Life with Father (1947)

So I've decided to do another old favorite of mine today.  I don't remember how I discovered this film, TCM probably, but I've loved it for years.  I bought the book at the swap meet the other day and in all probability, it's infinitely better than the movie, so before I go and ruin one of my favorite movies for myself, I'm going to review it.

Life with Father is based on a play by the same name, so the film version is very stage-y.  There isn't a lot of action so this isn't a good pick for someone who demands a lot of sex/explosions/guns from their movies.  If you like sophisticated comedy, read on.  Life with Father is like the shitmydadsays of the 1930's.   It's mostly from the perspective of Clarence Day Jr. and relates stories of growing up with his eccentric stockbroker father in 1890's New York City.

Life with Father stars William Powell in the title role, who is probably the most amazing actor of all time.  Check him out in My Man Godfrey and The Thin Man if you want to see him being super amazing.  Also starring is the lovely Irene Dunne.  The rest of the cast is a bunch of nobodies, except for a very young Elizabeth Taylor. 

So Clarence Day Sr. is a man who likes everything to be just so. He is eternally frustrated that his housekeeping staff, his cook, his wife, his children, his milkman, his creditors, his mailman and New York taxi drivers just fail to get it. 

The Day Family.  just-so

In a nutshell:  Mrs. Day's cousin comes to visit, which annoys Mr. Day.  She brings a young lady with her, Mary Skinner (Elizabeth Taylor) and she begins a flirtation with Clarence Jr., which annoys Mr. Day.  Junior and Mary discover that their love can never be because she is a Methodist and he is an Episcopalian so she begins prodding into Mr. Day's religious history, which annoys Mr. Day.  Mrs. Day discovers that Mr. Day was never baptized and so she begins panicking that her marriage is invalid and that her husband won't be going to heaven, which annoys Mr. Day.  And So On...

Hordes of Gypsies

It's the scenes and the dialogue that are funny, not so much the action itself.

This scene reminds me a lot of Justin Halpern's dad:  Mr. and Mrs. Day are having an argument over a bill from a department store. 

Mrs. -- I try to keep down expenses.  You know yourself Cousin Phoebe spends twice as much as we do.
Mr. -- Don't talk to me about your Cousin Phoebe!
Mrs. -- You talk about your own relatives enough.
Mr. -- That's not fair, Vinnie.  When I talk about my relatives, I criticize them.

And then there is the sub-story of Junior's flirtation with Mary Skinner.  It's horribly awkward, but charming.  And then Mr. Day gives Junior what is probably the best "facts of life" talk in the history of cinema. 

I've never seen the play version, but from what I've heard, it's better than the film because, of course, the censors had their way with it.  The last line is meant to be, "I'm going to be baptized, dammit!" but the "dammit" had to be omitted.  Directors, writers and actors back then had to be a lot more creative and subtle in how they told their risque jokes.  Pay attention when you watch old movies, sometimes an actors choice of words or gesture will seem a bit dirty, chances are, it's completely intentional.  Life with Father is full of them.

Scarface (1932)

Firstly, I have never seen the Al Pacino version of this film.  I know.  I know.  It's on my list.  I love gangster films so I thought I'd start at the beginning.  Ultimately, the joke is on you because I'll be the one who gets all the references to earlier films. 

So this is Scarface.  Produced by Howard Hughes who had a reputation for doing whatever the fuck he wanted.  Because he could.  Seriously, the man had so much money that he could afford to tell everyone on the planet to go fuck themselves and suffer absolutely no ill consequences whatsoever. 

You know it's a good movie because it starts with a disclaimer telling the audience that the film is not meant to glorify criminal life.  But let's be real.  All the cops and newspapermen are douchebags while all the gangsters, with the possible exception of Johnny Lovo, are badasses.  I don't consider myself a violent person, but if I had a driver and a tommy gun and a house full of enemies....well...it's just such a shame that in an age of DNA testing, fingerprint databases, cell phone tracking and the patriot act; you just can't get away with shit like you could in the good old days.  And so we live vicariously. 

Tony Comante

This is Tony Comante (Paul Muni), just a small time thug who gets caught up with the usual suspects after the untimely assassination of Italian mob boss, Big Louis Costillo.  In all likelihood, he's guilty as sin, but he's cool.  He ain't afraid of no copper.  Under interrogation, he says, "What kinda mug ya think I am?  I don't know nothin'.  I don't see nothin'.  And I don't hear nothin'.  And when I do, I don't tell no cop.  Ya understand?" I love it.  So, Johnny Lovo's shady lawyer shows up and bails Tony out.  See, Lovo's got aspirations to take over the southside and he's making Tony his lieutenant.  Tony has a friend, Guino Rinaldo (George Raft) and a kid sister, Cesca (Ann Dvorak).  You can probably guess where that's going.  Anyway, he hooks Guino up with a job and some cash from Lovo. 

Guino Rinaldo

Cesca and Tony Comante

Kid sister Cesca is clearly a slut, but Tony dotes on her and is VERY protective.  He gives her some money too.  He doesn't realize that she's got a thing for his friend Rinaldo. 

Tony works in what you might call the "marketing department" of Johnny Lovo's southside gang.  His job entails going to speakeasies and informing them that he will be supplying their beer from now on.  If they have a problem with that, he shoots someone.  Not a bad job for a young Italian.  Unfortunately, he's a little too trigger-happy and the next thing you know, Lovo is getting a dead body delivered on his doorstep with a note attached, "Stay out of the Northside."  Now, Johnny specifically warned Tony to stick to his territory.  The Northside is controlled by the Irish mob headed by some guy named O'Hara.  But Johnny Lovo isn't really cut out for management.  Not only is Tony ignoring orders, but he's moving in on Johnny's girl, Poppy. 

...right under Johnny's nose.

And then we get to the film's first drive-by shooting.  O'Hara's gang drives by Johnny's headquarters and blasts them with machine guns.  Where most men would be defeated, or at least a bit shaken up, Tony's only thoughts are, "omg those are so cool where can I get one???"  So he gets himself a machie and heads out with his cronies to take over the northside, much to Lovo's dismay.

The next 20 minutes or so is mostly a series of drive-by shootings from Model Ts, collateral damage, firing squads and dead Irish mobsters everywhere.  O'Hara is pissed.  So is Johnny Lovo, but who cares about him?

whatever...I do what I want!

Meanwhile, sister Cesca is eager to prove that she's all grown up.  She shows up at the club in a slinky dress and starts hitting on Guino Rinaldo, who knows better than to bang Tony's sister.  Tony forcefully escorts her out of the club and takes her home where he roughs her up a bit.  He tears the strap of her dress, exposing more boob than you will see in a film until 1968.  Seriously, this is what pre-code films are all about. 

So...I won't ruin the rest of the movie for you, but basically, Cesca and Guino get married secretly, planning to surprise Tony later.  At the same time, Johnny Lovo puts a hit out on him.  Tony catches Guino with his sister in a hotel room and, clearly under a lot of stress, shoots Guino point blank.  Cesca tearfully explains that they'd been married and Tony is sorry, but not THAT sorry. 

At this point in the movie, the whole cast is dropping like flies.  You may wonder who will still be alive for the final battle.  Is there even going to be a final battle?  Maybe everyone dies and then the screen goes black.  No no.  If that were the case, you wouldn't need a disclaimer at the beginning. 

So let's take inventory.  Who is still alive?

Cesca.....and some cops.

Except Cesca wants to kill her brother.  But then she changes her mind and decides that she'd rather kill cops.  Nice girl.

and so...

Actually, there are 2 endings.  The censors hated both of them, so Hawkes went with the good one.  And boy is it a HONEY. 

Scarface is one of the shining jewels of the Pre-Code era, a short time just after the widespread distribution of talking pictures, but before anyone really gave a crap what filmmakers chose to portray in film.  Well there were some groups that cared, religious groups and such would boycott on behalf of the children.  And technically, there was the Hays Production Code prohibiting gratuitous violence and portrayals of sex and drugs, but Hollywood Producers hired a guy to be in charge of enforcing the code and then paid him off to do nothing.  The system worked quite well for the years between 1929 and 1933.  There is a very good documentary about the pre-code era produced by Turner Classic Movies that is very much worth watching if you're interested in this sort of thing.  Movies made during this time were much more adult, more violent, more risque, and absolutely fascinating to watch.  Also consider the time period, just after the wall street crash of 1929, these movies portray the general zeitgeist of the time more accurately than any film would do for a long time to come.  Despite being so titillating, pre-code films would often have more adult themes and were often intellectual as well as smutty.  Sadly, the Catholic Legion of Decency saved the day and a generation of children grew up believing that Andy Hardy was realism.  The production code had some really ridiculous rules, more ridiculous than Lucy and Desi's twin beds, that clever directors and writers would carefully slip past the censors, but that is a discussion for another time. 

You Remind me of a Man.

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947):  Shirley Temple in a love triangle with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.  Sold.

yup.

So Richard Nugent (Grant) is some kind of artist who has a tendency to get into trouble when he goes out drinking.  In the beginning of the film, we see Nugent in court with some nightclub hussies, a bouncer and his lawyer, sorting out a bar room brawl.  Presiding over this case is Judge Margaret Turner (Loy), smooth operator, but a little too uptight.  She could use a little Dick Nugent.

The Honorable Judge Turner

Later that day, RN gives a lecture at the local high school where he meets Susan Turner (Temple), Judge Turner's orphan baby sister.  Though she's got a steady her own age, Jerry White, Susan is enamored with Nugent, doing everything in her power to get him alone.  He does everything in his power to get her to leave him alone, especially after he finds out that she is the Judge's sister.  Eventually she invites herself into his apartment while he's not there, falls asleep while waiting for him, and then the whole thing turns into Lolita.  The Judge dies while hysterically running out into traffic and then Nugent takes the young Susan on a nice long road trip during which he licks her eyeball to dislodge an eyelash.

Just kidding.  Susan's family is pretty pissed about it and ready to charge Richard with endangering a minor and god knows what else.  But then their meddlesome uncle, whose name I can't recall so we'll call him Uncle Psychologist steps in.  He realizes that Richard is innocent and that his going to jail will only make a martyr of him in Susan's eyes.  He suggests they date, gets Judge Turner into the idea and so the hilarity begins.  Nugent is dragged along on some juvenile dates with Susan.  It's fun to watch Cary Grant have an ice cream soda with a bunch of teenagers after a basketball game.  Eventually, he figures out the way to drop Susan is to imitate a teenage boy.  They have this charming exchange:

Hey!  You remind me of a man.

What man?

Man with the power.

What power?

Power of hoodoo.

Hoodoo?

You do.

Do What?

Remind me of a man.

What man?

And so on....

And we thought the never ending song was clever.

The immature schtick backfires.  Susan loves it.  Nugent takes Susan and her family to a community picnic in Jerry's jalopy.  He signs up for a bunch of competitions, sack races and such and loses every single one to Judge Turner's love interest, Tommy Chamberlain (Douchebag.) (played by Rudy Vallee)  Except for the last event, an obstacle course, where Susan bribes Jerry and the HS basketball team to throw the race so that Nugent wins.  That part is weird because Jerry and the team weren't even at the picnic and I can't figure out how she orchestrated that without a cell phone.  I suppose it will remain a mystery.  

At the end of the day, Margaret Turner realizes that Nugent has been made a fool of long enough and decides to go on a date with him to let him off the hook.  He takes her to his favorite nightclub where they drink and dance and totally forget to talk about the Susan problem.  There, they run into one of the hussies from the beginning of the movie who behaves obnoxiously.  And then Susan shows up and catches her sister out on a date with her man.  "A woman scorned is a fury!" she says.  (lulz)  And then Jerry shows up and tells Susan he's been drafted.  And then craziness happens, characteristic of a screwball comedy and then everyone dukes it out and leaves Richard Nugent with the tab. 

More stuff happens, and then Meddlesome Uncle Psychologist gets involved with Margaret's love life, somehow manages to get Richard and both sisters on a plane to Africa.  Oh Humbert Humbert you sly old fox. 

No.  Just kidding again.  The real ending is pretty obvious.

Besides the brilliant casting, this is a fun movie.  It gives a good glimpse into the young lives of the Silent Generation, who apparently had clever sayings like, "Mellow Greetings, Yookie Dookie!" and "I don't dig ya chick!" and "I'm an old pepper shaker."  I have no idea what any of that means, but apparently they are fun things to say if you're trying to freak out old people. 

What's New Pussycat? 1965

This is one hell of a movie.  And for modern audiences, it is one of the more watchable old films.  What's New Pussycat? is part of a genre of sex comedies, which pushed the boundaries of the production code, which by 1968 was completely abandoned in favor of the MPAA rating system that we all know and love.

Its the story of Michael James, womanizer.  (Peter O'Toole)  He is trying to be faithful to his fiance, Carole, so he goes to see analyst Dr. Fritz Fassbender (Peter Sellers) to help him stop cheating on his girlfriend.

  
It's perfectly clear from the beginning of the movie that Dr. Fassbender is completely insane.  He cuts the session short because he can't bear to hear about Michael's sex life.  So then we meet Victor, Woody Allen, who is completely to blame for the existence of this film in the first place. 

Allen doesn't act so much as he plays the character of a short, insecure, neurotic Jewish man whenever one is required for a film.  So then we meet Carole Werner, Michael's fiance, played by the lovely Romy Schneider...

Carole is a sweet, beautiful idiot.  Michael does a very poor job of concealing his philandering from her.  She must be blind not to see it as a huge red flag, but she's set on marrying Michael.  They fight about it a lot.

The story is told as a series of interrelated vignettes.  Michael walks out on a fight with Carole and then we cut to Michael in a strip club.  There, he has an awkward encounter with Dr. Fritz Fassbender and then he picks up a stripper.  An American expatriate named Liz Bien (Paula Prentiss), an armchair activist hippie prone to nervous breakdowns and suicide attempts.  Also, she's bat-shit-crazy.

Cut to Carole who is out on the town with Victor.  If Michael can fool around with other women, she can fool around with other men.  She could do better than Victor, but she's just bluffing.  They meet a crazed ranting drunk man in the bar and she comforts him.

...and weeps with him.  "Why does everyone have so much trouble with being in love, Victor?  It never seems to work out.  You love me and I love Michael and....*sobsob*......Oh, Victor I'm so mixed up!"

And so she decides to get drunk and go over to Victor's place....and get drunker.  The scene ends with her passed out on the bed, falling on the floor and Victor awkwardly sleeping alone.

Back to Michael and his Crazy Stripper.......

Sorry, Michael.  You pretty much had that coming.

These kinds of scenes go on for a while.  At some point, it's fairly obvious that the script became irrevocably lost and a great deal of the film was improvised.  Actually, it's been rumored that, since Woody Allen was so unknown at the time, the film was actually an excuse for an international group of actors to have a good time in Paris with United Artist's money.  Somehow they managed to put together a pretty good movie, thanks in part to the talented actors involved. 

This man is a genius.

So anyway.....Michael joins Dr. Fassbender's group therapy sessions, where we meet a whole new group of crazies, particularly Madame Lefebvre (Cappucine), a nymphomaniac who cheats on her husband with pretty much everyone except Dr. Fassbender, who is in love with her.  She and Michael are pretty much perfect for each other.  (Cappucine is more famous for playing Inspector Clouseau's first wife.)

It's only a matter of time before Carole catches them at it.....

busted.

And so Carole finally leaves him.  Not that that is any problem for Michael.  His bed is never empty.  But then, one evening, as Michael is savoring his bachelorhood with a glass of scotch, Carole's parents arrive.  They are under the impression that their daughter is still engaged to him.

And so they pretend to be the happy couple to please her parents.  Meanwhile, Victor interrupts Dr. Fassbender's suicide/viking funeral in the Seine by asking for psychological advice. 

don't worry about it.  just go with it.  you'll love the movie more if you do.

Since Michael and Carole had such a great time entertaining her parents, they decide to get married after all.  God she's dumb.

whatever makes her happy.

From there, Michael begins breaking things off with his other girlfriends.  He calls Madame Lefebvre first to cancel their planned weekend rendezvous to Chateau Chantal.  But in the next scene, she calls another one of her lovers and asks him to meet her there in Michael's stead. 

The next few scenes involve everyone in the film deciding to go to Chateau Chantal for the weekend.  Michael believes that he will be having a quiet, relaxing weekend away from all his problems, (ok, "problems") but he is gravely mistaken.  A female skydiver, Ursula Andress, falls out of the sky and lands in Michael's car.  What horrible luck.

She's a nymphomaniac too.

Back in Paris, the Crazy Stripper shows up at Michael's apartment calling herself his Fiance, to Carole whom she believes to be the maid.  Carole is pissed, so she goes off to Chateau Chantal to confront Michael.  To Michael's credit, he does a pretty good job resisting temptation and staying true to Carole, until he meets Madame Lefebvre in the hotel bar.  They go to her room, where they find themselves being attacked by her jealous husband, the drunk guy from earlier.  Michael makes his escape, but then narrowly avoids a run-in with Carole's parents.  Suddenly he can't find a room that DOESN'T contain a beautiful woman who wants to have sex with him.  And you thought you had problems.

And then Carole shows up and things get ugly.  And then everyone shows up for an orgy. 

And then there is a guy with a bomb.  And the police get called. 

Suddenly the orgy is abandoned so that they can have a face off with the cops.

Seriously, don't even worry about the rest of the movie.  If you made it this far, you're probably having a good time.



Vital Statistics

What's New Pussycat 1965
Directed By:  Clive Donner
Written By:  Woody Allen
Starring:  Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Cappucine, Paula Prentiss, Woody Allen
Music by:  Burt Bacharach
Running Time:  108 minutes

Special thanks to the people at movieimages.org for providing the amazing photographs.

You're the most adorable cog I've ever seen.

Oh Ninotchka, my little Ninotchka.  Man that's fun to say.  Feels good rolling off your tongue.  If I ever get another dog, I'm going to name her Ninotchka Yakushova just so I can shout the name from my porch.

Anyway, onto the movie.  I haven't done the research, but I think this is Greta Garbo in her first role as a Marxist Robot.  Her acting is meant to be a parody of her typical roles, which is funny, I guess, she didn't really do comedies, romantic comedies were even more of a stretch.  The Marxist Robot routine makes for some absolutely painful lovemaking scenes.  ("lovemaking" is, of course, used in the old-fashioned sense in which it does not necessarily refer to intercourse)  For example:

Leon:  Can it be that I'm..........falling in love with you?
Ninotchka:  Why must you bring in wrong values?  Love is a romantic designation for a most ordinary biological, or shall we say chemical, process.  A lot of nonsense is talked and written about it.

[omg.  swoon]

Quick synopsis:  Three Russian men are sent to Paris to sell some jewelry that had been confiscated during the Revolution.  They justify staying in the royal suite in a fine hotel because it has a safe in the room, they stand around rationalizing their decision and are overheard by another Russian exile working as a waiter.  He runs off to speak to the Grand Duchess Swana, also a Russian exile, also the former owner of the jewels, to tell her that her long lost jewelry is back in town.  Here we are introduced to her lover/boy-toy, Count Leon D'Algout, who says, "Leave it to me!  I'll get your jewels back!"  He then goes off to befriend the 3 Russians (who are played by German actors, so naturally this film was banned in the Soviet Union) and seduce them with wine, women and song.  Once they're good and drunk, he gets their approval to send a telegram to their boss, Comrade Rakonin (played by Boris Karloff) saying that they've agreed to settle for 50% of the jewels' value.  And the party continues.  Meanwhile, Rakonin sends a telegram back stripping the men of their authority and instructing them to await the arrival of his envoy who will take over the sale.  And by "envoy" he means "Marxist Robot".

                                          Ninotchka Ivanova Yakushova

So Ninotchka is strictly business.  She deplores capitalism, frivolity, excess, wastefulness...well, pretty much everything.  On her first exploration expedition in Paris, she has the good fortune to run into Count Leon D'Algout, who does not realize that Ninotchka is in charge of the jewels he's trying to obtain for his mistress, BUT is actually enamored by her deadpan, mortician-like demeanor.  Seriously.  ("OH! a Russian!  I love Russians!  I've been fascinated by your 5-year-plan for the last 15 years!"  The Count is a witty mofo)  He's so enamored that he follows her to the Eiffel Tower and somehow manages to get her into his apartment.

Now.  You may hate this entire movie.  You may be bored to tears.  You may be the long-lost Grand Duchess Anastasia seething with rage because this movie makes a mockery of Russia and trivializes the Imperial way of life that was brutally seized from you when you were just an innocent.  But whatever your opinion, the entire movie is justified by the scene that follows:

Leon:  (to his butler) Good Evening Gaston!
Gaston:  Good Evening Monsieur.
Ninotchka:  Is this what you call a butler?
Leon:  Why, Yes.
Ninotchka:  (to Gaston)  Good evening Comrade!   (to Leon) This man is very old, you shouldn't make him work.
Leon:  Oh, he takes good care of that.
Ninotchka:  He looks sad.  Do you whip him?
Leon:  No, but the mere thought makes my mouth water.

He's so quick with that last line, you're not sure you heard it.  Back it up, watch it again.  Yes, he really did just say that.  Gold.  Pure gold.

So anyway, they send the butler to bed and they get ready to do the nasty.  Which in the Hayes Code days translates to rough kissing, which is more or less symbolic of a fuck.  They are interrupted when Leon takes a phone call from the Duchess' lawyer, providing the name of the Russian Envoy, that's right, Ninotchka.  Realizing they are enemies, she makes her leave, "You represent White Russia and I represent Red Russia!"  And so she goes back to her Comrades and they get to work on selling some Imperial jewels.

Meanwhile, Leon can't get his little Marxist Robot out of his mind and takes to stalking her. She puts up a pretty good resistance, but then he falls over a chair, making her laugh, which corrupts her programming, making her susceptible to human emotion.  To speed up the process, she buys a ridiculous hat (from Dr. Seuss, I think) which has strange powers over her, making her giggle, smile and fall in love with Count Leon D'Algout.

                                  This Hat Will Make A Capitalist Out Of You

So he takes her out dancing, where they run into Leon's Imperial Ex-Girlfriend where a pretty epic catfight ensues.

Swana: Is that what they're wearing in Moscow this year?
Ninotchka: No, last year, madame.
Swana: Isn't it amazing? One gets the wrong impression of the new Russia. It must be charming. I'm delighted conditions have improved so. I assume this is what the factory workers wear at their dances.
Ninotchka: Exactly. You see, it would have been very embarrassing for people of my sort to wear low-cut gowns in the old Russia. The lashes of the Cossacks across our backs were not very becoming, and you know how vain women are.
Swana: Yes, you're quite right about the Cossacks. We made a great mistake when we let them use their whips. They had such reliable guns.

                              Ouch.  I got $50 on the Bolshevik.

So Leon and Ninotchka get wasted on champagne and they end up back in her hotel room trying on Imperial Jewelry.  Carelessly, they forget to put it back in the safe so the exiled waiter from the beginning of the film  (remember him?) sneaks in and steals all the jewels.  Ninotchka wakes up with a raging hangover and the Bitch Duchess Swana standing over her bed and giving her shit for drinking too much and trying to sell her jewels (which have now been returned to her.)  Swana demands that Ninotchka leave on the next plane to Moscow, which she does, despite the fact that she's in love with Leon.  (I forget why, something about a tractor for Stalin.)  So she goes back to Russia where life sucks.  Leon tries to write to her, but her letters arrive completely censored.  Finally, Boris Karloff sends Ninotchka to Constantinople to oversee her old Comrades, who are still being sent abroad despite the fact that they only screw around and never get any work done.  There, she is reunited with Leon and there is a happy ending.  The film ends with one of the Russian men protesting the other two. 

I think this film is great.  It seems so ordinary, boring even, but if you pay attention, it's full of little comedic gems.  Melvin Douglas, or whoever wrote his lines, must have been one of the wittiest men of his day.  His delivery is razor-sharp and I like it. 


Vital Statistics

Ninotchka 1939
Director:  Ernst Lubitsch
Starring:  Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Boris Karloff
Running Time:  110 minutes

How About the Shape of That Liquor Cabinet?

Looks like I'm going to kick off this blog with my favorite movie ever.  I don't even need to watch it first because I can quote most of it from memory.

Seriously, this movie has everything:  drag queens, gangsters, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, madcap comedy, mistaken identity, bootleggers, a sick jazz soundtrack and Marilyn Motherfucking Monroe.  What else could it possibly need?  Gay marriage?  Oh wait, it has that too.

Quick synopsis:  Jerry and Joe are out of work musicians from Chicago who have the bad fortune to witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, after which, the mob puts a hit out on them.  So to save their necks, they dress up in drag and hop a train to join an all-girl band in Florida, Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopaters.  I'll give you three guesses who the lead singer is.  Give up?

                                                 this chick....just some nobody

So of course the boys are sprung.  How could they not be?  While checking into the hotel, Sugar Kane (Monroe) expresses her desire to marry a millionaire (like she does in pretty much every movie she's in.)  Joe, being exactly the sort of scumbag she usually goes out with, uses this information to his advantage, puts his pants back on and poses as Mr. Shell Oil Jr.  So he puts the moves on her and they get sexy on a boat with the help of Jerry (now Daphne) and his boyfriend, Osgood Fielding III.  (I told you.  Pure madcap shit.)  So just as everyone is getting into their gender-bending routines, who shows up at the hotel in Florida (actually the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego), but the Mob from Chicago.  Jerry and Joe are all, "FML!" and from there they plot their escape....hilarity ensues.

I won't spoil the rest for you, but suffice to say, if you aren't ordering this on Netflix right now, you're a lost cause.

Fun fact about this film:  SLIH was a big-budget film.  They had big names in the cast, the Brilliant Billy Wilder and they were filming on-location, not a cheap thing to do in 1958.  This was meant to be shot in color, but in screen tests, Curtis and Lemmon's drag makeup looked SO ugly, they scrapped that idea and shot it in black and white, which is much more forgiving.  There is a bunch of trivia surrounding this movie, like that Tony Curtis described kissing Monroe as being "just like kissing Hitler."  But all of that is readily available on imdb.com.  I just think that this photograph illustrates JUST how awful they looked in color.  So enjoy.

One Final Interesting Fact:  In 1975, Bollywood did a re-make.  I haven't seen it yet but (omg omg) I want to.


Vital Statistics
Some Like it Hot 1959
Director:  Billy Wilder
Starring:  Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, George Raft, Joe E. Brown
Running Time:  122 minutes

[Thank you Dr. Macro for approving the use of these amazing photos.  There are tons more, so be sure to check them out.]