I agree. I've always wondered why Monty Python pieces found so much of the humor from that men-in-drag business. It's just not that funny anymore.
I fell asleep trying to watch the DVD of this movie. I watched it again to see if I could get any enjoyment out of it, but all that slapstick was justboring. To me.

Back then, just seeing Curtis & Lemmon in drag caused laughs.
IT STILL DOES!
That scene at the train station where we first see the two of them in drag, tottering awkwardly in their high heels and looking as if they feel the whole world must be staring at them, is still a classic moment.
And anyone who doesn't think so just has NO SENSE OF HUMOR!
All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?

I thought seeing them in drag was hilarious. Not Jack Lemmon, but more Tony Curtis c'mon I just saw this guy in Sweet Smell and Spartacus.
For me it's like this, I'd put in on my top 10 comedies, but not anywhere near my top 10 films.

I'll also add Sabrina, which is my third favorite Wilder movie, after Double Indemity & Sunset Blvd. (definitely NOT comedies).
Back then, just seeing Curtis & Lemmon in drag caused laughs. Today, you need to do a little more to explore the problems. Tootsie does a great job of taking the premise and really exploring the ramifications of being in drag.
I also think a flaw in the movie is the whole "Cary Grant" bit. Having to spend time in it shows that the premise of men in drag could not sustain the whole movie.
I find Some Like it Hot mildly amusing but that's it. It's a very well-made movie, but that doesn't make it funnier.
What one finds funny is VERY subjective. Part of the reason is that comedy relies on timing and sometimes you can get hit at just the right moment and fall down laughing.
I've found some of the crudest movies funnier than more sophisticated ones, especially when you have to use the criteria of actually eliciting an audible laugh.
With comedy movies, there's almost two ways of judging them. One would be the quality of the movie and another would be how funny it was. The two are not necessarily synonomous.
So, no, Some Like It Hot would not make my top ten of "funniest" movies, but each to his own taste!
Sam Tomaino

I think the problem I have with Some Like It Hot is that the "men in drag" joke has been done so often now (every sitcom I watched growing up had "that" episode) that this film has lost much of its comedic impact to the modern viewer. It's incredibly well-written, but even the greatest men-in-drag movie is still just a men-in-drag movie. For my money, The Seven Year Itch, One Two Three, and The Major and the Minor are all far superior Billy Wilder comedies.

While you can forgive the cornball comedy as old fashioned, the script was always pathetic. Take all the trashy slapstick out of this and you could make a respectable soft-core porn movie.

Sorry, but in my eyes it says more about your (missing) sense of humor than anything of substance about the film.

^^I totally agree with all of that. And here is one girl that will always love this film!
Jack Lemmon: America's Sweetheart
"It's Magic Time"

Well everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I respect your right to state yours, but I have to say that I disagree with you entirely.
In my opinion, this was a great movie, one that has made me laugh every time I have watched it,and I can totally understand why it ranks so highly on so many lists.There was no swearing, some violence (which was relevant to the story and not totally gratuitous), some great acting (Jack Lemmon especially),and some wonderful lines, which I think have truly stood the test of time.
Here is one guy who will always love that film !

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OK people, let's get a grip. The original poster said he thinks nobody in this is as funny as somebody in Caddyshack, and that early Bill Murray movies are funnier than this. Obviously, this person's taste is WAY below par, and not even worth debating with. Ignore him, and take pity.

first,i wouldn't say it's INCREDIBLY overrated,which i guess is impossible.also,standards tend to change over time,so your way of viewing it today may be different than it might be if you had seen it 50 years ago.a comedy doesn't necessarily have to get you rolling in the aisles,and this movie i guess doesn't(me neither).but i still like it a lot.

i wouldnt say that this film is overly funny but it is extremly entertaining! and i think thats why its so high on so many lists
you must learn to lash out with every limb, like the octopus who plays the drums

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Just because you didn't find it funny doesn't mean it should be removed from any list, I think that is the job of those making the list.
I can't stand the movie version of West Side Story but so many lists claim it is one of the greatest, I could write an essay on why it was poorly made from the broadway show, but instead I let the list makers do their thing, after all they invented the lists, let them do what they like with it.
I think people put too much stock in others opinion, a movie is good because the person watching likes it, something I have only recently learned to accept myself, there are enough artists and films around to allow us to create our own lists of great films and not rely so much on so called experts, a quite redundant idea in my mind, because we as a society shouldn't need to be told what is and isn't art.
Why do we allow others to tell us what we should and shouldn't like, the whole reason we are here is to learn and grow and you can't do that if you follow a blue print of other people's lives.

The problem with these lists is that I think it's practically impossible to define the funniest film of all time. Many comedies I have seen have all had their merits and their flaws and it's difficult to call one the 'best.' However, I'm 18, did not see Some Like It Hot when it was first released, but still really enjoyed it. I'm generally not a laugh out loud person anyway when watching a film. I could find something really hilarious but would usually just smile or possibly have a chuckle/s******. I watched Some Like It Hot on the plane going home a few months ago and it definitely kept me entertained! The dialogue is sharp and witty, the comic timing is superb and the situations are very amusing.

The "Nobody's perfect" bit is one of the best-executed scenes in comedy history, and this film has more than enough memorable scenes to rank it as one of the best comedies ever.
That said, any "best" lists are made to generate argument, and the AFI's surely has. I have to say I think "Some Like It Hot" is slightly overrated, if only because I like "The Apartment," "Flirting With Disaster" and "This Is Spinal Tap" more.
But the measure of a great comedy isn't strictly the number of laughs because by that token, "Airplane!" would probably be at the top of my list. The measure of a great comedy is the strength of its performances and direction as well, and by that token, "Some Like It Hot" is way up there.

I'm not going to try to convince people that this is a hilarious, clever, well made film which it is IMO.
Sure, Airplane is very funny, Mel Brooks films, Christopher Guest films, Bill Murray comedies, Coen Brothers etc. But there's a whole world of extremely funny movies that are from a different era, and if you watch them with an open mind and no expectations based on others' opinions you may enjoy them.
Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Chaplin, Carol Lombard, Judy Holiday, Jack Lemmon = funny!
I can laugh out loud sitting in traffic just thinking about some of the classic lines in SLIH, but not laughing out loud doesn't necessarily mean a film isn't funny. One of the posters told the OP to get over themselves.excellent idea.
"Nobody's perfect" who doesn't laugh at this?!?!?

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Thanks for sharing, -denis-38 : I love hearing contemporary reactions!!!

Interesting! I also saw film during it's first release. I was six. It was a VERY adult movie to take a child to, but my family was rather advanced in some ways. I do remember the laughter, and also the literal gasp that errupted from the entire audience when the spotlight comes in on Marilyn singing "I Wanna Be Loved By You." She looked nude from the waist up. It was quite a moment. I also remember my aunt saying, "Oh, she (MM) is adorable, but she IS getting a bit chubby." And my other aunt replied, "But she was pregnant." Then a big talk about her miscarriages!
No film is to everyone's taste, and it's okay not to like "Some Like It Hot" or Marilyn or black and white movies for that matter. But I am appalled at the language and attitudes expressedand not just on this subject or this film. It's only movies, folks. Save the anger and arguing for real life and issues of importance.

It is truly a pity that you are unable to "get" the humor in this film. I suspect you are quite young (relative to me, at least) and were raised on what passed for comedy on television from the 70's onward which, by many, was a giant step backward in the evolutionary chain of comedy.
I can't convince you of the film's "funny-ness," but I will relate this story: when I saw the film when it was released I was but six years old. I was with my parents and extended family. I remember not getting any of the humor, but what I do remember vividly is the overwhelming reaction of the sold out audiencepeople having trouble breathing from laughing so hard and long; laughter so loud and prolonged that people were always asking, "what did he say?" because much of the next line was inaudible. I have not been in a theater with that kind of audience reaction since. (the Marx Brothers came close in the early 70's when their films were revived at houses in NYC).
You can take that for what it's worth.
Tell me the last time you experienced this in a movie theater, where the laughter of the audience consistently drowned out the dialogue.