Some Like It Hot [Collector's Edition]

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It seems like only yesterday when the Special Edition of "Some Like It Hot" was hot off the presses. For the record, it was May 22, 2001, and now we have the new Collector's Edition staring us collectors down. Do we upgrade? Well, you're going to hate me for saying so, but the answer is yes.

Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon were conspicuously absent on the Special Edition, but substantial-enough clips of them are included in this new two-disc edition to make it worthwhile if you're a fan of either. The Special Edition lacked a commentary track, but there's one in the new version. It may only be average, but at least it's here. The biggest reason to upgrade, though, is that one of the all-time great American comedies just got another facelift. The new transfer was remastered in High Definition, and if you compare scenes you can definitely see a difference. It's cleaner, for one thing—less dirt-speck and scratch flicker—than on the previous release (which actually looked pretty good), while the black levels have been adjusted to where the entire picture has stronger but still natural-looking contrast, and the images are slightly sharper throughout. An unexpected visual bonus comes from the apparent tinkering that someone did with compression and aspect ratio. Originally, "Some Like It Hot" played in theaters at 1.85:1, but it was transferred to video at 1.66:1. To my eye, the new version looks best played on my TV's 16x9 aspect ratio option, while the Special Edition (also 1.66:1) looks odd at that ratio and has to be played at 4x3 (full screen). The new transfer is easier on the eyes because there's less figure distortion. And for an iconic film like this, you've got to have the best.

So what makes "Some Like It Hot" iconic? For one thing, it's arguably Marilyn Monroe's best picture. She sings, she coos, and she breaks your heart. It's also a showcase for Jack Lemmon, who has more fun in a dress than you'd ever imagine, and his every move and facial expression are snorts and giggles. "Some Like It Hot" was also a groundbreaking film because the premise was totally fresh. There was an element of risk in presenting a comedy about sex and gender in the 1950s, when everyone was just a little "I Like Ike" uptight. It got mixed reviews when it debuted in 1959, earning six Oscar nominations but only taking home the statue for black-and-white costume design, because "Ben-Hur" was trampling everything in its path. Over time, though, even places like The New York Times and Time magazine, which had given it less-than-stellar reviews, have come around to thinking that this comedy is one of the best that a Hollywood filmmaker has ever produced. Ultimately, what makes it iconic is that every time you watch it, "Some Like It Hot" seems more perfect: perfectly cast, perfectly written, perfectly timed, perfectly costumed, perfectly filmed, and perfectly edited. Lemmon says that the script should be mandatory reading in film school because of its perfect dialogue and construction, and I'm certainly not going to disagree.

But for film fans, it's not just the construction and dialogue. Sure, the dialogue is crisp and the plot is anything but contrived. From the moment we watch struggling musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon) witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and dress as women to land a gig in an all girl's band heading for Florida, we're sold on the characters and their situation. Especially when Monroe enters the picture and pretty much becomes the sun around whom everyone and everything else orbits. Intricacies of plot certainly hold our attention, but it's the small details that also help pull us in.

There's the high drama in the opening, for example, which is as good as any gangster picture. For a brief walk-on part they could have gotten by with just about anyone, but they got Pat O'Brien to play an Irish cop who comes down on bootleggers led by Spats Colombo (played by gangster icon George Raft). For a moment it's a heck of an action picture, with a hearse getting shot up as convincingly as any Warner Brothers gangster picture. Then there's the gorgeous location filming at the grand Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego, a National Landmark which was built in 1888. Take away that luxury hotel setting and you might as well take away the premise: that Sugar Kane is hoping to land one of the millionaires who come to Florida for their health (and bedroom wealth). Those who watched comedian/actor Joe E. Brown open his mouth wide in a trademark prolonged scream might think him a national treasure too, and the film's famous last line might have sounded incredibly different had it come from someone else.

What it all comes down to is that "Some Like It Hot" captures America and American humor as perfectly as Wilder directs the film. The American dream is here, as is the American work ethic, which is play hard/work hard. And the humor reflects a broad spectrum of American values. You won't find scatological jokes here or cheap laughs, or the kinds of humor that appeal to just a small segment of the public. There are sexual gags here, but they're as subtle as a grey flannel suit . . . as when a prone Curtis's foot rises in the air as Monroe kisses him. But even that was a set-up tied to character. Typical of a Wilder film, the humor derives from character, from situation, and from the clever-but-believable lines that are written into the script. In the end, it's as all-American a comedy as it gets.

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