This tremendous story, which allowed tabloids to sell for weeks and was taken to the cinema on different occasions, only served as an excuse for Wilder to put together a sitcom that, to this day, reaches the public in full form, although the film has already reach retirement age.
The plot is based on the escape of two musicians Jerry and Joe, accidental witnesses of the crime, who discovered by the thugs, find their escape by disguising themselves as women and being part of a female jazz band led by Sugar Kane.
‘In Skirts and the Crazy’ was actually the adaptation of a 1935 French film titled ‘Fanfan d’amour’ (‘They Are Us’), which also had a German remake in 1951. Wilder, together with his inseparable screenwriter during 25 years old, IAL Diamond, adapted the story at hand, turning it into one of the most emblematic comedies of all time.
The ingredients that the director had were of excellence. An extraordinary script, exceptional actors: Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis (playing the two musicians, Jerry and Joe) and an actress who, although she was not in the best of her personal life, shines in the film like only great stars. They can do it: Marilyn Monroe (as Sugar Kane). This compendium, directed by the mastery of Billy Wilder, could only invoke success.
A filming with its pluses and minuses.
The intricacy of a shoot is always a challenge, and the larger the production, the greater the challenge. In this case Wilder was faced with the anxiety of a leading actress who, blocked by her personal circumstances, was not able to arrive at the filming set on time or say her lines, no matter how brief they were.
It is already part of the legend of this film that it took 50 takes for Marilyn Monroe to correctly say: “Where is the bourbon?”
In fact, in statements to the media, Billy Wilder ironically explained that he managed to get the sentences out of her with a dentist’s technique, although admiration for Monroe’s talent did not wane for a moment: “I think she was born with something that is beyond the direction of actors, so it doesn’t matter so much what we suffered during those days and weeks, the final result was absolutely brilliant.”
Getting two actors to dress as women in 1959 wasn’t anything either. In that year Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis were at the beginning of their careers and it was not lost on them that this production was a great opportunity; after the success of the film they would be catapulted.
In any case, the transvestism that the script demanded was digested in different ways by each one. While Lemmon enthusiastically embraced her transformation into Daphne, Tony Curtis had some misgivings about becoming Josephine. It is also part of the story of this great classic, how Lemmon walked around the set dressed as a woman and imposing his voice, delighted, and how Curtis only relaxed when, cross-dressing and having coffee in the film studios, no one recognized them.
The shadow of censorship.
The original title of the film “Some like it hot” would not go unnoticed by the conservative Hays Code that governed Hollywood in those years and which prohibited films “that could lower the moral level of viewers.” It is practically miraculous that they were able to circumvent this censorship code with content that included transvestism, sensuality and fraud; only a brilliant script could achieve it. As Billy Wilder would confirm after so many vicissitudes: “I ask myself how I did it.”
In Spain the film was directly banned as many times as it was presented to the Censorship Board. In 1960, titled “One Eve and Two Adames” – a title that would also be used in Latin America – it was directly classified as “pornographic”.
Two years later the Spanish distributor presented it to the Board again, this time with the title “Con skirts already crazy” and with some cuts, even eliminating the, now unforgettable, final phrase. Censorship was imposed again, arguing “Sexual misunderstanding, socially considered, encourages corruption.” After the censorship ruling was appealed and stubbornly presented for the third time, the Board ended up ruling: “There are films that cannot be fixed unless they are converted into different ones.”
It was in 1963 when it was released in Spain, although rated for those over 18 years of age. We had to wait until 1983 for it to finally be considered for all audiences.
It was said in Hollywood that a good movie should start with an earthquake and go from there. ‘Crazy with skirts’ had already shown that extraordinary special effects were not needed to make a story unforgettable. Even knowing the ending, the film is not gutted. Because the interesting thing is getting lost in the nuances, the chaos, letting yourself be fooled by Adolph Deutsch’s soundtrack that masterfully accompanies the tangle of the plot. So the least important thing is to know the ending, without detracting from it of course, because it is the icing on the cake of this delicious total comedy.
Carmen Jimenez.
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