In the spring of 1959, the comedy Some Like It Hot came out in the United States and instantly became a hit, forever falling in love with the audience. In addition to an interesting story and sparkling humor, the main attention was attracted to the project. Let’s find out what this film is about, who played in it, how the actors' career “Only girls in jazz” developed further.
Some like it hot
This tape was a remake of the French comedy Fanfare of Love, released eight years earlier. Despite this, she managed to overshadow the original, collecting at the box office for all years about 40 million (with a budget of $ 2.9 million), at that time - a fantastic amount.
Quotes from the picture turned into catchphrases, and the song I Wanna Be Loved by You sounded in it is still popular.
main characters
Before telling about the actors “Only Girls Are in Jazz”, it is worth paying attention to the characters of the project.
In the center of the plot are two musician friends: Joe and Jerry. They are simply "spoils of fate" - they constantly end up in some kind of alteration.
Joe is a saxophonist. He is handsome and knows how to care for women. At the same time, Joe is inclined to adventures, which often go sideways to him. Despite all this, it is he who plays a leading role in relations with a partner.
Jerry plays the double bass. He is not as handsome and resourceful as Joe, and also overly verbose.
Dana "Darling" Kovalchik - is a soloist in the women's jazz ensemble. Despite her beauty and charm, she is very naive, which is why she often gets into trouble. It has two weaknesses - booze and saxophonists.
Osgood Fielding III - an elderly bachelor. Hereditary millionaire. In the tape, it does not become clear whether he is a fool or just a phlegmatic.
Minor Characters
In the movie, there are also secondary characters:
- Stiff and strict leader of the women's ensemble, which calls itself "the beauty of Sue."
- The ensemble administrator is the shortsighted Mr. Blinstock.
- Charlie "Toothpick" - a police informant in the Chicago mafia. It comes across, so the criminals kill him.
- Colombo is one of the heads of the Chicago mafia.
- Fearless detective Mulligan - investigates the activities of the mafia.
Plot
The action takes place in 1929, when prohibition was rampant in the United States. Joe and Jerry accidentally witness how gangsters shoot an informant from the police.
To escape from the city and hide, the guys dress up as girls and under the names - Josephine and Daphne, get a job in a touring female jazz band.
There, friends get acquainted with his soloist - the charming Dana Kowalczyk, who everyone calls “Darling” (in the original “Sugar”).
In speed, the ensemble arrives at the Seminole-Ritz Hotel (Florida). Here they give concerts in the evenings, and in the afternoon they are left to their own devices. Darling admits to her friends that she dreams of meeting a millionaire and marrying him. Joe decides to take advantage of this to seduce the girl. He disguises himself in men's clothing, posing as a rich man, easily tricking the simple-minded Dana.
By the way, it turns out that Jerry in the image of Daphne liked the aging millionaire Osgood Fielding III. He persistently shows attention to Daphne.
Joe persuades a friend to accept the courtship of the old man. Subsequently, the false millionaire gives Darling flowers that Osgood sent for Daphne. In addition, while Jerry distracts his boyfriend, Joe spends the night with Dana on Fielding's yacht.
In the meantime, it turns out that bosses of various mafia clans are gathering at the Seminole-Ritz Hotel. So they accidentally recognize Joe and Jerry, and the guys understand that it’s time for them to run again. They decide to use Fielding’s boat to escape.
Before leaving, Josephine says goodbye to Dana and tells her the truth. However, Darling forgives his false millionaire, deciding to run away with him.
In the finale, Joe and his beloved, as well as Osgood and Daphne, leave in a motor boat. At the same time, Jerry admits to his boyfriend that he is a man. But the phlegmatic millionaire doesn’t react at all to this news by saying the phrase that has become popular: Nobody's perfect!
Actors and roles
Having considered the main and secondary characters of the picture, it is worth moving on to the main issue. So, let's find out about the actors and roles of “Only Girls in Jazz” (photo in the article).
The saxophonist and lovelace Joe was played by the famous American artist Tony Curtis (father of Jamie Lee Curtis).
During his career, he managed to star in more than 100 films. However, his most memorable works (except Some Like It Hot) were “Big races”, “Chained together”, “Sweet smell of success”.
The hapless Jerry "Josephine" was played by the brilliant comedian Jack Lemmon. Unlike Curtis, Lemmon was not so loved by the audience and starred in fewer films. Which did not stop him from receiving two Oscars and a Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival for his acting. By the way, for the role of Daphne Lemmon received the Golden Globe.
Sexy silly girl Darling was played by Marilyn Monroe. Like Lemmon, she received the Golden Globe for this role.
During his short life, Monroe succeeded in becoming an idol for millions, as well as starring in such popular films as “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, “Itching of the Seventh Year”, “Niagara”, “How to Marry a Millionaire”, “Misfits”. "Only girls in jazz" has become one of the last works of this actress.
Osmond's millionaire in love was played by Joe E. Brown. This artist was one of the most popular comedians in the USA in the 30-40 years of the twentieth century. By the beginning of the 50s, Brown's career was on the decline, and the role of a phlegmatic millionaire was one of the last.
The fate of minor cast
Having dealt with the main actors and their roles “Only Girls in Jazz”, it will be interesting to learn about the performers of the secondary characters.
The actress who played the “Beauty Sue” is called Joan Shawley. After Some Like It Hot, she starred a lot, but more often it was episodic roles.
Charlie “Toothpick” was played by an American artist of Polish descent George E. Stone. As for Brown and Monroe, the film "Only Jazz in Jazz" was one of the last for him.
Dave Barry, who played Mr. Blinstock, is better known in the US as a voice actor. At the same time, in the 40-50s he often starred in films, but after Some Like It Hot his career in this area began to decline.
The performer of the role of the brave detective Mulligan - Pat O'Brien, has starred in more than a hundred films during his film career. Most often, he played cops, priests, pilots, and reporters.
The Colombo murderer was played by "professional gangster" George Raft. In the years 30-40, he became famous for the roles of criminal authorities. Being a living legend of gangster cinema, after “Only Girls in Jazz”, the actor starred as himself.
It’s sad to know, but among the actors “There are only girls in jazz”, only Nehemiah Persoff (Little Bonaparte - the deaf boss of the mafia) is still alive. All other artists have long left this world. One of the first to do this was Marilyn Monroe (1962), and Tony Curtis (2010) turned out to be a long-liver.
“Only Girls in Jazz”: the roles of dubbing actors
Many of the viewers will be interested to know whose voices the protagonists spoke of “Only girls in jazz” in a Soviet translation.
Tony Curtis was duplicated by Felix Jaworski (he was also voiced by Sean Connery, Marcello Mastroianni and Peter O'Toole).
Jack Lemmon spoke in the voice of a less professional dubbing artist, Boris Ivanov.
Marilyn Monroe was dubbed by actress Danuta Stolyarska, and the performer of the role of Osmund was Sergei Zeitz (voiced by Baron Munchausen in cartoons).
Interestingly, Tony Curtis, unlike his partner, was never able to fully imitate a female voice. In the original scenes with Josephine, he was dubbed by Paul Freeze.
Interesting facts about the picture
- The American name for the project Some Like It Hot ("Some people like it hot") is a phrase from the children's song "Hot Oatmeal with Peas." In the picture, she appears in one of the dialogues of the main characters, but we are talking about jazz.
- Initially, the tape was planned to be shot on color film, but the main actors “Only Girls in Jazz”, made up for women, looked normal only in black and white.
- When it was decided to offer the main role of Marilyn Monroe, many members of the crew were against it, because, despite her popularity, the actress was famous for her absurd character, which made working with her problematic. At the same time, Monroe herself was not enthusiastic about the script. But at that moment she was in dire need of money, and soon accepted the offer to star in the tape.
- During the filming, it turned out that Marilyn Monroe was pregnant. Therefore, in half the frames, as well as on the posters for the picture, where the figure should be visible, the actress was replaced by an understudy.
- Two actors "Only girls in jazz", who played the main characters, were instructed for a long time before filming, regarding the features of female behavior. The Berlin transvestite, who was specially brought to the United States by the producers of the project, acted as a teacher.
- Despite the phenomenal success, the Academy Award ribbon received only for the best costumes. The fact is that in 1959, almost all the awards were collected by Ben-Hur. The main merit in this Australian couturier, Orry-Kelly, created outfits not only for Monroe, but women's dresses for Curtis and Lemmon.
- The project fell into Soviet rental 7 years later, after the premiere. Although censorship was actively pursued on the most revealing scenes, the audience really liked the picture and was watched by 43.9 million citizens of the USSR.
Comedy is still often shown on Russian television.