Why is Billy Wilder’s most famous movie called ‘Some Like It Hot’?
With its exquisite blend of wit and smut, Some Like It Hot is often celebrated as one of the greatest comedy movies of all time. It combines the best writing of filmmaker Billy Wilder’s career with unexpectedly versatile comic performances from one of Hollywood’s leading men at the time, Tony Curtis, legendary star Marilyn Monroe, and up-and-coming actor Jack Lemmon.
Wilder’s decision to cast renowned heartthrob Tony Curtis as a cross-dressing jazz musician was surely one of the most daring acts in cinema history to that point. On the other hand, the writer-director knew just what he was getting with Monroe, who he’d famously directed in his previous screwball comedy The Seven-Year Itch. Lemmon was already a reputed comedy actor, but his role in the film would be by far his highest-profile to date.
The risks involved in the movie’s plot and casting more than paid off, with Some Like It Hot taking more than 15 times its budget at the box office and propelling all of its key players to an even greater level of stardom. Monroe would never top the performance she gave as Curtis’ love interest, Sugar Kane. And despite their venerated careers in Hollywood, the film is what both Wilder and Lemmon are primarily remembered for.
Some Like It Hot is also responsible for some of the most brilliant one-liners in cinema history. Not least, it’s final punchline, in response to the confession of Jack Lemmon’s character Jerry that he’s actually a man. “Nobody’s perfect,” his male suitor replies cheerfully. But what about the movie’s title? Despite its script full of zingers, it’s hard to see the joke in those four words specifically.
What does “some like it hot” actually mean?
The title does come from a line in the script, though, during a scene in which Curtis’ character Joe is pretending to be a millionaire to woo Sugar, who doesn’t recognise him dressed as a man. When Sugar tells him she’s on a trip performing in an all-female band, Joe pretends not to know about it “Does that mean you play that very fast music, er…jazz?” he asks.
“Yeah! Real hot!” Sugar says, in reference to a common description of jazz at the time, due to its association with emotive, uptempo dance music. “Oh well, I guess some like it hot,” Joe retorts. “I personally prefer classical music.”
The reason Wilder chose this line as the title for his film is that it takes on other meanings when applied to the story as a whole, as well as the wider context of Hollywood at the time. The word “hot” isn’t simply a reference to the type of jazz music Sugar’s band plays. It alludes to the salacious actions of Joe and Jerry in disguising themselves to join her band and get close to her and its other musicians.
Moreover, the expression in its entirety teases potential viewers of the movie, as well as more conservative elements of the mass media and general public, by nudging them towards the risque elements of its plot. In fact, the overwhelming success of Some Like It Hot despite the film openly flaunting content which was considered transgressive at the time was among the final nails in the coffin of the outdated Motion Picture Production Code.
Although the code would remain in place until 1968, it was effectively over the moment that Hollywood’s most popular movie featured Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag. Wilder’s title also implied that the film might not be to everyone’s taste. But 76 years on, it certainly should be for anyone who appreciates good comedy and great filmmaking.
