The complete guide to Billy Wilder's masterpiece! Find out everything you could ever want to know (and more) about the movie voted best comedy of the century by the American Film Institute. A daring tale of crossdressing from a time when the subject was all but taboo, Some Like it Hot (1959) tells the story of two jazz musicians who are forced to go undercover in an all-girls? band to escape from the mob. With an ingenious screenplay by I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder, and flawless performances by Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and the famously difficult Marilyn Monroe, Some Like it Hot is the embodiment of comic perfection. Interviews with Billy Wilder, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and others Complete facsimile of the screenplay with film stills from every scene Excerpts from the script's first draft Behind-the-scenes photos Original promotional materials from all around the world Annotated/illustrated Billy Wilder filmography The Alison Castle studied philosophy as an undergraduate (Columbia University) and went on to receive her graduate degree in photography and film (New York University/International Center of Photography masters program). She lives in Paris, home of the world's best cinemas. The Dan Auiler is the author of Hitchcock's Notebooks (HarperCollins/Bloomsbury) and The Making of a Hitchcock Classic (St. Martin's Press). His books on Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and Goodfellas (Putnam/Bloomsbury) were published in 2002. He lives in Long Beach, California.
Billy Wilder (born Samuel Wilder) was a Polish-born, Jewish-American journalist, screenwriter, Academy Award-winning film director and producer, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Many of Wilder's films achieved both critical and public acclaim.
Some Like It Hot is a 1959 American romantic comedy film set in 1929, directed and produced by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. The supporting cast includes George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee, and Nehemiah Persoff. The screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on a screenplay by Billy Wilder and Michael Logan from the French film Fanfare of Love. The film is about two musicians who dress in drag in order to escape from mafia gangsters whom they witnessed commit a crime inspired by the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.