Some Like It Hot: The Official 50th Anniversary Companion - Hardcover

Laurence Maslon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1862058644 ISBN 13: 9781862058644

Publisher: Pavilion Books, 2009

Synopsis

Voted the Number One movie on the American Film Institute's List of 100 Funniest Movies, Some Like It Hot remains an undisguised movie classic, 50 years after its debut. Billy Wilder's hilarious film skilfully blends several American preoccupations - jazz, gangsters, drag, and Marilyn Monroe - into one scintillating bootleg cocktail. The Some Like It Hot Companion details the complete history of the comedy, from its roots as a 1951 German comedy to its Hollywood conception, where the superb Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe transposed the material to the Roaring Twenties. Included are drafts from the screenplay, casting trivia (the boys were almost Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye), the background history of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and Prohibition-era Chicago, on-set production gossip, location shots from the fabled Hotel Coronado in San Diego (doubling for Miami), lyrics from the jazz-era songs in the film, the Broadway and West End musical versions (one of which starred Tony Curtis), and the on-going legacy of the most hilarious cross-gender film in history. As the movie concludes, 'Nobody's perfect!' but this companion to the beloved film will be the perfect addition to the library of anyone who loves comedy, jazz, American film - or Marilyn Monroe.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Selected as America's Funniest Movie by the American Film Institute, Some Like it Hot remains an undisputed classic fifty years after its release, as it continues to capture three of American culture's great preoccupations-jazz, gangsters, and Marilyn Monroe. The Official 50th Anniversary Companion details the history of this side-splitting farce from its roots as an obscure 1951 German film to its Hollywood conception, where Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond transposed the material to the Roaring Twenties and director Wilder cast the brilliant Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon in the starring roles.

As well as previously unpublished images, posters, and documents from the MGM archives, this book includes selections from the screenplay, casting notes, on-set production anecdotes, and location shots from the fabled Del Coronado in San Diego (doubling for Florida). In addition, songs and music used in the film's jazz era setting, background information on Chicago during Prohibition, the story of the Broadway and West End musical versions (one of which starred Tony Curtis), the previously undiscovered television pilot based on the movie, and the ongoing legacy of the most famous drag comedy in film history.

Featuring cameo appearances by Arthur Miller, Edward G. Robinson, Al Capone, Tommy Steele, Robert Morse, Tina Louise, and Tom Hanks, The Official 50th Anniversary Companion is the first book to tell the full story of Some Like it Hot from start to finish, from wig to high heels.

About the Author

Laurence Maslon is an arts professor in the Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He has written several books about musical theater and popular culture, including The South Pacific Companion, The Some Like It Hot Companion, and co-wrote (with Michael Kantor) the companion volume to the Emmy-Winning documentary Broadway: The American Musical. He is also the host of the weekly radio series "Broadway to Main Street" and the editor of American Musicals (1927-1969) for the Library of America.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pavilion Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1862058644
• ISBN 13: 9781862058644
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192