Joe and Jerry are musicians living in Prohibition-era Chicago. After accidentally witnessing a mob hit, they realize they’ll be targeted and killed if they’re found. To escape, they disguise themselves as women named Josephine and Daphne, and join an all-female band traveling to Florida. Along the way, Joe falls for the band’s singer, Sugar, and pretends to be a millionaire to impress her, while Jerry, as Daphne, ends up being wooed by a millionaire.

This was my first time watching Some Like It Hot and my first-ever Marilyn Monroe film. I have to say that this movie was really delightful. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are an irresistible duo, both bringing their own style of comedy to a ridiculous premise. Lemmon, in particular, transforms Jerry/Daphne from a silly plot device into a fully realized comic creation. His growing enthusiasm for the charade is, for me, the funniest bit of the entire film.

Watching Monroe in the role of Sugar, I can understand why history is so besotted with her. She is luminous on-screen, but there is a sense of melancholy beneath her performance, which could be either how Sugar was written or perhaps some of Monroe’s real-life woes seeping into the character. Regardless, Sugar becomes more than just a love interest for Curtis’s character.

Speaking of Curtis, as Joe, he’s the straight man to Lemmon and Monroe, grounding the film while never quite reaching the comedic heights of his co-stars. I will admit, I went into Some Like It Hot without knowing much about the plot, and at first I assumed Sugar and Jerry would fall in love because Monroe’s chemistry with Lemmon was much more pronounced than anything she managed on-screen with Curtis. From what I discovered after the fact, Curtis did not enjoy filming with Marilyn, so perhaps that affected his overall performance, and their chemistry suffered as a result.

Still, I think Some Like It Hot succeeds because everyone involved seemed fully committed to the comedic long con. It’s a movie that could have aged very poorly, given the premise, but the gags land today, and I can honestly say that the final line delivered by Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown) is one of cinema’s best-timed jokes. It’s a wonderfully crafted movie and well worth a watch, especially for Jack Lemmon’s iconic Oscar-nominated performance.

Watched: 02/06/2026
Notable Song: I’m Thru With Love by Marilyn Monroe