The hostess explained he was being interviewed and that we could move to another table if it bothered us. My first thought was, “She can’t mean the Tony Curtis–I didn’t think he was still alive.”
But there he was: a big guy in a cowboy hat sitting before some TV guy and a cameraman. My husband and I spent breakfast rattling off all the TC films we could think of: Spartacus, Some Like it Hot, The Great Race. Then we whipped out our iPhones for more info.
Ever the radio producer, my next thought was, “I wonder if he’s got a musical connection.”
Well. There’s some brilliant screenwriting in Some Like it Hot. Compare that film to Francis Ford Coppola’s triptych–remember the cold-hearted killer who loves his cat and plays with his grandchildren? Mario Puzo’s Godfather is a classic struggle of good versus evil, but Coppola juxtaposes these things within each character, forcing us to decide whether or not to cheer for the evil guy. The three films run around nine hours.
Billy Wilder, on the other hand, condenses the whole drama of The Godfather into seconds by staging a banquet of mobsters under the banner “Italian Opera Lovers.” (It must be said that Coppola’s use of Art of the Fugue during the murder sequence makes for one of the all-time greatest scenes. But its message is duplicity.) Some Like it Hot uses music to say that when Mimi dies, these ruthless, motley thugs are just as inconsolable as the rest of us. Think of it: these guys are like us—-? That’s some punch. With the mere mention of Italian opera, Billy Wilder lays it all out there and steams ahead with his farcical romp.
I’m not sure how the title, Some Like it Hot, specifically pertains to this story; but 50 years later, that script in the hands of Jack Lemon, Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis still sizzles.
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