Some Like It Hot(1959).

Some Like It Hot(1959). Directed by Billy Wilder. Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft.

Two struggling musicians, Joe and Jerry, witness a gang murder. When the Chicago gangster, "Spats", sees them, the two friends run for their lives and decide it is time to leave town. Finding a job, in a all woman band, they have to disguise themselves as women.

Calling themselves Josephine and Geraldine, they board a train headed for Florida. Joe and Jerry both become charmed by "Sugar Kane", the band's vocalist and ukulele player. Joe woos Sugar while wearing second disguise as a millionaire heir to Shell Oil, mimicking Cary Grant's voice perfectly.

Millionaire, Osgood Fielding III, woes Jerry in his Daphne disguise. One night, Osgood asks Daphne out to his yacht. Joe talks Daphne, into going on a date with Osgood while he goes on the yacht with Sugar. That night Osgooing proposes to Daphne who, is flattered, accepts, hoping he can receive a large settlement from Osgood after their wedding ceremony.

When the gangsters arrive at the same hotel, Spats and his gang see Joe and Jerry. After several humorous chases and witnessing Spats and his gang murdered, Jerry, Joe, Sugar, and Osgood escape to the millionaire's yacht.

Joe, thinks it is time to reveal his true identity to Sugar, telling her that she would be getting the "fuzzy end of the lollipop". Jerry, tries to break it off with Osgood, telling him that, he can "never have children." Osgood, still is determined to go through with the marriage. Finally, Jerry removes his wig and shouts, "I'm a man!", where Osgood says... "Well, no body's perfect."

Video: Train scene.

Fun Facts:

Billy Wilder referring to Marilyn Monroe while making the movie: "We were in mid-flight, and there was a nut on the plane." Indeed, Wilder publicly blasted Monroe for her behavior, and she was not invited to the wrap party.

The resort scenes were filmed entirely at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, California. One reason why Billy Wilder chose this location was Marilyn Monroe's ongoing personal problems. He wanted a location where she could live on site and not have to be transported.

Tony Curtis has said that he asked Billy Wilder if he could imitate Cary Grant for his stint as the millionaire in the movie. Wilder liked it and they shot it that way. Apparently, Grant saw the parody of himself and stated, "I don't talk like that."

Marilyn Monroe was pregnant during the filming, as a result she looked considerably heavier. She had no known children and several miscarriages in her life. Due to her pregnancy, most of the publicity still photos were posed for by both Sandra Warner (who had an uncredited role as one of the band members) and Monroe's frequent stand-in Evelyn Moriarty with Monroe's head superimposed later.

The railroad passenger car that was used in this movie (Clover Colony) is now at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it can be used in excursion/local service.

When Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon first put on the female make-up and costumes, they walked around the Goldwyn Studios lot to see if they could "pass" as women. Then they tried using mirrors in public ladies rooms to fix their makeup, and when none of the women using it complained, they knew they could be convincing as women. There is a scene on the train recreating this moment.

Jerry Lewis was offered the role of Jerry/Daphne but declined because he didn't want to dress in drag. When Jack Lemmon received an Oscar nomination for the role that Lewis gave up, Lewis claims he sent him chocolates every year to thank him and now regrets not taking the part.

Monroe's Sugar, is very lovable, especially when she sings: Running Wild, I'm Through With Love and "boop-boop-a-doop" her signature song, "I Wanna Be Loved by You."

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, were tastefully, hilarious playing a couple of drag queens.

Joan Shawlee (c.1929 - March 22, 1987). Her best known roles were small roles in Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder films. Her most famous role was as, Sweet Sue in the 1959 comedy classic, Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. She also performed as Sylvia in the 1960 classic, The Apartment, which also starred Lemmon. She performed as Amazon Annie in the 1963 sex comedy, Irma La Douce, which starred Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. She had a recurring role on TV in The Dick Van Dyke Show as Buddy's wife Pickles.

Don't Make Waves (1967).

Don't Make Waves (1967), which starred Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale and Sharon Tate. The film is based on the 1959 novel, Muscle Beach, by Ira Wallach. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, the film showed a series of romantic triangles between the cast members living the Southern California life style. I think this film is fun to watch because it perfectly captures the Southern California scene in mid-sixties, a very interesting time. Please look for my list of favorite 60s films, which I will post up soon.

Please click here to view Monty's " Dont Make Waves" movie review.

Video: First of 10.



The score was composed by Vic Mizzy. Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman wrote the title song, "Don't Make Waves," performed by The Byrds over the opening credits.

Sharon Tate told her husband Roman Polanski that her experience working on this film was tense, and it was worsened when a stuntman drowned when he parachuted into the Pacific Ocean.

The film was Sharon Tate's third to be produced, but is considered to be her debut. MGM ran a huge campaign that was based on Tate and her character, Malibu, and life-sized cardboard cutouts of Tate wearing a bikini were placed in cinema foyers throughout the United States. It was also linked to a widespread advertising campaign by Coppertone which also featured Tate.

The Malibu Barbie doll, first produced in 1973, was based on Tate and her character, Malibu.

Please click here to learn more about Sharon Tate.

In American Prince, his 2009 autobiography, Tony Curtis wrote of making Don't Make Waves: "The plot was utterly ridiculous, but I agreed to appear in the film because I got a percentage of the gross."

Please click here to learn more about Tony Curtis.

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Ok, so the other day I actually taught myself the ukulele. I had been meaning to for ages, and now that I can play pretty much all necessary chords on my acoustic guitar I decided it was time to teach myself the Ukulele as well. After I learned on my sister's little red soprano ukulele my Mum got me a nice wooden concert ukulele (slightly lower than a soprano) and I named it Sugar after Marilyn Monroe's character in Some Like It Hot. I can now proudly quote her and say 'I play the ukulele and I sing too!". Which leads me on to another thing, blogging. I haven't posted in ages (apart from the Japan Blogathon), and this has been partly due to my many instrument playing. I have had a busy schedule this past few weeks, as I had my grade three flute exam yesterday. That may not seem a lot, but when you are choosing your GSCE options  + keeping up grade 6 piano + grade 5 music theory + singing with guitar accompaniment + going to drama club + homework the work piles up. So yeah. That's my excuse. Here's the review of Some Like It Hot.

Some Like It Hot, Directed and co-written by Billy Wilder

Cast:

• Marilyn Monroe as 'Sugar' Kane Kowalczyk
• Tony Curtis as Joe/"Josephine"/"Junior"
• Jack Lemmon as Jerry/"Geraldine"/"Daphne"
• George Raft as 'Spats' Colombo
• Pat O'Brien as Detective Mulligan
• Joe E. Brown as Osgood Fielding III

Plot:

Pair of struggling musicians Joe and Jerry are working happily in an illegal bar in Chicago while prohibition was on. One night they are found out by the police. They make a run for it, only just escaping. Now broke and homeless, they go to their agency asking if there are any jobs available. They hear about a job in Florida in a band but realize they have been tricked by Joe's ex girlfriend and the job is for girls. They manage to pick up a spot of work in another city, much to their joy. While they are filling the car with petrol they witness the Valentines Day massacre of 1929 led by 'Spats' Colombo. Again, they make a run for it, hoping not to be spotted by the gangsters. They dress as girls and take the job in Florida.

When they get on the train with the other girls they both fall for the ukulele player/singer, Sugar. Once in Florida, both Jerry and Joe (now renamed Daphne and Josephine respectively) get up to crazy things. Jerry is pursued by old millionaire Osgood Feilding III who is constantly ending sentences with "ZOWIE!!" Joe dresses as a millionaire with a Cary Grant accent to get Sugar. Both ending in hilarious situations.

Review:
This is seriously one of the best films ever made. It is so hilarious I laugh out loud whenever I see it. my family received a great picture book with interviews and the whole script in it from family friends for Christmas, so maybe some posts about that later!

Billy Wilder is genius. Both Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are fantastic as the two cross-dressing musicians. Marilyn Monroe is also amazing. The script is just so hilariously funny. Every line is like a quote. I just adore this film! Again, if you haven't seen it, GO WATCH IT NOW!!!!

~Bette

Some of my favorite Tony Curtis pictures.

Tony Curtis and Audrey Hepburn.

Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe.

Tony Curtis wife Jill talks to the media.

Jill Curtis talks to the media outside the Henderson, Nevada, home she lived in with her husband, actor Tony Curtis. The Oscar nominee passed away Wednesday night of cardiac arrest at the age of 85.

Rest In Peace Tony Curtis

I was told that Tony Curtis had died yesterday while doing "current headlines" in class today. Everyone had blank looks on their faces (I found it very depressing that no one knew who he was), and I said "NOOOO!" really loud. I am very upset, and I feel very sad that one of my only favourite "still alive" classic movie stars is now no more. 

Tony Curtis 3rd June 1925 - 29th September 2010

Most people will remember him like this.

Looking gorgeous in Spartacus

But I will remember him like this.

He's the guy (dressed up as a dame) in the white fur collar

As a hilarious tenor saxophone player who dresses up as a dame to get a job, in Some Like It Hot, one of my favourite movies of all time. Needless to say, he will not only be greatly missed by fans of his acting career, as well as the admirers of his artwork, but also by his family which includes actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Playing the saxophone whilst Jack Lemmon plays his bass with machine gun holes in. They were really chased by gangsters after being the two witnesses to the Chicago St. Valentines Day massacre 1929, but when asked by the band leader where they came from he says "Umm, i don't know... Mice?" So as not to blow their cover so that they can get as far away as possible from the gangster, Spats Columbo (George Raft).

The results from my latest poll to decide between the sisters of the silver screen (Joan Fontaine and Olivia De Havilland) and the winner is....

OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND

She won 4 votes to 2. I found it hard to choose between the two, but I do love Olivia just that little bit more.

~Bette

Actor Tony Curtis Dies

LAS VEGAS - The Clark County coroner says actor Tony Curtis has died.

Coroner Mike Murphy says Curtis died at 9:25 p.m. MDT Wednesday at his Las Vegas area home of a cardiac arrest.

Curtis, who had heart bypass surgery in 1994, began his acting career as a 1950s heartthrob but became a respected actor with such films as "The Defiant Ones" and "Sweet Smell of Success.

"The Defiant Ones" brought him an Oscar nomination in 1958 for his portrayal of a racist escaped convict handcuffed to a black escapee, Sidney Poitier. The following year, he co-starred in one of the most acclaimed film comedies ever, Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" with Marilyn Monroe.

Tony Curtis (June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010).

Tony Curtis, began his acting career in an uncredited screen debut came in the film, Criss Cross (1949) playing a rumba dancer. Later, he performed in the film, Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with Burt Lancaster (who also starred in Criss Cross) and an Oscar-nominated performance in, The Defiant Ones. He also performed in the comedies: Some Like It Hot. When musicians, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), witness what looks like the Saint Valentines Day Massacre of 1929. When the Chicago gangsters see them, they decide to leave town, taking a job where they disguise themselves as women, playing in an all-girl musical band . Calling themselves Josephine and Geraldine, they join the band and board a train. Joe and Jerry both have eyes for"Sugar Kane" (Marilyn Monroe), the band's singer and Ukulele player.

Another wonderful comedy,Sex and the Single Girl. His dramas include: The Outsider, the true story of WW II veteran Ira Hayes, and The Boston Strangler, in which he played the self-confessed murderer of the film's title, Albert DeSalvo.

Curtis also performed on television, he co-starred with Roger Moore in the TV series The Persuaders!. Later, he co-starred in McCoy and Vega$. In the early 1960s, he was immortalized as "Stony Curtis," a voice-over on The Flintstones.

Curtis loved to paint and since the early 1980s, it became his second career. In 2007, his painting The Red Table was on display in the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan. His paintings can also be seen at the Tony Vanderploeg Gallery in Carmel, California.

Curtis was disappointed that never won an Oscar. But in March 2006, Curtis did receive the Sony Ericsson Empire Lifetime Achievement Award.  I will always remember his wonderful performances. He will be missed. He is part of the vanishing era of Hollywood .....

Summer Beach Movie - Don't Make Waves (1967)

This is one of those movies not too many people may know about. I saw it the other night on TCM and liked it. It's not the usual 60's style sex beach comedy with tons of laughs or really much deep thought. Actually it's kinda weird in certain scenes but it held my interest the entire time. Tony Curtis plays New Yorker Carlo Cofield, newly arrived in Southern California, who while stopping at the local beach, has one hell of a day. He runs into quirky artist Laura (played by Claudia Cardinale) who manages to send Carlo's car running downhill off the side of the road, crashing and burning. He loses all his belongings and once Laura finds out it was her fault, does the only sensible thing...she takes him home with her. Of course Laura has a sugar daddy...a married executive named Rod Prescott (played by Robert Webber) who takes offense to Carlo being there. Well Rod kicks Carlo out, who has to sleep on the beach overnight. The next day Carlo goes swimming in the beach and gets promptly knocked out by oncoming surfers. He is pulled from the water and given CPR by a lovely girl named Malibu, who also happens to be a sky diver...it could happen (love the name and she is played by Sharon Tate). Carlo immediately is smitten with her and puts in motion a plan to seduce her. All he is to do is avoid her boyfriend Harry, a hulk of a body-builder. In the meantime, Carlo finagles his way into Rod's office and secures a job through blackmail. If Rod doesn't agree, Carlo goes straight to his wife Diane (wonderfully played by Joanna Barnes). So Carlo is now in the business of selling pools, which is very lucrative in California. And has to deal with three beguiling women. Everyone ends up at Carlo's hillside house during a severe rainstorm and eventual mudslide. A lot happens in this movie doesn't it? Like I said it's not the greatest but it does have it's moments. And the cast is very easy on the eyes. Curtis is in tip top shape as he has several scenes sans his shirt. And he gets most of the best lines in this movie. He even has a scene with Tate jumping from a airplane doing a skydive. Well Carlo passes out because he looses his parachute and it's one of the funniest reactions you will ever see. The women all are stunning especially Cardinale. Tate looks great too, but her part is very under-demanding. Joanna Barnes delivers the best performance of the three as the much put upon wife who is smarter than everyone else in the movie except maybe for Curtis. So all in all Don't Make Waves is a diverting comedy that will pass the time quite quickly at 97 minutes. Two sidenotes, the musical score is by Vic Mizzy, who did the Green Acres TV show score. And Jim Backus shows up with his wife and they play themselves in a cool little scene as Carlo tries to sell them a pool. Backus even gets to do a Mr. Magoo impression. Like I said a lot of stuff happens in this movie.

Happy Birthday Tony Curtis!!

Tony Curtis, has played roles from light comic, as the musician on the run from gangsters in Some Like It Hot, to dramatic roles, as an escaped convict in The Defiant Ones, which snagged him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Since 1949, he has performed in more than 100 films and has made many television shows.