Director Billy Wilder was known for depicting controversial subjects with humor, and 1959's classic Some Like It Hot was no exception. Known for starring sex symbol Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane, the lead singer in an all-female band, it also has Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon dressed up as women to escape a gang. Here are spicy, behind-the-scenes facts about the film you didn't know...
Frank Sinatra Almost Portrayed Jerry
The cast of Some Like It Hot almost looked very different. Billy Wilder originally wanted Frank Sinatra as Jerry, but the musical genius lost out on the role because Wilder thought working with him would be too difficult. According to Tony Curtis, Wilder “wasn’t sure Frank would be able to play it. Frank was a little bit cantankerous, and Billy didn’t want to take a chance on that.”
Sinatra’s first mistake was missing a meeting with Wilder. “Billy made a lunch date with Sinatra, and he went and waited and sat there, and sat there, and Sinatra never showed up,” Diamond explained. “He stood Billy up.” Not wanting to put up with Sinatra’s unpunctuality and lack of work ethic, Wilder took a chance on Jack Lemmon. Although Lemmon was a relatively inexperienced actor, he did a phenomenal job.
Mitzi Gaynor Almost Portrayed Sugar
Billy Wilder thought of Mitzi Gaynor for the role of Sugar Kane, but when he had an opportunity to hire the naïve but seductive Marilyn Monroe, he chose Monroe instead. Wilder had worked with Monroe before while filming The Seven Year Itch. He was a big fan of her work, but he was not a big fan of working with her. While he would not put up with Frank Sinatra’s bad manners, he knew Monroe would be worth it, despite her reputation for poor work ethics.
Billy Wilder thought of Mitzi Gaynor for the role of Sugar Kane, but when he had an opportunity to hire the naïve but seductive Marilyn Monroe, he chose Monroe instead. Wilder had worked with Monroe before while filming The Seven Year Itch. He was a big fan of her work, but he was not a big fan of working with her. While he would not put up with Frank Sinatra’s bad manners, he knew Monroe would be worth it, despite her reputation for poor work ethics.
Marilyn Monroe Was Supposedly Pregnant During Filming
Just as Wilder predicted, Monroe was a nightmare on the shoot. She arrived to work late and forgot simple lines like “Where’s the bourbon?” and “It’s me, Sugar.” Wilder had to run dozens of takes to get one good scene. Curtis and Lemmon were under immense pressure to make sure they never messed up their lines. Wilder used the shots that Monroe got right, regardless of which takes the men did best.
According to rumors, Monroe was even more uncooperative than usual because she was pregnant...by none other than co-star Tony Curtis, with whom she had been having an affair. The actress had previously had a miscarriage, and she was anxious about the health of her unborn baby. Another possible reason for forgetting her lines was that she was suffering the effects of alcohol and drug addiction. Wilder almost regretted his decision to hire Monroe, but not many women could seduce an audience the way Monroe could.
Monroe’s Screen Presence Was Unique
According to rumors, Monroe was even more uncooperative than usual because she was pregnant...by none other than co-star Tony Curtis, with whom she had been having an affair. The actress had previously had a miscarriage, and she was anxious about the health of her unborn baby. Another possible reason for forgetting her lines was that she was suffering the effects of alcohol and drug addiction. Wilder almost regretted his decision to hire Monroe, but not many women could seduce an audience the way Monroe could.
In Chris Cabin’s review of the film for Slant Magazine, he wrote that when Monroe “walks onto the screen, even the train cat-calls her with a whistle of steam.” Roger Ebert also wrote about her, saying that she “poured into a dress that offers her breasts like jolly treats for needy boys.”
Wilder Offended Marilyn Monroe
After the filming ended, a reporter asked Wilder a question about Marilyn Monroe. He responded by jokingly objectifying her. “The question is whether Marilyn is a person at all or one of the greatest DuPont products ever invented,” he jested. “She has breasts like granite; she defies gravity; and has a brain like Swiss cheese—full of holes.”
He added, “I have discussed this with my doctor and my psychiatrist and they tell me I’m too old and too rich to go through this again.” Monroe called Wilder and told him to go f*ck himself. Wilder tried to make things right, but the actress died shortly after. “I had no problem with Marilyn Monroe. Monroe had problems with Monroe,” Wilder said. “When it was all done, and my stomach got back to normal, it seemed well worth the agony of working with her.”
The Film Was Shot in Black and White Against Monroe’s Wishes
Billy Wilder faced another issue with Marilyn Monroe. Color movies were becoming more popular than black and white movies in the ’50s. Monroe’s contract specifically stated that she would only act in films shot in color. However, Wilder hated color films, and after seeing color screen tests for Some Like It Hot, Wilder knew it had to be black and white.
He noticed that Lemmon and Curtis turned a shocking shade of green when in their makeup. Fortunately, Wilder convinced Monroe to act in the movie even though it would be black and white.
Lemmon and Curtis Wanted to Wear Fashionable Dresses
The costume director wanted to give Lemmon and Curtis cheap dresses to wear, but the actors knew that the poor quality of the clothing would make their gender swap less convincing. They let the makeup artists do their jobs but vocalized their opinions about the dresses. “They wanted us to select off-the-rack stuff from the costume department,” revealed Lemmon. “We said we wanted dresses done by Orry-Kelly, who was doing Monroe’s costumes.”
Curtis was on the same page as Lemmon. “I didn’t want to look like Loretta Young,” Curtis explained. “You know those high-waisted things. And I wanted a new designer dress of my own, not one of those used things. I went to Billy, and I told him [that] Jack and I wanted Orry-Kelly dresses, too. He said, ‘Okay.’” Luckily, Wilder did not pass them off as being drama queens.
Who Has the Best Assets?
During an interview in 2004, Curtis remembered a funny moment he had with Marilyn Monroe and Orry-Kelly, the designer of their dresses. “We’re all at Goldwyn Studios, and our dressing rooms are alongside each other: Jack, me, Marilyn,” Curtis recalled. “And Orry-Kelly, a very prestigious-looking man, he had one of those plastic tapes. So he went in and measured Jack. Then he came up to me. And he measured me.”
Then it was Monroe’s turn. “He goes in to measure Marilyn, and she comes out in a pair of panties and a silk blouse. He goes around her, and he said, ‘You know Marilyn, Tony Curtis has a better-looking ass than you.’ She unbuttoned her blouse, opened it, and said, ‘He doesn’t have t*ts like these!’” Curtis chuckled. “You can’t beat that story. She was so pissed off. I loved her for that.”
Curtis and Lemmon Chose Their Female Personas
Once Curtis and Lemmon walked out of their dressing rooms dressed as women, it was up to them to decide how to act. Curtis took his time figuring out what kind of woman he wanted to be, so Lemmon was the first to choose. According to Curtis, Lemmon “was like a 20-cent tart.” He made his voice high-pitched and came across as a typical ditzy blonde.
Curtis immediately knew that his character needed to be completely different. “I had to be a lady, very grand, like my mother or Grace Kelly,” he recalled. “I held my head up, straight and high, and never went for those low-down jokes.” Curtis managed to pull it off. But, unlike Lemmon, he struggled to maintain a feminine voice, so Wilder supplemented his performance with dubbing by actor Paul Frees.
They Tested Out Their Female Looks in a Public Bathroom
Once Lemmon and Curtis were in dresses and high heels, the makeup artists did their magic. The actors spent hours in the makeup chair getting into their characters. But before they settled for their looks, they had to make sure that they could actually pass as women. “So, traipsing into the ladies’ we went,” recalled Lemmon. “And, boy, oh, boy, the flop sweat was really flying. I was scared to death. I’ve never been so embarrassed.”
Nobody seemed to notice them. Wilder considered it a success, but Curtis was worried that they did not look beautiful enough. They went back to the makeup room to become more glamorous. But the look was too much, and security instantly asked them for IDs. So they reverted to the first, more natural look.
Tony Curtis Impersonated Cary Grant
As well as portraying Joe and Josephine in Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis had a third character. He also played Junior, a wealthy persona that Joe invented to woo Sugar. Curtis explained in an interview how he decided to portray Junior. “The day we were shooting that scene we went down on the beach, and I said, ‘Billy, how am I going to play this millionaire?’” Curtis recalled.
Wilder asked him how he would like to play it, and Curtis responded, “Well, I do this impression of Cary Grant.” Wilder told him to go for it and was pleased with the outcome. “Tony Curtis gave me Cary Grant,” Wilder said. After filming the scene, Billy Wilder showed it to Cary Grant and asked him if he liked Tony’s impersonation. “I don’t talk like that!” Grant joked.
The Writers Almost Scrapped the Line That Got the Most Laughs
When Wilder and Diamond were writing the punchline, neither could decide how to end it. They agreed that Lemmon would rip off his wig and explain that he could not marry Osgood Fielding III because “I’m a man.” But they did not want to end it there. They needed another line after that, but they were stumped.
Eventually, Diamond suggested the line “Nobody’s perfect.” They were not satisfied but decided to include it temporarily because they needed to send the script to the mimeographer. They had one week to come up with something better. They couldn’t, so they filmed it. When they played the movie for the first time, the viewers loved the punchline. “The audience just exploded,” Wilder recalled. “That line got one of the biggest laughs I’ve ever heard in the theater.”
Some Like It Hot And Others Do Not
The film received mixed reviews when it came out in 1959. Most people loved it, but a few religious people felt that it was obscene and “morally objectionable.” The movie violated the standards of the Motion Picture Production Code because the theme related to cross-dressing and homosexuality. The love scene between Curtis and Monroe was too steamy, so a censorship board in Memphis prohibited children from watching the movie. In Kansas, nobody was allowed to see it because it was banned.
The National Legion of Decency, a Catholic organization that protected people from “corruptive content,” said that the film “promoted homosexuality, lesbians, and transvestism.” The Roman Catholic Church Legion of Decency called it “Morally Objectionable in Part for All.” Many righteous believers refused to see the movie after the public condemnation from religious groups.
Tony Curtis Later Portrayed Osgood Fielding III
Despite the backlash from religious communities, audiences loved Some Like It Hot. The film was so well-received that it became a Broadway show. The first musical production was called Sugar. The show opened in April 1972 and ended after more than 500 performances. In 2002, the musical was resurrected. This time, Tony Curtis had a role. Instead of playing his original character, he portrayed Osgood Fielding III.
“We did in a year 273 performances, and I never missed one,” Curtis recalled. “That was very hard work.” Although Curtis has fond memories of the Broadway show, he also felt that the stage performance did not do the film justice. “The scene of me and Marilyn kissing, the scene with Jack and I on the train—all of that intimate stuff needed those big close-ups, and that’s what made the movie so appealing.”
The Writers of the Classic Comedy Got Inspiration From a German Film
Fanfaren der Liebe (Fanfares of Love) is a 1951 German comedy film about two unemployed male musicians who pretend to be women to perform in an all-girl band. The movie was a remake of a French comedy from 1935 called Fanfares d’Amour. When fans of Some Like It Hot discovered that the writers drew inspiration from the German and French comedies, it increased the popularity of the foreign movies.
While the writers of the American comedy drew inspiration from the German film, they also wanted to take a different approach. I.A.L. Diamond, who co-wrote Some Like it Hot with Billy Wilder, felt that the humor in Fanfaren der Liebe was clumsy. “The humor in the German movie was rather heavy-handed and Teutonic,” Diamond said. “There was a lot of shaving of chests and trying on wigs.”
Billy Wilder Had Many Ideas While Driving
For most people, inspiration seems to strike while in the shower. However, Billy Wilder had a different creative spot. “Billy got a lot of his ideas driving,” revealed Diamond. Wilder had the most crucial thought while on the road. The writers liked that the main characters in the German movie had to dress up as women. But their motivation to do it was not convincing enough.
Wilder and Diamond wanted to have a reason why “these two guys trapped in women’s clothing cannot just take off their wigs and say, ‘I’m a guy.’” When Wilder was in his car, he suddenly had the answer. The two men would witness the Saint Valentine’s Massacre of 1929 and dress as women to hide from the murderous mob. “That was the important invention that made everything else possible,” Wilder said.
Billy Wilder Was a Modest Man
Some Like It Hot has a rating of 8.2/10 on IMDb, 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 98% on Metacritic. That’s how beloved this classic comedy is. The American Film Institute listed it as one of the 100 greatest American films of all time, and it is currently ranked 22nd. The organization also placed Some Like It Hot in first place on its list of top ten funniest American movies.
When Billy Wilder found out that his film was rated the best, he was pleased but humble. He also denied that it was the best. “I’m happy for it, but it’s not true,” he said. “It’s not the best because there is no best. It’s one of the best. It’s a good picture, and I’m proud of it. I’m happy people still like it so much.”
Marilyn Monroe’s Dress Is Worth an Estimated Quarter of a Million Dollars
In 2008, a California man took a little black dress to a pawn shop to have it appraised. The encounter was filmed and aired in an episode of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. The man claimed that it was the dress Marilyn Monroe had worn in Some Like It Hot. He said that Don Feld, a costume designer in Hollywood, had given it to him.
The appraiser determined that it was the same awe-inspiring dress that Orry-Kelly had designed for Marilyn Monroe. The California man almost fell over when the appraiser told him what the dress was worth. “Well, this is an iconic dress from an iconic film,” the appraiser said. “In an auction, I would not be surprised at all if it went for somewhere between $150,000 and $250,000.”
Some Like It Hot is an Important Film
In 1989, the Library of Congress selected Some Like It Hot to be preserved by the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” In 2017, the BBC’s Nicholas Barber explained why the film is so valuable. “As well as being a romantic comedy, a buddy movie, a crime caper, and a musical,” he wrote, “the film is an anthem in praise of tolerance, acceptance, and the possibility of transformation. It’s an anthem that we need to hear now more than ever.”
Barber added: “It is structured so meticulously that it glides from moment to moment with the elegance of an Olympic figure skater. And the consummate screwball dialogue, by Wilder and IAL Diamond, is so polished that every line includes either a joke, a double meaning, or an allusion to a line elsewhere in the film.”