top, who cares? Most fifties films are a bit obvious anyway, and she’s cute and charming enough to forgive. The Girl’s a little dumb and blissfully unaware of why men like her, but nevertheless likeable. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with Marilyn while eating potato chips and drinking champagne? Although her off screen antics were not fun- lateness, numerous takes, flubbed lines, and a divorce from Joe DiMaggio made The Seven Year Itch a little infamous. It was probably a difficult performance for Wilder to capture, but Monroe was well worth it.
Not nearly as famous as his leading lady, Tom Ewell (State Fair, Baretta) does a fine job as the beguiled everyman struggling with temptation on all fronts. It’s a shame he’s upstaged by Monroe, for Ewell reprises his Tony winning stage role just fine. Modern audiences might find Richard’s near soliloquies awkward or slow, but these meandering talks are critical to his character. Richard’s opinion that his sex appeal attracts women like a moth to flame is, well, shall we say askew. It’s all a little contrived, of course, that Richard has air conditioning and The Girl doesn’t- but the allusions between sex and heat are tough for him to handle. Besides, we never tire of such subjects! We like Richard even if he’s skirting a fine line. Ewell’s practiced mannerisms sell the angst and tension. Instead of a serious commentary on adultery, Ewell’s cigarette puffs, bumbling stature, and fanciful visions keep The Seven Year Itch lighthearted. In actuality, it’s not the notion of the sexpot that’s unique here. It’s Richard’s witty daydreams that keep The Seven Year Itch fresh.
Though charming, The Seven Year Itch is the dated fifties in all their glory. The opening Manhattan Indians montage is woefully stereotypical, as is the omnipotent voiceover telling us about five hundred years of man’s wondering eye. There are, however, comedy references to scandalous wit-quick lines about nudist camps and the boys upstairs who are interior decorators ‘or something’. A naughty dream sequence where Richard imagines his secretary seducing him over his desk-as well as a nurse too involved with bedside manner- are funny, sure, but they also represent the ideal fantasy for a man: the woman is either the dowdy homemaker or the unachievable sexual ideal. Ironically, Richard’s wife Helen (Evelyn Keyes, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Gone with the Wind) might be looking, too-but it’s implied that she’s merely being charmed by the sly, bad writer Tom MacKenzie (Sonny Tufts, The Virginian). George Axelrod (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) tamed down his Broadway play for the screen, so The Seven Year Itch still has that dated style of the old-fashioned ‘honey I’m home!’ big man. Not many of the old school pillow talk films are viewable fifty years later, but The Seven Year Itch does have something that never gets old. It’s the anti Fatal Attraction look at men and women and fidelity.
The sentiments my have been different, but The Seven Year Itch also keeps what’s good about the fifties alive. The sets are perfect time capsules from 1955; and the costumes, props, books, and colors are as quintessential as Ms. Monroe and that delicious subway breeze. (Such ten seconds of scandal!) It’s amazing that with such visible legs and quick kisses, this friendship can seem so innocent then and now. Richard and The Girl go to see The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and argue if women find Gregory Peck hot. If you’re not a classic film buff, you probably can’t appreciate all the subtle charm of The Seven Year Itch. When Richard is asked what blonde is in his kitchen, he plainly says off the cuff, “Maybe it’s Marilyn Monroe!”
Fans of Monroe should enjoy The Seven Year Itch, as should any fan of old school film. Despite its kinky topics, all the Hollywood codes are in place. There’s nothing overtly visual to deter a family fun night-although adults can certainly study The Seven Year Itch for all its almosts. Available in several DVD editions and Marilyn Monroe collections, The Seven Year Itch is apparently not available on blu ray as of yet. Thankfully, online options and affordable prices are keeping the nostalgia alive. “Isn’t it delicious?”
It seems contradictory to say Some Like It Hot is innocent and full of innuendo at the same time, but Best Director nominee Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Stalag 17) and co-writing nominee I.A.L. Diamond (Monkey Business, The Apartment, The Fortune Cookie) take Michael Logan and Robert Thoeren’s source story and develop a well-rounded tale mixing songs, wit, and charm. The dialogue is subtle yet multi-layered, memorable, and famously quotable. The switcheroo, fish out of water, and battle of the sexes hijinks are chock full of subtext both hetero and homosexual. Some Like It Hot is largely open to interpretation, but it’s all played for innocent laughs and misunderstandings in this era of Beaver Cleaver. Of course, the black and white silver screen had to happen to cover up the heavy, ill-colored makeup on the boys, but it’s also fitting to see a colorless and thus ‘old’ film dealing with such wonderfully taboo topics. 
as Number One on its 100 Funniest Movies countdown makes a statement. Several DVD editions, including Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder collection sets are affordable for the laymen or extensive for the classic completist. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the blu-ray edition is out just yet. I protest!
The Out of Towners – 
Who’s Harry Crumb – 
Marilyn Monroe. No one can help but notice that her torpedo boobs enter before she does. Indeed,