What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx
Some Like It Hot is on the following AFI lists:
The Original Top 100 (#14)
100 Funniest Films (#1)
100 Movie Quotes (#48 - Osgood Fielding: "Well, nobody's perfect.")
The Revised Top 100 (#22)
Some Like It Hot is a film that instills confusion in me on a basic entertainment-type level. My revisitation of this film marks my second viewing (I borrowed it from my mother), and in both cases, there were parts of the film in the beginning and toward the middle that essentially lulled me to sleep. Once I got past those parts, I was able to chuckle, but the most confusing reaction of all is that I don't find this movie as gut-bustingly hilarious as some seem to feel. The American Film Institute rated this the funniest film of all time, and it's one of the most curious ratings the AFI doled out. On what did they base their judgment, and who agrees with this estimation?
Oh sure, Billy Wilder's cross-dressing farce pushed many envelopes in 1959. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play Gerald and Joe, two jazz musicians who, desperate for work, get caught up in a Chicago speakeasy and witness an offing by mob boss Spats Columbo on Valentine's Day. Their solution? Dress in drag as Josephine and Daphne and enlist in Sweet Sue's all-girl band. On the train to Florida, they meet the band's lead singer, Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), who both men fall in love (lust?) with but are unable to actuate their desires due to their need to stay in touch with their feminine sides. The rest of the film finds the two pals attempting to one-up the other one in pursuit of Sugar's affections, though millionaire Osgood Fielding becomes smitten with Daphne to the point of proposing, and attempting to stay clear of Spats and his gang, who make their way down to Florida, in one of the most contrived coincidences in film.
I just don't understand it. This movie does not make me laugh except in a few spots and really only at Jack Lemmon. To me, he's the heart and soul of the comedy in this picture. Particularly when he starts resigning himself to his newfound gender and in light of Osgood's affections ("it's the only chance I'll get to marry a millionaire!"). Otherwise, for me, it's lots of witty dialogue and madcap farce.
As farce goes, it's probably perfect, but farce for the sake of farce does not strike my funny bone automatically. It's probably blasphemy for me to speak this way. It's rated so highly on so many lists. To its credit and to Billy Wilder's credit, it did take on some traditionally taboo topics, such as bending gender identity and sex, in heaping helpings of innuendo. I'm still stuck on where's the funny.
And I know Marilyn is iconic for her beauty and short lifespan, but I just didn't find her funny either (except the line about how she can stop drinkng if she wants, she just doesn't want to). She's a great foil for Joe/Josephine and Gerald/Daphne, but the silly story is simply too silly for me to enjoy it completely.
Now, I do like the second half of the film much better than the first. The initial half of the film, when the guys are making jokes and commentary about being girls, is chuckleworthy but ultimately, as I said, sort of sleep-inducing, at least for me. I just don't think this film feels as fresh as the critics seem convinced; I think it feels somewhat dated. The second half of the movie, however, takes on such a frenetic pace, and Jack Lemmon's character is so loopy with confusion over gender, that I did laugh in spite of myself. Also, was Tony Curtis trying to effect some Cary Grant-like quality in his fake accent? I noticed his inflections were spot-on.
I will say that the ending is perfection in relationship to the rest of the film. Hint: the famous quote is the last line. I think it's one of the best endings in all of film and probably the singularly funniest bit in this film.
All in all, I think this film is cute, though somewhat on the shaky side. Anticipating some tomatoes, I can't bring myself to rate it higher than a 7.5, between shaky and very good. Call it one major flaw for not being as funny as everyone keeps saying. That's not to say that the film isn't good, though I'm convinced Jack Lemmon is the reason (and perhaps Joe E. Brown, who plays Osgood). Still, I must have missed the funny train. We'll see how other the "funniest" entries fair. As for the test, it doesn't pass for me. I just don't enjoy it as much as I had hoped. I think it's worth the watch though. Some like Some Like It Hot, and I do too - I guess my sense of humor likes it hotter.