'Some Like It Hot', 1959

Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis are indelibly linked in the public consciousness for two main reasons: firstly, they co-starred in the comedy classic, Some Like It Hot (1959); and secondly, because when asked what kissing Marilyn was like, Curtis allegedly replied, ‘Like kissing Hitler.’

According to Monroe’s first biographer, Maurice Zolotow, it happened one evening during filming, in the screening room.

‘In the darkness, someone said to Curtis, “You seemed to enjoy kissing Marilyn.” And he said loudly, “It’s like kissing Hitler.”

When the lights came on, Paula Strasberg (Marilyn’s drama coach) was crying. “How could you say a terrible thing like that, Tony?” she said.

“You try acting with her, Paula,” he snapped, “and see how you feel.” ‘

In his new book, Some Like It Hot: Me, Marilyn and the Movie (co-written with film historian Mark Viera), Curtis tells it slightly differently.

‘The lights came up. I had to leave. On my way out, some guy whom I didn’t recognize called out to me.

“Tony,” he said. “That was terrific. Hey. Tell me. What was it like kissing Marilyn?”

I didn’t stop to acknowledge him. I kept walking.

“What do you think it was like, buddy?” I got to the door. “Like kissing Hitler?”

I went through the door and slammed it after me.’

As recently as 2001, Curtis denied ever making the oft-quoted slur on Monroe. ‘I called her and we talked for a moment, and she understood that it was never said by me,’ he told broadcaster Larry King.

Film critic Mick LaSalle examined Tony’s account in ‘Some Like It True’, his San Francisco Chronicle review of November 2009.

‘He has spent two books trying to contextualize that remark, claiming that he was just being sarcastic, as if to say, “What do you think it’s like to kiss Marilyn? Like kissing Hitler?” ‘ LaSalle commented. ’If he wanted to be sarcastic and sardonically evoke someone unappealing, he might have said kissing her was like kissing, say, Milton Berle. Hitler may be a reference point, but not for ugliness or physical revulsion. He’s a reference point for moral horror, for someone you really, really hate.’

So why did Tony Curtis make such a vicious remark about Monroe, only to later deny insulting her? Marilyn’s erratic behaviour on film sets was already well-known when Some Like It Hot began shooting in 1958. Her chronic lateness and endless demands for retakes were notorious, but she was rivalled only by Elizabeth Taylor as the biggest female star of the era.

Director Billy Wilder had worked with Monroe before, on The Seven Year Itch (1955.)  ‘There was always something bothering her,’ he recalled. ‘Directing her was like pulling teeth.’ But while casting Some Like It Hot, Wilder received a letter from Monroe. ‘Marilyn wanted the part, so we had to have Marilyn,’ Wilder told Cameron Crowe in 1999. ‘We opened every door to get Marilyn.’

Monroe would complete two more films before her sudden death in 1962. The tragedy shook the world and in years to come, interest in her life only increased. ‘When you got her to the studio on a good day,’ Billy Wilder reflected, ‘she was remarkable. She had a quality that no-one else ever had on the screen, except Garbo.’

After Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis went on to star in Spartacus (1960) and The Boston Strangler (1968), as well as a TV show with Roger Moore, The Persuaders. In 1985 he played ‘The Senator’, a character based on Joseph McCarthy, in Nicolas Roeg’s Insignificance, alongside Theresa Russell as ‘The Actress’, a fictitious portrait of the now legendary Marilyn Monroe.

In recent years, Curtis has largely retired from acting. Now 84, he has published an autobiography, American Prince (2008), and regularly appears on television chat shows. Unsurprisingly, he is frequently asked to relate his memories of Some Like It Hot, and Marilyn in particular. Over time a vivid, but contradictory picture of his relationship with Monroe has emerged.

In American Prince, Curtis claimed to have had an affair with Marilyn in 1948, when she was still a struggling actress. Curtis has also stated in some interviews that the affair took place when Marilyn was 19, which would place it three years earlier. However, in 1945, Marilyn was not yet an actress, but a married factory worker and sometime model, still known as Norma Jeane Dougherty (she did not change her name or take up acting until the following year.)

Curtis’s latest memoir, Some Like It Hot: Me, Marilyn and the Movie (2009) dates their alleged romance at 1950, by which time Marilyn was no longer a ‘nobody’, but after key roles in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve, on the brink of stardom. Curtis was then a bit-player at Universal Pictures, on Hollywood’s ‘Poverty Row’. (He too would soon find fame in 1952’s Son of Ali Baba, shortly after marrying actress Janet Leigh, and Curtis later won praise for his performances in two 1957 films, Sweet Smell Of Success and The Defiant Ones.)

There is no record of an affair with Curtis in the many biographies of Monroe. All that is certain is that they did meet at least once in 1951, when they and several other young hopefuls were photographed together for a Life magazine feature, entitled ‘Stars of Tomorrow’.

In his autobiography, Curtis claimed that his supposed affair with Monroe was rekindled on the set of Some Like It Hot. All the more peculiar, then, that he should compare the experience to kissing Hitler. Now, in Some Like It Hot: Me, Marilyn and the Movie, Curtis makes an additional claim – that Marilyn became pregnant with his child during filming.

Curtis details a one-night stand with Marilyn early on in the shoot, and later, a confrontation with Monroe’s husband, Arthur Miller, where she implied that Tony was the father of her unborn baby. (Curtis’s wife, Janet Leigh, was also then expecting their second child, daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.)

In December 1958, shortly after Some Like It Hot wrapped, Marilyn suffered a miscarriage. Her pregnancy had lasted at least three months. Curtis has never before claimed that he might have fathered her child until Some Like It Hot: Me, Marilyn and the Movie was published earlier this year - even 2008’s American Prince, which covers Curtis’s relationship with Marilyn in detail, omits this scenario.

‘Tony Curtis’ new book…’ observed Mick LaSalle, ‘underscores one of the unsung advantages of longevity: If you live long enough, you can claim to have had sex with any of your contemporaries, so long as they’re not around to deny it.’

LaSalle notes the bizarre incongruity of Curtis having had a tender, passionate affair with Marilyn, while at the same time telling all who would listen that he detested her. His infamous ‘Hitler’ quote made headlines, and Marilyn later told a journalist, ‘You heard that there was some actor who said kissing me was like kissing Hitler? Well, I think that’s his problem…If I have to do intimate love scenes with a person who really has these kind of negative feelings about me, then my fantasy comes into play. It’s like, out with him, in with my fantasy. He was never there…’

Furthermore, Mick LaSalle has noted that the chapters where Curtis describes his liaisons with Monroe seem flat and unconvincing, with one exception – the love scene in Some Like It Hot.

Contrast Curtis’ accounts of their supposed sexual encounters with his memories of shooting the famous yacht scene in “Some Like It Hot.” Curtis has little to say about the sex, but not as though he’s gallantly leaving out details, but rather as though he can’t come up with anything – that is, besides a description of Monroe’s rear end, which I could write.

But Curtis is all details in describing the yacht scene shoot, in which Sugar (Monroe) tries to seduce Curtis, who is pretending to be impotent. She lay on top of him, an event which prompts Curtis’ single greatest line: “I got an erection … that would have killed an ordinary man.”

Interesting. To be driven to such extremes by just coming into contact with a woman he’s already slept with multiple times, including just a few nights before. It’s not impossible, of course. He was a young man, and she was one of the most desirable women of the era. But this recollection has a newness about it – a first-time feeling, a war-stories feeling, an almost bragging quality – that makes me suspect that this incident, on the set, was Curtis’ one and only intimate contact with Marilyn Monroe.

What is not in doubt, however, is that Marilyn was very difficult to work with at this time, and this may have prompted Tony Curtis’s public attack on her. ‘Tony had his hands full with Marilyn,’ co-star Jack Lemmon recalled. ‘She was ill. We didn’t know that until later. All we knew that she was driving everybody nuts. You might do forty takes with Marilyn. You might do one. Billy was gonna print the one that was best for her. I figured that out early on and I made up my mind, if I let this get to me, it’s going to hurt my performance.’

In February 1959, Billy Wilder told the New York Herald Tribune of his relief at having finished Some Like It Hot.

‘I am eating better,’ he said. ‘My back doesn’t ache any more. I am able to sleep for the first time in months. And I can look at my wife without wanting to hit her because she’s a woman. Would I direct Marilyn again? I have discussed this with my doctor and my psychiatrist and my accountant. They tell me I’m too old and too rich to go through it again.’

Nonetheless, Some Like It Hot was an instant success, and Marilyn won a Golden Globe for her role. It remains her most popular movie, and is now considered one of the greatest comedies ever made. Tony Curtis is justly proud of the film, and of his own fine performance.

Even without Some Like It Hot, Monroe’s mythic status is unsurpassed, whereas Curtis’s fame is forever tied to hers. This may explain his dilemma; resentment of Marilyn, and envy of her undiminished appeal, paired with his increasingly desperate need to forge a bond with her in the public imagination to sustain our interest.

Further Reading

Marilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress by Carl Rollyson (Umi Research Press, 1986)

Billy Wilder’s ‘Some Like It Hot’ by Billy Wilder, Alison Castle (Taschen, 2001)

Nobody’s Perfect: Billy Wilder – A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler (Simon & Schuster, 2002)

Call Me Bud – Jack Lemmon On Film by Nick Fuller (Authors Online, 2006)

The ‘Some Like It Hot’ Companion by Laurence Maslon (Pavilion, 2009)

It is always so wonderful to see a new Marilyn Monroe video.  This is a home movie and was in an attic for years, showing Marilyn possibly smoking pot.  She looks beautiful (of course), rested and comfortable,  having a nice time with her friends.  Kudos to Keya Morgan, The purchaser, who approved its upload on the web so we all can see!  Here’s the link:  http://www.france24.com/en/20091202-usa-marilyn-monroe-smoke-maijuana-cinema-hollywood-aution-movie

enjoy!  Sincerely Janet Valentine

www.tributetomarilyn.com

No estaba muy segura de hacerlo pero al final, una es madrugadora y ansiosa. Recuperé la bolsa del Gimnasio, me puse cómoda y baje los 6 pisos dando saltitos a lo Flash Dance.

Recordé cuando de pequeña veía la película Flash Dance en el Video Beta. Me encantaba la escena final. Jennifer Beals superandose a si misma. Bailando de manera espectacular delante de los  profesores y jurados. De pequeña soñaba en ser bailarina, actriz, abogada, forense… Lo que no sabía es que lo que me gustaba realmente eran los personajes de la tele o del cine. !  Como recuerdo el what a feeling y la profesora aplaudiendo!… Ahora entiendo que estas escenas son reflejos de la vida adulta. La gran superación. La superación de hechos que te dan miedo pero que tu  y solo tu, eres capaz de afrontar.

Pruebas. Atreverte a hacer cosas sola  y por primera vez. A luchar por una meta. A ser fuerte. !Superación personal! De pequeña sólo quería aprender la coreografía para la fiesta de fin de curso y ya está. La superación vendría con el tiempo.

Hoy hace un día tonto. Gris. Domingo a las 11:00 a.m. Nadie por la calle. Decido dar tumbos y subir por la plaza de la Vila de Gràcia ( antigua Rius i Taulet). Que barrio más bonito. ¿Porque no vine antes?, me pregunto. Hay dos ancianos sentados en un banco y dibujan algo en el suelo con el bastón. Los niños de ayer  dibujaron  figuras con tiza delante del ayuntamiento. El padre compra el periódico. Y él, llega de fiesta y se va a dormir.

Llego al gimnasio y entro. Toalla, taquilla, bañador…

Recibo sms de una amiga que me invita a desayunar en la plaza de la virreina. Le contesto: soy  la nueva Carrie Bradshaw y ya estoy en el gimnasio. Ella se sorprende de mi momento gym, pero estoy segura que apoya mi nueva vida. Y lo ha demostrado. Y estoy contenta que me ayude. Y mucho.

Nado. Como los perros, pero nado.  Voy por el carril llamado: especial- lento. De vez en cuando hago  el muerto. Mi abuelo me enseñó a hacer el muerto  un día en la playa. Hace ya mil años. El vigilante -monitor de la piscina tiene cara de resaca…maldice trabajar los festivos. Le entiendo. Le salpico sin querer y al ver su cara. Me sumergo y cambio al carril rápido…

No hay más que 3 personas. Lo bueno de los domingos me digo a mi misma. Sin gafas y consigo meterme en  la  Sauna. Me gusta la Sauna. El olor a la madera y lo lisa que te queda la piel. Hay un momento que te cuesta respirar y sabes que tienes que salir pero al mismo tiempo estás tan relajado. Busco gafas y  me ducho. Me apunto a Pilates. Hace mil años que no intentaba hacer llegar a la punta de los dedos… El profe ha querido acabar con la vida de las 10 Antonias ( señoras que podrían ser mi madre) y Yo. Únicas locas que un Domingo queremos estirar nuestro cuerpo…

Solo recuerdo: gritos de algunas compañeras. Yo aguantaba en silencio y de vez en cuando miraba al espejo y me veía. Roja, pequeña y poco flexible…

Mi primera clase de Pilates, pienso… la próxima dominarás más el arte de apretar los glúteos y mírarte el ombligo, de estirar la espalda vertebra por vertebra, de dejar las piernas flotando…si flotando al aire mientras apretas el ombligo, notas como tus costillas se alejan de la cadera, haces círculos con tus glúteos, respiras y expiras…, ombros atrás, busca tu centro, busca tu centro…manos presionando el suelo!

He creído morir. Y con dolor, he pensado que Derek Zoolander estaría orgulloso de mí. He pensado, lo cómica, que era la situación. Yo, por primera vez y sin una amiga en la clase de Pilates. Atrevida, con dolor y trabajando el abdómen. Roja, temblando, notando las costillas y mirándome al ombligo. El profesor, cogiendome la pierna y gritando: ¡así  aguanta, muy bien , no duele no duele!…

Duele. Y un poco. Pero en aquel preciso momento me vinieron a la cabeza escenas  de comedia. Y me puse a reír mentalmente. Sobretodo, porque seguía escuchando alaridos de dolor de algunas compañeras de la sala.

Y pensé en :

Buster Keaton, Slapstick, Zoolander,  Charles Chaplin, Ben  Stiller, Young Frankenstein, Monty Phyton, Zoolander, Some like it hot,  There’s Something About Mary, the Young Ones, La Vida de Brian, Flight of the Conchords, Bored to Death…

Pensé en el sentido de humor, en  reírme hasta caer del sofa y llorar.

Aquellos que me conocen reconocen mi risa. La boca bien abierta, tono alto y tiro la cabeza hacia atrás. Y a reír, reír, reír. Fuerte, fuerte, fuerte. Esa soy yo. La que de todo hago un chiste. La que digo tonterias. La que repite las frases de La vida de Brian de los Monty Phyton y no para de reír recordando el momento lapidación. La que adora a Ben Stiller. La que llora con Ben Stiller. La que pasa you tubes de Ben Stiller a sus amigas y se descojona. La que ama a Ben Stiller. La que querría Casarse con Ben Stiller. Esta soy yo. La que hace un chiste de algo tonto que le ha pasado por el camino. La que hace sitcoms de comedia  en cualquier momento.

La vida es cómica. Y no olvideís de dar las gracias por ello.

Am Samstag war ich auf einer kleinen, quasi-privaten Milonga und hinterher ungefähr so euphorisiert wie Daphne alias Jerry in der Bettszene unten. Auf meine Umgebung (drei Nerds mit Lizenz zum Töten) hätte ich auch dann nicht idiotischer wirken können, wenn ich noch ein paar Idiophone geschüttelt hätte.

Übrigens: das Ding mit der Rose ist ja immer für einen Lacher gut …

Noch nicht wach? Hier gibt’s mehr Muntermacher!

'Some Like It Hot', 1959

Penny McGuiggan, a trumpeter and actress who appeared in Billy Wilder’s classic 1959 gangster spoof, Some Like It Hot, has died. Her (then uncredited) role was as a member of Sweet Sue’s Society Syncopators, an all-girl jazz band headed by conductor Sweet Sue (Joan Shawlee), singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), and their hapless, bespectacled male manager, Bienstock (Dave Barry.)

On the run from the mob, two unemployed musicians, Jerry (Jack Lemmon) and Joe (Tony Curtis) don drag and infiltrate the band. Scored by Alfred Deutsch and arranged by Matty Malneck, the film’s soundtrack also features songs including Running Wild, I Wanna Be Loved By You and I’m Through With Love. One of the film’s funniest scenes has the ‘Sweet Sues’ throw a chaotic drinks party during an overnight train ride.

In later years, McGuiggan joined the Marilyn Remembered fan club and often spoke at the yearly memorial services about her memories of Monroe. Fellow member Scott Fortner has described Penny as ‘a warm and caring person with endearing charm and sparkling blue eyes…a joy to be around.’ Penny would also sometimes play the same trumpet used in Some Like It Hot.

McGuiggan was interviewed by Michelle Morgan for her 2007 book, Marilyn Monroe: Private And Undisclosed. Unlike other colleagues who found Marilyn difficult to work with, Penny’s recollections were very positive…

‘Adorable, very, very charismatic. The first time I saw her, she was walking down the street, just coming from the hairdressers. She had rollers in her hair and was wearing slacks, but still all the attention was riveted on her; she looked spectacular. Marilyn was always late on the set, but that was an advantage because I was originally contracted for two weeks, but that went up to four months.’

In 2000, members of the American Film Institute voted Some Like It Hot best comedy of all time (it also ranks 14th in their list of the greatest American films.) With the passing of Penny McGuiggan, one of our last remaining links to this comic masterpiece, and its star, Marilyn Monroe, is now broken.

A short featurette, Memories Of The Sweet Sues, is included on the special and limited edition DVDs of Some Like It Hot. The ‘Sweet Sues’ reminisced about Marilyn Monroe with the utmost respect and admiration. And Penny herself discussed the legendary star more recently in an upcoming documentary, My Marilyn.

“I don’t care how rich he is as long as he has a yacht, his own private railroad car and his own toothpaste.” ~~Sugar Kane

Wiseguys, lust, boozers, a massacre, elevator gropings, love, transvestitism — calling Billy Wilder’s nutty “Some Like It Hot” a movie with “something for everyone” is tantamount to describing Marilyn Monroe as “good-looking.” There’s nary a taboo topic left untackled in this darkly comic free-for-all. But what’s crazier than the script is the fact that Wilder pulls off everything he tries — and how. There’s not a single misstep here. “Some Like It Hot” is a real diamond, alright, and the kind Sugar Kane’s just panting to put on her finger.

And much like any glittery bauble, Wilder’s film is easy to appreciate, hard to describe. What seems simple becomes complex upon inspection. There are so many nuances hidden beneath the slapstick and the knee-slappers in “Some Like It Hot” that a magnifying glass couldn’t catch them. These complications begin with Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s screenplay, which thrusts us into 1929 Chicago and the lives of Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), two musicians scraping by on meager gigs. Then the two become the only living witnesses to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and escape, but not before mafioso Spats Colombo (George Raft) gets a gander at their faces. What to do, what to do? Why, dress in drag — Joe becomes “Josephine,” Jerry, “Daphne” – and join an all-girl jazz band headed to Florida!

Hilarity ensues. Wait, that’s another understatement. The cross-dressing signals the film’s turn into hard-core comedy, a winning combination of pratfalls and one-liners rendered perfect by crack timing. Enter Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), the band’s lead singer, and all unholy hell busts loose. Joe falls for her but he’s dressed in drag. Step careful, Josephine — or should I say “Junior”? Jerry catches the eye of millionaire Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown), a revolving door of wives who has no idea his pearl’s hiding more than bloomers under that dress. Osgood’s a persistent little sucker, too, despite Daphne’s rebukes: “Pull in your reel, Mr. Fielding, you’re barking up the wrong fish!” And of course Spats and his minions are nipping at Joe and Jerry’s heels.

All these balls whipping through the air, all landing right where they should — this is the true wizardry of “Some Like It Hot,” a masterpiece masquerading as a haphazard mess. Perhaps the film is an exercise in madness, but it’s chaos on purpose. Out of control and random as things sometimes seem, Wilder’s behind the curtain grinning away, knowing his script will reveal all to us if we keep our ears perked and our eyes peeled. His eye for design, too, serves him well; he creates a vivid black-and-white portrait of 1929 America, where not even sexy jazz clubs and gin joints can obscure the harsh realities of life.

Wilder’s characters, however, have learned to turn their lemons into martinis. Curtis lights up the screen as Josephine/Junior, a man willing to be anyone but himself to get what he wants. Joe’s an escapist at heart, someone willing to “hock the paddle” when he’s up the creek financially, and Curtis lends him a debonair air of adventure and romance. Lemmon is the opposite; Jerry’s all manic exuberance. Lemmon’s timing is spot-on, and every movement feels juiced with total enthusiasm. (Note his hysterical reaction to Osgood’s proposal.) Together, these two are nothing less than sheer comedic perfection.

As for Monroe, well, before “Some Like It Hot” her much-lauded allure escaped me. Now all the hype makes perfect sense. Monroe projects a captivating mix of boldness and vulnerability. There’s something dented about Monroe that suggests she’s more than a pin-up queen who can carry a tune. Wilder captures this essence – Jerry’s bang-on when he calls Sugar “Jell-O on springs” – flawlessly; he trusts Monroe to find the character, and sure enough she makes Sugar Kane the kind of bruised bombshell who’s twice as intriguing as she is beautiful.

Yes, that’s the real kicker of Wilder’s creation, those layers of intrigue begging to be picked through. ”Spills, thrills, laughs and games. This may even turn out to be a surprise party,” Jerry tells Sugar. That’s “Some Like It Hot” to the letter.

I do.

Guess the inspiration came to me when I watched “Revenge of the nerds”.

Attack of the Misplaced Genitalia!

 The gays have long enjoyed a playful relationship with gender.  And why not?  Since many of us have already disregarded rules like “That’s an exit, not an entrance”, “No spitting tobacco juice on the sidewalk”, “The booty dance is not for white people”, and “Go to church!”, it’s not hard to understand how the social mores that rigidify and categorize human experience wouldn’t be much to our liking, either.  Gender rebels abound in the gay world, in fact.  Witness drag maven RuPaul and her Drag Race dynasty, a reality show that takes boys and turns them into men who will kick your ass if you have a problem with them looking like fabulous flamingo women.  Witness the mullet, a manishly short in the front, lady-long in the back hairstyle popular amongst rural lesbians that says “I fix trucks real good, hoss.”

While my own particular stripe of gender rebellion is confined mostly to the wearing of men’s shoes and, on occasion, men’s pants (with its hilarious phantom bulge), I’ve always been a fan of gender envelope pushery demonstrated in music and film.  When done right, depictions of male/female turnabout can really launch a flaming arrow into the methane-bloated sacred cow of  gender.  Take for example Some Like It Hot (the 1959 Billy Wilder film, not the 1985 Power Station tune):  this film is a multi-faceted gem that hilariously lampoons the cultural tyranny that defines and limits human beings based on outward appearances.  By dressing its lady-killer protagonists (Tony Curtis and the phenomenal Jack Lemmon) as women and setting them loose in an all-girl band with a gig at a resort, Wilder shows us that walking the straight and narrow path defined by your perceived gender is a bitch if you happen to suck at walking in high heels.  This struggle is most clearly epitomized by the train scene  in which the phenomenal Jack Lemmon, disguised as “Daphne”, struggles to maintain his feminine cover while Marilyn Monroe and a cast of dozens of women practically crawl all over him.  He tries to offset the torture of turn-on with the mantra “I’m a girl, I’m a girl, I’m a girl!”, but it doesn’t work.  The scene rings with a truth that any gender transcender can immediately identify: you can try to wear the “right” uniform and  obey the rules, but you can still lose the game.  The train scene is especially compelling from a lesbian perspective:  people bearing female visual signifiers are not supposed to be aroused by other girls, but as Some Like It Hot points out sometimes they are, no matter what they tell themselves, and the only thing a girl in this situation can do to stay out of trouble  and remain true to the expectations imposed upon her gender is to pull the brakes on the whole soul train.  Another of my favorite cultural salvos against gender tyranny is the song “Lola” by The Kinks, an ode to an amazing creature who “walks like a woman and talks like a man”.  In record time, (about 4 minutes) the song  gives voice to the assertion that gender conformity is only for the naive and self-deluded.  Lola’s love interest, a bloke who “left home about a week before and… never, ever kissed a woman before” becomes a man only by accepting the less-than-manly side of his nature. It’s worth remembering that “Lola” is an artifact of the ’70’s, a time when the rigidity of the 50’s (without which the incendiary Some Like It Hot would not be possible) was briefly defeated and all its proponents cast as squares who don’t get it.  I love “Lola” and  Some Like It Hot because they depict the gender transcender point of view with witty insight and compassion.

And then there’s Superman #349, “The Turnabout Trap”.  I can’t believe I missed Superman #349 when it was published in the summer of 1980.  The issue came to my attention nearly 30 years post-publication courtesy of The Gift Shop At The Statue Of Corrupted Endeavor, the superbly icono-smart-ass-clastic gift app created for Facebook by my brother.  When I received the gift of  Superman #349’s cover, complete with Hank’s tagline “part one of the never completed ‘Superman; Under A Pink Sun’ epic” I did what any self-respecting aging Gen-Xer would do when confronted with a missing artifact of their childhood, which was to hit that “Buy It Now” button on eBay with a quickness that rivalled that of the proverbial speeding bullet.  Having grown up loving Some Like It Hot and “Lola”, how could I possibly resist an opportunity to experience Wonder Woman as a studly dude or Superman as a delicious female badass?  In the end, I have to say I’m glad I missed it the first time around.  Let’s break it down, shall we?

In Superman #349: “The Turnabout Trap”, our big blue boy scout  returns to Earth from an outer space adventure only to be surrounded by gender-opposite versions of everyone he knows, including himself.  Handsome Louis Lane stands in for Superman’s lady-love Lois Lane, Penny White calls the shots at “The Daily Planet” instead of Perry White and (Great Scott!) the entire Justice League of America has apparently undergone gender reassignment surgery!   But to the obsessive careful reader, there’s another twist to be found within this twist: these gender-opposite substitutes actually manifest the gender of their original counterparts in subtle but very telling ways.  The ladies sport mannish threads  and the gents flounce some decidedly femmey fashions.  Jenny Olson retains Jimmy’s blazer and bow tie, as well as his boyish slouch.  Clark Kent counterpart Clara Kent researches the “Daily Planet”’s morgues, crisply attired in suit skirt and her hair swept up off her butchy shoulder pads.  And frankly, the only thing that differentiates puffy-sleeve-rocking Superboy from Supergirl is a scant couple inches of hair and maybe a few months’ worth of hormone treatments.   These characters are not cross dressers, really,  so much as they are androgynous winksters.

Ladyfellas and girlymen:  hmmm…this looks pretty gay to me.  The creative team behind the issue tries to play it safe with the radical premise of gender contraires and the result is utter sidewalk-spitting, booty dancing gayness.  It could be said that the gayness of  Superman #349’s gender romp is likely an accidental by-product of the continuity efforts of creative team behind the issue.  After all, comics are allegedly for children, and therefore it would make sense that in order for “the kids” to understand that, for example, the lady with the red hair is supposed to be Jimmy Olson, that same red-haired woman should also retain a certain Jimmy sais quois, such as his bow tie.  Such androgynous flourishes not only serve as useful visual cues to help tip-off young readers as to the true identity of the turnabout twins, they also subtly and homophobically reassure them that Clark Kent may be wearing a skirt, but he’s no sissy.  But despite the creative team’s “best” efforts to assert underlying gender normality, the gayness of this world cannot be denied.  Any doubt of this can be assuaged by the brief appearance (as well as the appearance of the briefs) of Black Condor, the male version of Black Canary.  In attempting to reinforce his “actual” gender by way of deep-cuffed pirate go-go boots and tight black plum-smuggler shorts, Black Condor’s creators reassure the reader of nothing but Black Condor’s place in the Hot Piece Hall of Fame.

“Girls will be boys/And boys will be girls/It’s a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook up world…”: Superman #349 is ”Lola” come to 5 color life, with the notable omission of the brilliant insight conveyed by the line ”except for Lola.”  The issue could learn quite a bit from the song, as Superman #349  lacks appreciation for the fact that gender transgression is ultimately most troubling to those who blindly follow the rules of gender with no inner reflection towards the possibility that not all of the rules are right for everyone, themselves included.  As Ray Davies points out, the only beacon of clarity and order in such a chaotic world is Lola herself.  At first glance, a she-male like Lola would personify confusion, yet she is exempt from it because she knows who she is.  Her existence agitates confusion only amongst those who don’t really know who they are themselves.  When confronted with such a world, Superman instantly assumes “someone” is out to drive him “crazy”.  Of course.  It’s in this assumption we know exactly where our hero is coming from: the 50’s.  The openness of his mind  to diversity measures a whopping “Zero” on the six-point Kinsey Scale.  So I guess it goes without saying that it doesn’t even occur to Superman to notice how hot he is as a woman.  In the hands of the #349 creative team, gender discrepancies are wrongs for Superman to right.  Interestingly, these wrongs are the products of magic and guess what?  In one of those comic book caveats as inspired and enduring as a “let’s pretend” playtime loophole, Superman is powerless against magic!  (Probably because he’s such a fucking square.)  So it’s up to his powers of logic and deductive reasoning to find a way out of this “Turnabout Trap.”  It takes only a few pages for Superman to sus out the perpetrator: one Mr. Mxyzptlk. 

Mr. Mxyzptlk is a classic Superman adversary, a bald little sprite who’s not dangerous as much as he is mischievous, has always been on hand to lend the Superman saga a much-needed element of imaginative fun.  It’s too bad he was recruited to personify the lack of it in this issue.   As the stand-in creator of the chaos created by the 349 team, Mr. M doubles as an enforcer of the gender norms underlying the issue.  As the mouthpiece of its politics and presumptions, Mr. M. is eventually called to task by Superman with mind-bendingly disappointing results.  The sorry cards are laid on the table in the issue’s final pages when Superman confronts Mr. M and learns that this magical world of gender reassignment was created not to challenge Superman’s narrow-mindedness, but to (and this is baffling to me) punish him.  Superman’s crime: he has something that Mr. M doesn’t– a successful love life.  Needless to say, this explanation ranks right up there with A Christmas Story’s “Be Sure To Drink Your Ovaltine” as a Classic Kid Culture Rip-Off Golden Moment.  In fact, I’m pretty sure my reaction was exactly as foul-mouthed as Ralphie’s.  What I found especially bull-worthy about Mr. M’s revenge on Superman was that he basically gave the entire planet a sex change so that Superman wouldn’t have Lois Lane to smooch on. Why go to all the trouble? Why didn’t he just turn her into a toaster or something?  The sex-change premise of the issue is sensationalistic in its inception and executed with bad writing.   Utter crap!  That gender rebels were exploited to the tune of 40 cents an issue was at first pretty irksome to me, and then I thought about it some more and got even more pissed off.

Okay, so Mr. M wanted revenge, and he went about it in a really big and poorly written way.  Superman’s cross-examination of Mr. M (and by proxy), the 349 creative team fails to ask the real question and that is “Why is this revenge so gay?”  That this question is never asked is indicative of the very real likelihood that it was probably considered too dumb to even be asked.  Asking why a gay world is a worthy weapon against “good” is like questioning Lex Luthor why death rays are useful in killing good people.  The question goes unasked because asking it would call to task the issue’s very foundation, that foundation being the presumption that the limiting and inhibiting rules of gender connote a world as it “should” be, and those who transgress are  not natural and not right.  In its way, this ending is to me is the turnabout twin of  the sublime last scene in in Some Like It Hot.  The end of the film finds Jack Lemmon’s Daphne riding off in the sunset with her beau, a rich gentleman by the name of Osgood (played with uncanny comic timing by Joe E. Brown) and into another cover-compromising pickle: imminent marriage.  Daphne, frantic to extricate herself from this situation, pummels Osgood with numerous reasons why he shouldn’t marry her but the cheerfully enamored Osgood shrugs them off, one by one.    Even when Daphne hammers Osgood with the most compelling reason she can think of: “I’m a man”, Osgood is unswayed.  “Nobody’s perfect”, he responds.  With just these two words, Some Like It Hot shows itself to be the opposite of Superman #349 because it says gender really doesn’t matter and the joke is on anyone who thinks it does.

Post Script: Gender Transcendence is alive and well today:  Check out Cecilia Bartoli’s Sacrificium album and Dana Baitz or just get your Google freak on and find it yourself.

The Adventures of Meme

The hottest new Trending Tweet this weekend is the ‘#oneletteroffmovies’ pandemic thats infecting everyone from @JodiEconGirl and RainnWilson to this idiot. It’s inspired everything from clever double emtendre to God-awful attempts at mild sexual humor and this guy who I stole the blog idea from. Here are some of the worst I’ve seen so far…

• James and the Giant Beach
  • Mildly amusing, until thousands of others destroyed it.
• Pounders
  • Really? Every new-fuckin’-haircut wearin’ Guido that tweeted this, kindly burn your computer and start over from scratch.
• Some Like It Not
  • I saw this one 7 times on one particular click on the TT. Next one I catch tweeting this may or may not end up in a river on Monday’s front page.
    • Sidenote: I hope they don’t make a Saw movie 7 times. That whole series is tantamount to garbage.
• I can’t believe #oneletteroffmovies is still going. Is that a record for a hashtag game? Whatever would @frizfrizzle say?
  • I don’t give a fuck. I didn’t click on this TT to  read your stupid opinion and hypothetical questions.
• One for Bush & Blair; Start Wars
  • Really? If it happened almost a decade ago, stop bitching about it. Everyone hates Bush now. That’s old news.

It gets worse. These are just first five excessive uses of farce I came across. Just click here to bask in the terror. Post some good ones, bad ones, or job opportunities for a motivated young  college grad in the comments.

According to Syd Field’s book Screenplay, it is on page 25 that the first Plot Point should occur. And he’s right. It works. Here’s a few examples of page 25 moments through movie history…

CASABLANCA, min. 25: Ilsa and Victor Laszlo enter Rick’s bar for the first time. Up until this point, Rick has continually pointed out to others that he sticks his neck out for no one — his goal is to merely stay out of trouble. He seems unfazed by others, be they Nazi Majors, Police Captains or beautiful women. But when Ilsa and Rick’s eyes lock at min 25, we know the stakes have been raised — he might stick his neck out for this one. This Plot Point ushers us into ACT II, where he will cease merely existing and CHOOSE to seduce Ilsa away from Victor — he’ll stick his neck out now, but only to pursue selfish desires. The second Plot Point, at the start of ACT III, will be the moment Rick springs his plan to get Ilsa and Victor onto a plane into action and he becomes the opposite of what he was at the beginning. Not only has he been reborn as a man who will stick his neck out, he’ll stick it out for a cause bigger than himself or Ilsa.

SOME LIKE IT HOT, min 25:  We learn of Joe and Jerry’s choice to flee town with the all-women band by cutting to them, in drag, on the train platform. Up to that point, they’d been exhausting every other option to avoid being rubbed-out by the mob.  With nothing left to lose, they CHOOSE to leave Chicago, and their dignity, behind. It’s also at minute 25 that we first see Marilyn Monroe as she boards the train, and the camera gives her a head-to-toe goings-over that lets us know, in the language of cinema, that her intellect is respected above all else.

THE GRADUATE, min 25:  Ben calls Mrs. Robinson and invites her to a hotel. Back at minute 12, she had tried to seduce him (in a scene you may have seen referenced several thousand times). But he resists her smokey, smokey charms because…well…it would turn future, family dinners into etiquette nightmares. But then her gin-soaked husband lectures Ben about making the most of his youth — playing the field, and so on — and his parents throw him the world’s lamest, birthday, pool-party. Seeing the adults around him trapped in a lifestyle he’s not eager to embrace, he CHOOSES to call Mrs. Robinson at minute 25 as a way of procrastinating his own perceived decent into his parent’s stolid existence (see: dictionary definition of “passive-aggressive”).

MORE EXAMPLES…

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, min 25:  Indiana Jones walks into Marion’s bar, gaining the world’s worst sidekick and the bronze medallion that leads him to the Ark. But first they have a Casablanca moment with the genders reversed — he left her and now she’s the drunk with a bar — “Of all the Mongolian gin joints in the world, he had to walk into mine.”

GROUNDHOG DAY, min 25: Phil wakes-up to “I Got You Babe” for the third time. He’s already lived the same day over again once, but at minute 25, he realizes this problem isn’t going away. He CHOOSES to stop going through the motions and actively changes his behavior. He refuses to cover Punxsuntawney Phil and begins his journey of…doing stuff without consequences…

On page 25, your character should make a CHOICE that changes the direction of the story and sends it on an irreversible journey towards the film’s climax. Some films have this moment happen at minute 27 or 29, and that’s fine. But in your script, discipline yourself and make Readers, Agents and Producers know you’ve got a handle on your story by sticking Plot Point One on good ol’ 25.

Thanks for reading. Tune in tomorrow for another tip from Screenplay that I’ll be discussing. And feel free to leave your own thoughts in the “Comments” section!

– Benjamin

It’s official, 2009 is the year of revisiting bygone cinema crazes (this is not actually official). The recent popularity of 3D technology with such films as Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, G-Force and James Cameron’s much anticipated Avatar has meant donning a pair of 3D glasses to watch even the trailers is now commonplace.

That most romantic of retro cinematic images seems also to be making a minor comeback: the drive-in. Although outdoor cinemas are customary during British summers, drive-in cinemas are more deeply associated as part of American teen culture; groups of spirited youths rolling up in their convertibles, girls in gingham transforming boys into men behind steamed up windows.

The Big Chill festival had its own static version, with cars sprayed by top Monsterism cartoonist Pete Fowler set up in front of a screen. Branchage decided to go for the real thing. Park up in your allotted bay and the audio is transmitted to your car radio, genius. What is slightly puzzling is that the decision to stage the drive-in at Branchage was based on the thought that it is relatively impervious to the whims of the weather; unlike outdoor cinemas, you have a cosy warm car to retreat into. If Britain’s weather conditions are suited to the drive-in, it’s mystifying why it hasn’t taken off. So, for anyone drive-in-curious, here’s a helpful five-point survival guide.

1. Some like it hot
Although cars do make excellent shelters, staring at a picture blurred by a waterlogged windscreen, wipers on full pelt, may diminish the enjoyment somewhat – though it may add atmospheric dimensions to Blade Runner. Equally, a muggy evening has the miraculous ability to turn your car into an oven on wheels. There are few simple ways around this. Air conditioning requires turning on engine, enough cars with the same idea would lead to a dizzy head and ringing ears. Turning the blower thing on would just give every film an annoying wind effect. And winding your windows down defeats the one advantage of drive-in cinemas, mentioned next.

2. Le dîner de cons
The big advantage of drive-ins (the only one I could think of) is that they marry the enjoyment of the big screen with the pleasures of home viewing: being able to eat all manner of pungent food as loudly as you like, make as many banal comments at whatever volume you choose, all without having to worry about upsetting fellow cinema goers.

3. Duel
Certain charms of the cinema are not present, such as the joys of social interaction. The cinema occupants are like one big family for 90 minutes, except you don’t have to go and make a cup of tea every time someone takes their clothes off. Drive-ins, however, have a distinctly Cartesian feel, being cut off as you are from other viewers. The only interaction is manoeuvring your way in and out of your place at the start and end – which is 10 times more awkward because you’re in a big anger-enhancing car.

4. Range Riders
Avoid screenings in more affluent areas. Being parked behind a family estate, I found out, is the equivalent of being sat behind a large fidgety man wearing a sombrero. As the drive-in revival is still in its infancy, there is no established etiquette for these situations, so the default is first come first served.

5. Only Two Can Play
Environmental impacts are questionable as getting there by public transport somewhat defeats the point. You could go with friends, but as the backseat only offers back-of-head views, the sharing limit is two. The drive-in may have been a ruse to live out a nostalgia trip and feel up your date on the back seat, but then you don’t want someone peering at from the rear-view mirror. And if you do, then we have a further danger (which doesn’t deserve its own section) that drive-ins may become mass dogging hot spots. You could of course take a larger car with maximal viewing potential, but then we’re back to the problem of size etiquette.

Mr. Miller,

Continually being handcuffed to the passenger seat of this truck is starting to piss me off. Dan had me sleep in the truck last night out of fear that I would beat him in the face with my fists. I must say that he is beginning to catch on to my repeated threats of assault. Good for him.

He woke up God knows how early to begin the 12 hour haul from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Hollywood. We arrived about an hour ago and have been sitting in the truck, pulled over into the shoulder on the Hollywood Freeway, amidst all the litter and broken dreams.

Dan has been thinking of the best move to make next. His first idea was to drive over to Paramount Studios with an outline for his screenplay (titled trucKING Royalty), and “naturally assume shooting would start later that day.”

Now I may not be some Hollywood Star, but I sincerely doubt that all it takes to get a major motion picture studio to begin work on your 1-page screenplay outline is to “show up in a truck and let nature take its course,” as Dan mentioned. I attempted to convince him of this, but it’s no use. I only temporarily halted this embarrassing moment while Dan ponders the best place to park Barbara in Hollywood while he gets us suits to show up in.

Another idea of his is to meet up with some of his “Halo buddies” (apparently it’s some video game. GOD, does everything have to be about “buddies” with this guy?!). There’s a tournament in LA tonight, and apparently you can win money by playing this video game. He assures me that many of Hollywood’s social elite are also addicted to this game, so while there he can network and get his screenplay in the hands of a studio executive.

As much as I bitch and complain about this situation, I must admit that I have a small, small hope in the pit of my stomach that this movie deal will actually go through. Dan has stated he’ll split the money 50/50 with me. That cash would be great. And plus, the whole idea of being a famous movie star ain’t bad either.

Who knows what’ll happen next. But even if I get rich thanks to Dan, I’m still gonna punch the little prick in the neck for handcuffing me to this seat. At least the last buddy film he showed was Some Like it Hot. That Norma Jeane’s quite the looker.

- Eddie

 Marilyn Monroe is possibly still one of the most famous women in the world and seems that she will never go out of style or be forgotten. From acting to modelling. She was married three times, to James Dougherty then Joe DiMaggio and then to Arthur Miller. Alledged affairs with the Kennedys, including President John F. Kennedy whom it was rumoured that she was in love with. But also rumoured that she had affairs with Robert and Jack Kennedy. She was a very young 36 years old when she died, and her death was never really concluded. A few different options were given and suicide was one of them.

I have to admit that I have not yet seen many of her movies, but I really do plan on trying to watch as many of them as possible. So far I have only seen two movies all the way through those are “All About Eve” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, I have seen bits and parts of some of her other movies but I am not counting that I have seen them as have not watched from start of finish. (Yes I know its shocking that I have no watched “Some Like It Hot” or “The Seven Year Itch” all the way through). But that is one of my goals to get to see her movies.

Marilyn really does have some fantastic quotes which she said over the years and I love so many of them, mainly because I can relate and feel the same way about a lot of the things she has said. In some of the quotes she really does sound like she had to defend herself so much and really fight against everyone to show that she was a good actress. But I just think she really was something else, one of a kind and know one has ever come close to what she achieved in such a short time really in Hollywood terms from a young age.

“It’s all make believe, isn’t it?”

“If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere.”

“I don’t mind living in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it.”

“I love to do the things the censors won’t pass.”

“A career is wonderful thing, but you can’t snuggle up to it on a cold night.”

“It’s better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone.”

“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

“Sex is part of nature. I go along with nature.”

“If I play a stupid girl and ask a stupid question I’ve got to follow it through. What am I supposed to do – look intelligent?”

“It’s woman’s spirit and mood a man has to stimulate in order to make sex interesting. The real lover is the man who can thrill you by touching your head or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space.”

“Men who think that a woman’s past love affairs lessen her love for them are usually stupid and weak. A woman can bring a new love to each man she loves, providing there are not too many.”

“I restore myself when I’m alone.”

“If you can make a girl laugh – you can make her do anything…”

“No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they’re pretty, even if they aren’t.”

I saved my most favorite quote to post last, I really just think it is the best and think it describes myself.

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure, I make mistakes, i’m out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”

Jentekveld. Musikk, sminke, bilder, mat, masse godteri, brus og filmer. Også gikk vi tur med hundene til Mills, og tok bilder til stillbildefilmen min. Elise er superpusseyyyy når det kommer til skrekkfilmer. Så 2001 maniacs (som bare er morsom, og en av mine <33), litt av Fritt vilt ogogogog Some like it hot med Marilyn Monroe. Kul film! Dere er herlige

]]> http://39escalones.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/cine-en-fotos-una-comida-en-1972/ Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:01:58 +0000 39escalones http://39escalones.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/cine-en-fotos-una-comida-en-1972/

“No regresé a Los Ángeles hasta 1972, con motivo de la presentación en el festival de El discreto encanto de la burguesía (…). Un día, recibí de George Cukor una invitación a comer, invitación extraordinaria, pues no le conocía. Invitaba también a Serge Silberman y Jean-Claude Carrière, que estaban conmigo, y a mi hijo Rafael, que vive en Los Ángeles. Irían también, nos decía, “varios amigos”.

Fue una comida extraordinaria. Llegados los primeros a la magnífica mansión de Cukor, que nos recibió calurosamente, vimos entrar, medio llevado por una especie de esclavo negro provisto de poderosos músculos, a un viejo espectro vacilante, con un parche en el ojo, a quien reconocí como John Ford. Nunca habíamos coincidido. Con gran sorpresa por mi parte, pues creía que ignoraba hasta mi existencia, se sentó a mi lado en un sofá y dijo alegrarse de mi regreso a Hollywood. Me anunció, incluso, que preparaba una película -a big western-, cuando habría de morir pocos meses después.

En este momento de la conversación, oímos el arrastrarse de unos pasos sobre el parquet. Me volví. Hitchcock entraba en la sala, todo rechoncho y sonrosado, y se dirigía a mí con los brazos extendidos. Tampoco le conocía personalmente, pero sabía que en varias ocasiones había cantado públicamente mis alabanzas. Se sentó junto a mí y, luego, exigió estar a mi izquierda durante la comida. Con un brazo pasado sobre mis hombros, casi echado sobre mí, no cesaba de hablar de su bodega, de su régimen (comía muy poco) y, sobre todo, de la pierna cortada de Tristana: “¡Ah, esa pierna…!”

Llegaron luego William Wyler, Billy Wilder, George Stevens, Rouben Mamoulian, Robert Wise y un director mucho más joven, Robert Mulligan (…). Se celebraba en mi honor una extraña reunión de fantasmas que nunca se habían encontrado así reunidos y que hablan todos de los good old days, de los buenos tiempos. De Ben-Hur a West Side Story, de Some like it hot a Notorious, de Stagecoach a Giant, cuántas películas alrededor de aquella mesa…

Después de la comida, alguien tuvo la idea de llamar a un fotógrafo de prensa para que tomase el retrato de familia (…). Desgraciadamente, John Ford no figura en ella. Su esclavo negro había ido a buscarlo en medio de la comida. Nos dijo débilmente adiós y se marchó para no volver a vernos más, tropezando con las mesas.

En el transcurso de la comida se hicieron varios brindis. George Stevens, en particular, levantó su copa “por lo que, pese a nuestras diferencias de origen y creencias, nos reúne alrededor de esta mesa”.

Yo me levanté y acepté brindar con él, pero, siempre receloso de la solidaridad cultural, con la que siempre se cuenta demasiado, “bebo -dije- pero me quedan mis dudas”.

Al día siguiente, Fritz Lang me invitó a visitarlo a su casa. Demasiado fatigado, no había podido asistir a la comida celebrada en casa de Cukor. Yo tenía entonces setenta y dos años. Fritz Lang rebasaba los ochenta.

Nos veíamos por primera vez. Charlamos durante una hora, y tuve tiempo de decirle el decisivo papel que sus películas habían ejercido en la elección de mi vida. Luego, antes de separarnos -y ello no entra dentro de mis costumbres-, le pedí que me dedicase una fotografía.

Bastante sorprendido, buscó una y me la firmó. Pero era una fotografía de su vejez. Le pregunté si no tendría, además, una fotografía de los años veinte, de la época de Der müde Tod y de Metropolis.

Encontró una y escribió una magnífica dedicatoria. Luego, me despedí de él y regresé al hotel.

No sé muy bien qué hice de esas fotografías. Una se la di al cineasta mexicano Arturo Ripstein. La otra debe de estar en alguna parte”.

Luis Buñuel. Mi último suspiro.

Fotografía. De izquierda a derecha, arriba: Robert Mulligan, William Wyler, Georges Cukor, Robert Wise, Jean Claude Carriere y Serge Silberman; abajo: Billy Wilder, Georges Stevens, Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock y Rouben Mamoulian.

        This is the 50^th Anniversary of “Some Like it Hot’s” release and in commemoration , the Film Forum is showing a new print of the film from Oct 2^nd to Oct 8^th. Additionally, two new books are being released. “The Making of Some Like it Hot” by Tony Curtis and Mark Vieria and “Some Like Hot: The Official 50^th Anniversary Companion”  by Laurence Maulon. 

     Do you remember the first film you ever recorded? I do, it was Billy Wilder’s “Some Like it Hot” way back sometime in the 1960’s. “Wait a minute!” You say, “How can you have recorded it back in the 1960’s when VCR’s did not come out until the late 1970’s?”  Well, it was simple, on a reel-to-reel tape recorder.  I loved this film so much I recorded the entire soundtrack. I use to lay down with headphones on, and listen to the entire movie, visualizing all the scenes.

      Crazy, weird?  Well my parents certainly thought so.

      Needless to say, “Some Like it Hot” is one of my favorite movies, it has stood the test of time. Because of this film, I became a lifelong admirer of both director Wilder and Jack Lemmon. It is a film I never get tired of watching.

     Before and since its release in 1959, there have been many films (“I Was A Male War Bride”, “Tootsie”, “La Cage aux Folles”) and TV shows like (“Bosom Buddies”) that have used men in drag as plot device but none have come close or surpassed “Some Like it Hot” it in its farcical  humor.  The well-known plot is simple, two Chicago musicians, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), in the 1920’s witness The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre after which they decide it might be best for their health if they leave town. The only jobs available are as musicians in an all girl band heading for Florida. It is at the train station they meet Sugar “Kane” Kowalczyk (Monroe) a ukulele player and singer with the band. 

    The film begins with an old fashion 1930’s Warner Brothers style shootout. The police are hot in pursuit of a Hearst packed with members of Spats Columbo’s gang. Firepower is exploding from both sides with no concern for innocent passersby. The battle rages until the police car skids and smashes into a poll.  Losing the cops, the hoodlums in the back of the Hearst open up the damaged coffin to find the bullet ridden remains of hundreds of bottles of bootleg booze.

     Inside a speakeasy we meet Joe and Jerry, two musicians whose lives are about to change drastically. Within moments, they will be out of work after a raid by the police. Evading the police during the raid, the now out of work boys  make the rounds of various music agencies only to find out the only jobs for a sax player and bass player are in an All Girls Band or a $6 a piece gig some one hundred miles away. They opt for the long snowy drive borrowing Nellie Wymers car which is parked in a garage where they innocently witness the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Suddenly, the job dressed as women in an All Girls Band, more than a thousand miles away in Florida, does not seem so bad.       

    As they join the band on the train, Joe and Jerry transform into Josephine and Geraldine, who is soon to become Daphne. The “girls” meet the rest of the band on the train including Sugar “Kane” the beautiful singer/ukulele player.

      Once in Florida, Joe in a second disguise as Junior the wealthy son of a millionaire (Shell Oil) attempts to seduce Sugar. Meanwhile Jerry, I mean Daphne is pursued by octogenarian Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown) who wants to marry her. Before long the Chicago gangsters show up for a “convention” of the Friends of Italian Opera and well all hell breaks loose leading to the now classic closing line by Osgood after proposing marriage to Daphne who reveals she’s a he.

    “Well, nobody’s perfect.”

    At the time of its release, the Catholic Legion of Decency gave the film a condemned rating (in Kansas, they actually banned the film); subsequently “Some Like it Hot” joined a flock of notable films ruled objectionable to viewing by all Catholics.  This included films like “The Outlaw”, “Black Narcissus”, Fritz Lang’s “M”, “And God Created Woman” and “Baby Doll.”  The big “C” rating usually meant the large Catholic population would stay away from these films and boycott them into oblivion. However, by 1959, the Legion, along with the Motion Picture Production Code was beginning to lose their grip. Audiences, both Catholic and non-Catholic went to see “Some Like it Hot” making it into one of the biggest hits of the year.  So why was “Some Like it Hot” condemned? One three-letter word…sex!

      Billy Wilder and co-screenwriter I.A.L Diamond wrote a script that is not only funny but also loaded with sexual innuendo. The now classic railroad berth scene where Jerry/Daphne plans on a unexpected private slumber party with just him and Sugar turns into an accidental wild party with just about every female band member climbing into the berth ready to party including one flaunting a large salami. The scene progresses into a sea of pajama clad female bodies climbing all over each other, reminiscent of the stateroom scene in The Marx Brothers “A Night at the Opera”, with plenty of booze spilling, inappropriate hand movement and by the end of the scene a frustrated Jerry/Daphne in the middle of a male fantasy gone haywire.  Later on, Joe’s seduction of Sugar aboard Osgood’s yacht where he pretends to be an impotent millionaire speaking with an obvious phony Cary Grant accent. Sugar’s attempts to “revive” the millionaire’s sleeping libido steams up not only his glasses but also the entire movie screen. Meanwhile on shore, Jerry/Daphne and lecherous millionaire Osgood are steaming up the floor with a hot tango.

     So where are we here? We have Joe posing as woman (Josephine) who is  impersonating a guy (Junior) all in an attempt to get Sugar into bed. Jerry is Daphne pursued by a millionaire dirty old mama’s boy and finally there is Sugar who somehow manages to wear a dress that defies gravity and must have been glued to her body.  Anyone familar with Wilder’s work is aware that impersonation is a common theme in his films. In his very first directorial effort, “The Major and the Minor” he had Ginger Rogers posing as a 12-year-old girl. In “Irma La Douce”, Jack Lemmon is a French police officer who poses as an English Lord; Kim Novak was Polly the Pistol, a hooker who becomes a housewife in “Kiss Me Stupid.”

       Acting kudos belong to all three leads. Monroe, rarely given the credit for being a great comedic actress offers a combination of strong womanly sexuality, yet maintains a childlike innocence that manages to make the most explicit double entrendres sound well, innocent.  Sex with Marilyn is exciting but never threatening.

    Jack Lemmon became a major star with this film and found a career partner in Billy Wilder whom he would go on to make six more films. Curtis as Joe was generally overshadowed by Lemmon’s performance, and Monroe’s, yet Curtis is an accomplished comedic actor who has been overlooked throughout his career, not just in comedy but in dramatic parts too. His Cary Grant imitation came about when Wilder asked him if there is anyone, he could imitate. When Curtis said Cary Grant, Wilder was ecstatic; he always wanted to make a film with the suave Grant. This would be as close as he would ever come. Curtis also suffered because of Marilyn’s bad work habits. Her performance would improve after many takes, while Tony was generally at his best in the early takes. Wilder usually went with Marilyn’s best sacrificing Tony’s performance. After all, most eyes were going to be on Monroe.

    Wilder and Diamond’s dialogue just rolls off the tongues of his cast like an expensive bottle of wine. When Joe/Josephine and Jerry/Daphne first spot Sugar walking along the train platform,   Jerry tells Joe, “It’s just like Jell-O on springs! Some sort of built in motor. I tell ya’ it’s a whole different sex.”  The movie is filled with just about one classic scene after another. When Jerry announces to Joe that he is engaged.

Joe asks, “Who’s the lucky girl?”

 “I am” Jerry replies. “Osgood proposed to me. We’re planning a June Wedding.”

“You can’t marry Osgood!” Joe tells him.

“Why? Do you think he’s too old for me?”

Joe tells Jerry he had better lie down.

Jerry replies, “Will you stop treating me like a child. I know there’s a problem.”

“I’ll say there is” Joe said

“His mother, we need her approval. But I’m not worried, because I don’t smoke.”

“Jerry there is another problem. Like what are you going to do on your honeymoon?”

“We’ve been discussing that,” Jerry says, “He wants to go to the Riviera and I kinda lean toward Niagara Falls.”

    Who else but Wilder, and he knew Marilyn’s childlike delivery could get away with it, would write a line like “That’s the story of my life; I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.”

    Wilder once swore he would never work with Monroe again. After making “The Seven Year Itch”, Wilder swore up and down he would not make another film with her, claiming life is too short. Yet, here he was with MM again because well, no one was like Marilyn.  She was oblivious to others, not necessarily uncaring just oblivious. Lemmon and Curtis would spend hours getting ready in makeup for the roles and then would still have to wait until Marilyn came out of her trailer. Still when you saw her on the screen, it was magical. Wilder compared her screen presence to Garbo. Speaking of Monroe, there is the scene where she sings “I Wanna Be Love By Love” while wearing what amounts to a see-through gown, so carefully lit that Wilder managed to get it passed the vigilant eyes of the censors.     

    Tony Curtis was pretty much signed up for the film from the start. Wilder originally planned on Frank Sinatra as Joe and Mitzi Gaynor as Sugar. Curtis was originally scheduled to play Jerry. Then Monroe signed on.  Along the way, Sinatra was out and the young and upcoming Jack Lemmon signed on for the role of Jerry. Curtis switched over to the role of Joe. The film was originally to be shot in color, however, after some screen test of the boys dressed as girls were completed, it was decided they would be more believable in black and white. In truth, neither Lemmon nor Curtis was very convincing as women, unlike Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie.” Watching the film recently, I keep getting the feeling that Lemmon looked at times like a deranged combination of Jessica Fletcher and Heath Ledger’s The Joker. They get away with it mainly because “Some Like it Hot” is a farce as opposed to more serious straight comedic film with a message, like “Tootsie.”

    The movie is not just Monroe, Lemmon and Curtis; Wilder pays loving tribute to the Warner Brothers gangster film with George Raft playing Spats Colombo and Pat O’Brien as Police Detective Mulligan. Wilder also used “Little Caesar” alumni George E. Stone in the role of “Toothpick” Charlie. There is a wonderful scene with Raft as Spats and a young thug flipping a coin in the air, Raft’s trademark move from “Scarface.” He tells the thug, “Where did you get that cheap trick?” The thug is played by Edward G. Robinson Jr.  Robinson Sr. was originally supposed to play Little Bonaparte, a role ultimately played by Nehemiah Peroff.  Then there is Joe E. Brown whose pronunciation of Wilder and Diamonds dialogue is well, zowie thanks to a very large mouth. Also on board are Wilder favorite Joan Shawlee as Sweet Sue. Character actor Mike Mazurski (“Ain’t I had the pleasure of meeting you two broads before?”) is one of the not so brightly lit hoods.

    The Florida scenes were actually filmed in San Diego at the famed Coronado Hotel. And I would be remiss if I did not mention Charles Lang’s beautuful black and white photography.

      Not all critics at the time were bowled over by “Some Like it Hot.”  Some were shocked by the risqué humor, still the film was a monumental hit. Today, it is considered arguably one of the funniest films ever put on celluloid. The American Film Institute named it the funniest film ever made, for what that is worth. Is it Wilder’s best film? Many would argue, and with a filmography consisting of such works like “The Apartment”, “Double Indemnity”, “Sunset Blvd”, “Ace in the Hole” and others it is tough to make a definitive choice. For me, as I stated in the beginning, it was the first film I ever recorded and one of my all-time favorites, I consider it up there with “Duck Soup” and “The Producers as one of the greatest comedies ever made  and a sentimental favorite to say the least.

7 Guys You Should Never Date

by Carolyn French

If you ask me, there is entirely too much emphasis placed on finding Mr. Right. Sure we all want to happen across that grade-A picture-perfect Jon Hamm knockoff in the sea of unreliable rejects, but what’s even more important is staying the heck away from Mr. Wrong. Wouldn’t it be easier if they could be identified by a nametag or T-shirt?

To save you, our fellow Bettys, from falling for a complete toad, here’s a list of the top seven guys to be avoided at all costs.

The Flirt

Be afraid, be very afraid, of the super charming, too-cool-for-school skirt-chaser who gives you the once-over and turns your legs to Jell-O. This guy is trouble. Even if he makes you feel like the only girl in the room, his eyes will begin to wander after that initial encounter. To quote Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot:

“You don’t know what they’re like! You fall for ‘em. You really love ‘em, you think ‘This is going to be the biggest thing since the Graf Zeppelin’ … Then one morning, you wake up — the guy’s gone, the saxophone’s gone. All that’s left behind is a pair of old socks and a tube of toothpaste all squeezed out.”

Don’t wind up with the fuzzy end of the lollipop, girls. Do yourself a favor and leave Mr. Flirt to the real suckers.

The Workaholic

Ah, yes, Mr. Now-You-See-Me-Now-You-Don’t. Workaholics are the worst, because you’ll continuously find yourself torn between feeling guilty for asking him to work less, and feeling like you want to put all his ties through a shredder after he cancels dinner for the umpteenth time. Sure he’s loaded, but chances are he’ll end up spending that hard-earned dough on the colleague (or barely legal secretary) he ditches you for.

The Metrosexual

What comes to mind when you hear the term metrosexual? Zac Efron? David Beckham? Sure they’re endearing and all, but would you really want to get involved with a dude who is permanently camped out in front of the bathroom mirror? Plus, if you hook up with a guy with a bigger shopping habit than you, you’ll have to start sticking your own shoe collection in the oven - Carrie Bradshaw style – to make room for his lifetime supply of flat irons, Gucci sneaks and skinny jeans. Sound like fun? We think not.

The Mama’s Boy

The case of the 12-year-old in the 25-year-old bod … urgh. Word to the wise, fellas: Your girlfriend is not just a younger version of your beloved mother. She may have spit-shined your room and lovingly folded your Ninja Turtle tighty whities for the better part of your youth, but don’t expect the same treatment from the one you call “Babe.” Ladies, steer clear of this underdeveloped creature; you’ll end up looking after him when he should be looking after you. You want agrown man, not a man who needs to grow up.

The Critic

If you want to feel bad about yourself just spend half an hour on the phone with your mother, but don’t attempt to get cozy with a Simon Cowell wannabe (minus the punchy one-liners). This particular breed of man will always be on your case, whether it’s regarding your latest hairstyle or the outfit you thought made you look like Jessica Biel. He will somehow manage to pull apart each and every aspect of your life, and he’ll be brutally honest at the worst possible times. Do you really want to date a hall monitor who points out the fact that your derriere ain’t what it used to be?

The Geek

There is a fine line between nerd and geek. While nerds are generally classified as being bookish, shy and somewhat socially retarded, geeks are more along the lines of that weird guy in high school who wore a cape to gym and “battled” with his fellow D&D junkies during lunch. You don’t want to hook up with this guy, trust us. He will spend more time playing with his precious toys than he will with you, and his version of romance is Hot Pockets and a Star Trek marathon. Can you see yourself getting busy with a man who refers to his appendage as his “light saber”?

The Bromancer

Unless you happen to be one of the three women on the planet who don’t mind being dropped for a pitcher of beer and a gang of “homies,” this routine will get old REALLY quick. It’s fine for a guy to get together with his buddies to watch the game or oogle Kim Kardashian’s … assets, but if he seems content to spend more time with his pals than with you then it’s time to say sayonara.

After reading through our list, do you think we left anyone out?

Originally posted at http://www.bettyconfidential.com/ar/ld/a/7-Guys-You-Should-Never-Date.html?pageID=1

Sorry it’s been a while since my last post.  The last post was from Thursday, and I’m proud to say I accomplished everything on that list, except getting to the CROUS office because its closed on the weekends.  I still have yet to get a good blanket, but I did accomplish buying a mirror (its a white provencal style).  I am slowly making my room home-y.

We went to St. Malo, the famous french walled city, on Saturday.  With the under 25 card, our little day trip was only about 7 euro.  Woot!  And yesterday, Sunday, I went to Catholic Mass with a few friends.  Afterwards we had tea (how adorable!) and watched the classic Marilyn Monroe film (which I had yet to see at that point) Some Like It Hot. Later in the afternoon, we went to the Musée de Beaux-Arts of Rennes, and we got in free because it was the “semaine de mobilité.”  To be completely honest, I don’t know exactly what la semaine de mobilité is, but I think it is to encourage the French to travel (less expensive train fares) and see cultural things (free admission).  The Rennes parliament building was also giving free tours, but the line was so long that it stretched into the park and so we decided against it.

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend.  I’d post photos but many of them were shot on film and I’m still waiting for them to be developed.  Have a good week!

xxo

First off, many apologies for my failure to timely make a subsequent pick—to both our readers and David, patient David. I’ll be keeping with my exploration of American cinema with one of the funniest comedies of all time:

Some Like it Hot (1959)

Two guys (Jack Lemmon & Tony Curtis) dress as women as they run from the mob after witnessing a massacre. Meeting up with Marilyn Monroe on their journey, they find themselves in Florida at the mercy of rich old men with yachts trying to catch one of these “beauties.”

Like “It Happened One Night,” this film has aged extremely well. No slow-moving plot-line or flat-falling jokes here.

It’s also interesting to see Jack Lemmon differently than most of my generation remember him (Grumpy Old Men).