Some Like It Hot | |
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Theatrical poster
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Directed by | Billy Wilder |
Produced by | Billy Wilder |
Screenplay by | Billy Wilder I. A. L. Diamond |
Story by |
Robert Thoeren Michael Logan |
Starring |
Marilyn Monroe Tony Curtis Jack Lemmon George Raft Joe E. Brown Pat O'Brien |
Music by | Adolph Deutsch |
Cinematography | Charles Lang |
Edited by | Arthur P. Schmidt |
Production
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Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date
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Running time
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121 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2.9 million |
Box office | $40 million |
Some Like It Hot is a 1959 American romantic comedy film set in 1929, directed and produced by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. The supporting cast includes George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee, and Nehemiah Persoff. The plot is based on a screenplay by Billy Wilder and Michael Logan from the French film Fanfare of Love. The film is about two musicians who dress in drag in order to escape from mafia gangsters whom they witnessed commit a crime inspired by the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. The film was produced in black and white, even though color films were increasing in popularity.
Some Like It Hot is considered to be one of the greatest film comedies of all time. It was voted as the top comedy film by the American Film Institute on their list on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs poll in 2000. The film is also notable for featuring cross dressing, and for playing with the idea of homosexuality, which led to it being produced without approval from the Motion Picture Production Code. The code had been gradually weakening in its scope during the early 1950s, due to increasing social tolerance for previously taboo topics in film, but it was still officially enforced. The overwhelming success of Some Like It Hot was a final nail in the coffin for the Hays Code.