The Movie Forums Top 100 Comedies Countdown

I haven't seen Some Like It Hot and I don't really have any desire to change that.

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Truth.
You speak it.

I was surprised that, in your world as you call it, Young Frankenstein is popular.

Only seen Some Like it Hot once, for the 50's countdown and loved it. Deserving of a place on my ballot if I didn't lean towards nostalgia and multiple viewings.

The race between General and Duck Soup continues l.

Did not like Some Like It Hot first watch at all. I love the cast and director though, so it will get a second watch some night when I have to choose between that and getting hit in the head with a hammer.

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Letterboxd

Although it didn't make my ballot, Some Like It Hot is an enjoyable, well made comedy, an 8/10 from me. I have the Criterion blu ray.

For what it's worth, and it's obvious reading your posts over time that we are not coming from the same place, but I thought this was worth sharing with you, I never had any desire to see it either and then I just said, "Fine, let's get it over with"... and it ended up my No.19 Comedy Of All Time.
And also completely changed the way I thought about Marilyn Monroe.
And Tony Curtis, actually, but that's less significant.

I tell ya, I just realized yesterday that I had somehow forgotten to even put Repo Man on the consideration list.
And the truth is, there is no way on Earth it would have missed my list.
So, it is what it is. But that's a big miss on my part. I might have put it high and it might have been represented.

"I don't want no Commies in my car. No Christians, neither."

Pretty much exactly how I feel these days.

Some Like It Hot is definitely a must see film for anyone that hasn't seen it yet.

Gotcha.
Yeah, YF is definitely, currently, and I think about 20-30 years ago also, the more popular.
If you didn't like Blazing Saddles people just couldn't understand, but if you didn't like Young Frankenstein a little more than Blazing Saddles then maybe you just weren't quite as smart as they thought you were.
I think it's mostly evened out now, with a slight edge to Saddles.

Just trying to be careful how I put things, but by your world, I was under the impression you meant the sjw world, and that's where my surprise came from.

I watched Some Like it Hot for the second time recently, and still didn't find it all that funny. I know this is up near the top of the queue when it comes to films film-lovers love for being superbly crafted films with knockout performances and the like - but that very important ingredient, actually being funny, is something that's a complete miss as far as I'm concerned. Tony Curtis pretending to be Cary Grant, and both Curtis and Lemmon in drag, just doesn't seem funny. I never laugh when I watch it, or even feel appreciative like I do when I see comedy I like that doesn't make me laugh. There's something in the makeup of my mind that never connects with it.

Seen 73½/92

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Some Like It Hot is my #14 - a hilarious sex comedy and so much more. As you can see, the photography is great in this movie, as are the music, sets, costumes, etc. All the acting is great too with Marilyn being both sexy and vulnerable. The plot makes total sense too. (Well, it is farcical, but why they're hiding out as women to get away from the St. Valentine's Day Massacre gangsters is fully explained). This is Billy Wilder's second-best film to me, only after the under-seen One, Two, Three. Two hours of superlative entertainment!


If Billy Wilder were making movies today, he would tackle more topical subjects, but he was always attracted to sardonic satires, romantic comedies and frenetic farces. Even in 1959, Wilder set Some Like It Hot 30 years in the past to make the subject more palatable to contemporary audiences. Some old comedies and classics do get a pass based on reputation, while some actually deserve their status and are timeless. Others may disagree to various degrees, but Some Like It Hot is on my great list, and I ain't kissin' Billy's or Marilyn's ass, although that last thought is mouth-watering.

An American Werewolf in London is my #15.

I never get tired of watching this flick. It's really amazing how much you can put into 90 minutes of film and produce a rollercoaster ride of terror, laughs, sex and love, music and tragedy. The title makes you think that you're going to get a spoof [the laughs and thrills are so tightly tied together], but the spoofy elements are mostly present in the porno movie playing in Piccadilly Circus. This film is the real deal, and if you're one of those people who claims that you've never been scared by a movie, I want to present Exhibit A: the scene on the moors near the beginning of the movie with American tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne). That is one crackerjack scene that always impresses me. However, that's just the beginning. The film is really quite nerve-wracking all the way through and presents a world where it's difficult to discern reality from fantasy, at least until it's too late to do anything about it. It definitely has characters and implications which I've never seen depicted in any other movie. One other thing I have to say about the film is that although the transformation scene is impressive and placed in the middle of the film, it's just another scene, and to me, it's no more "special" or better than the scenes with the balloons or in the subway or at the hospital with lovely nurse Alex (Jenny Agutter). I remember my nephew watching the movie and being enthralled by it all the way up until the disturbing ending. Then he said, "I didn't like it", and I said, "That proves how good it is!"

Toy Story is my #22.


I love all the Toy Story movies but the original Toy Story is my fave and funniest. The human dynamics and the toy dynamics are set up beautifully. I also think it's the scariest, most exciting and has the best ending too. Comedy highpoints are everywhere from the interplay of Woody and Buzz, R. Lee Ermey's orders to his men, the visit to Pizza Planet, the punk kid's sadism and that of his killer dog, etc. Everything is wonderful and hilarious. I also love how the primitiveness of the computer animation makes everything seem so otherworldly.

My List

1. Richard Pryor Live in Concert [#113]
5. Back to the Future [#35]
6. The Graduate [#27]
11. Harold and Maude [#46]
13. One, Two, Three [#86]
14. Some Like It Hot [#9]
15. An American Werewolf in London [DNP]
16. It's Such A Beautiful Day [#62]
17. A Fish Called Wanda [#38]
20. City Lights [#11]
21. Tootsie [#108]
22. Toy Story [DNP]
23. Who Framed Roger Rabbit [DNP]
24. The Trouble with Harry [DNP]
25. Ruthless People [My One Pointer]

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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I've warmed to Some Like It Hot over the years, went from initially really not caring for it to tolerating it to finding it somewhat enjoyable. Wouldn't have made my ballot but again not surprised to see it reasonably high in the countdown.

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Two great films that I had no room to add.

Trivia: Some Like it Hot: Marilyn Monroe required 47 takes to get "It's me, sugar" correct, instead saying either "Sugar, it's me" or "It's sugar,me" After 30 takes Wilder had the line written on a blackboard. Another scene required Monroe to rummage through some drawers and say "where's the bourbon?" After 40 takes of her saying "Where's the Whiskey", Where's the bottle, " and "Where's the Bon Bon?" , Wilder pasted the line in the in the drawer. After Monroe became confused about which drawer contained the line, Wilder had it pasted in all the drawers. Fifty-nine takes were required for this scene, and when she finally does say it, she has her back to the camera, leading some to believe that Wilder finally gave up and had it dubbed.

Some Like It Hot is indeed a very good film, but I didn't vote for it.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Yahoo!!! Some Like It Hot was my #4 and it will be the last of my movies to make the countdown. I wrote this about it:
Marilyn Monroe is smokin' hot in this...Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon are riotously funny...the supporting cast is a hoot and the shooting location exotic...but the real star of 1959's Some Like it Hot is Billy Wilder himself.

These days movie fans give a huge amount of credit to the director but a movie is only as good as its script and if one thing is true of a Billy Wilder film they have great scripts! Wilder's scripts often pushed the boundaries on social conventions, that's what makes his films so memorable.

Some Like it Hot took 1950's audiences on an adult themed comic ride, while exploring male/female gender roles. It does this exploration coupled with a well though out story of 1929's probation gangsters who rub out the competition in the infamous St Valentine's Day massacre. By combing different genres, Wilder is able to give a believable real motivation to our two cross dressing stars. His film goes much deeper than just a Milton Berle style shtick of a man in a dress...Wilder comes up with a real motivation for our two fellows to have to really live as women, so they can save their own lives! That makes a huge difference to the scope of how they act and interac, as women in the movie.

What struck me as very interesting was that Lemmon and Curtis don't hold back as female impersonators. One would expect a 1950's film to have them doing cheap gags, but for most of the film they behave as if they were women, especially Lemmon. One of the film's funniest parts was towards the end when Lemmon has convinced himself that he's a girl (by repeating over and over) then has a hot date with veteran comic actor Joe E. Brown. The next day he/she is all giddy over the diamond bracelet and announces he/she will marry the millionaire. That prompts the line from Tony Curtis:
"You're a guy! And why would a guy want to marry a guy?"
Just the idea that Jack Lemmon living as a girl would marry Joe E. Brown must have ruffled more than a few feathers....Billy Wilder is really pushing the envelope by exploring different aspects of genderism here.

The film is fun without being overly silly, it flows without ever going astray. I loved the idea of using older actors from the 1930s to play the gangsters in this period piece film. We not only get George Raft but Joe E Brown, Pat O'Brien to name a few old timers...And then there's Marilyn in that Orry-Kelly gown, damn I though she was topless for a second! What a provocative dress! Even the back side of her gown stuns with a deep plunge right down to her assets.

I've never actually seen a Monroe movie, have only seen Curtis in Spartacus and, according to IMDb, one episode of Roseanne, and have limited experience with Wilder movies. My skepticism is pretty much entirely based on the genre and the era. There aren't many 1950s movies that I like and, except for some classic animated stuff, almost none of the ones I do like are comedies.

I've seen "Some Like it Hot" years ago and just came away a little "meh". Should re-watch it again since its been so long.

Guess I'll reveal a couple of no-shots also.



Private Joe Bauers, a decisively average American, is selected as a guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten, awakening to a future so incredibly moronic he's easily the most intelligent person alive. Love the premise of this film because its somewhat true. The dumbing down of mankind, advancing through the decades.




A teenager's dreams come true when a former porn star moves in next door and they fall in love. Some nice twists and turns and "Kelly", played by Timothy Olyphant, is my new favorite douche bag.





My ballot: *8/91 (1-ptr hit)
Seen: 94/111
1-ptrs seen: 16
Put on watch list: 6
Meh, Huh, WTF: 7