I've watched almost all of Billy Wilder's movies in the last 6 months or so. I liked this one, but it was by far my least favorite.
Yes. I liked The Major and the Minor more than Some Like It Hot.

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Older movies hold more weight because they are the original ideas that countless movies borrow from now a days
It happens in every genre

I've always been a Bogart junkie - High Sierra is one of my alltime favs.
Bruce Campbell:[When asked what he would want with him if stuck on a deserted island] A continent.

Serious people wouldn't enjoy this movie. To enjoy it you've gotta be laid-back and be open to a bit of fun. If you over analyse and judge it it's no wonder you didn't like it. I liked it because I found their energy infectious, so it was a joy watching it, which made me more prone to laugh than I usually would. Today's humour is a lot different to the humour usually going around in the 50s/60s. I usually hate older generation movies, but I watched this with an open mind and tried to enjoy it, and I did, once I got used to the style. Maybe I'll enjoy more 50s/60s movies now.

I found this on a list of movies to watch/discuss for a film class. WOW. "Ok" is being gracious. Curtis is horrible - i've never gotten MM as being some "Cultural Icon" - this did NOT help.
All girl bands? Seriously? Dated is charitable - a 50s flick set in the 20s - THAT is the definition of dated.
Could barely watch it first time thru - 2nd time i started to skim - before it popped out of the DVD player. Oops.
It's on TCM fairly often - no wonder i never watched.
ALL the lists - this is WGA #9 - i can agree with most of the others
Maxwell Smart: Ive always wondered why someone would work in a morgue.
Ans: I like to meet people.

To a certain extent, the OP is right. Compared with, say, the Marx brothers best, this isn't very funny. But it is entertaining and watchable, in the romantic comedy way, and there are some great action with the gangster sequences. So, it's an entertaining movie that is a classic, particularly when it was released in 1959. It just hasn't aged all that well. For a lot of people, one viewing is plenty.
For a superior men-in-drag movie, I agree that
Tootsie
is much funnier than SLIH. Dustin Hoffman can pull it off better than Lemmon or Curtis.

Oh yes , compared to Adam Sandler's comedic masterpieces it's not funny at all..

First time I watched this, I was alone. Second time, it was showing in an old movie house and there were a LOT of people there.
Energy. A crowd gives it energy. In fact, I think on the first test screening of this Billy Wilder was asked to change it because the laughs weren't coming; he refused. When the film was then presented to a large audience, the theater was an uproar of laughter.
I don't know. I found Jackie funny, at least; "I'll THROW UP!" hehe, just the way he said that line. XD
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I have to agree, I felt this movie was really overrated.
And My Movie Reviews
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If there is one thing I can't disagree on with the OP, it's the fact that critics tend to be more indulgent with older productions: I feel that a lot of older movies are highly regarded mainly because they were pioneers in their time and paved the way for newer (and often better in my opinion) movies.

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I watched it last night for the first time, and I'm not a teenager by any means, yet pretty much felt the same as you. Fairly enjoyable, I smiled a few times, but wouldn't really want to watch it again. Except for Marilyn Monroe, she's damn hot. Even if she was pregnant at the time.

I was thinking of starting a thread about this after I saw it
I really liked this movie, I was entertained throughout the whole film and thought the screenplay was heaven sent but I just don't understand what all of the fuss is about
Maybe being a teenager, the type of comedy went over my head or I have just been desensitised by modern comedy
I just didn't think it was as good as some other films on the AFI list or one of the greatest films of all time
If someone could simply explain to me why the film is considered to be a masterpiece I might understand why

Just because one laughs out loud while watching a movie doesn't make it a good movie. If you are judging and rating movies on how funny you think they are, you need to re-assess that. Many movies made the past 20 years are very funny, but that is all they are and were meant to be. Stupid funny movies are not good. Some Like it Hot is a masterpiece and deserves the good ratings it has.

A Shot in the Dark > Dog crap > Some Like it Hot

Totally have to disagree. I love this film, another one of my favourites. I thought it was funny.
TONG PO RAPED ME!

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You're right, dmenemaine. The thing about "Some Like it Hot" is that it's not just a slapstick comedy, but a challenge of genders.
Do you have to be ruthless and violent like "Spats" Columbo and his goons in order to be a man or is it being footloose like Joe and Jerry, before they meet with Sugar and Osgood?
When they cross-dress and join the all-female band, Joe wants freedom from the wrath of Spats, but Jerry wants all the girls. However, Joe gets to know Sugar better when he's a girl and realizes that being a traditional alpha male hurts people, both intentionally and unintentionally. He knows when Sugar sings "I'm Through With Love" (Spoilers: when he "reveals" himself, it's kinky and hysterical and romantic).
As for Jerry, he gets "security" with a old, lovelorn horndog billionaire. There's definitely a homosexual undertone, since both of men love women too damn much.
And anyone who thinks this film is over-rated needs to get their head examined.

I think what may be a problem for some people with this movie (especially men) is that it doesn't treat masculinity seriously. A lot of males take their masculinity very seriously, and don't find it humorous when it's made fun of. There is also a definite homosexual undertone in the Jack Lemmon/Joe E. Brown subplot that I would not be surprised turns off some people (again especially men). Western society is too rigidly divided in what is considered "masculine" and "feminine", and that's what this film is poking fun at, and it does an extremely good job at what it does because it apparently makes some people uncomfortable.

Good comments, clivey.
"Did you make coffee? Make it!"Cheyenne.

This is a near perfect movie imo, a bona fide classic but it has to be said that like just about any movie, you still need to get into it, have your own personal take on it.
When I was a teen I took my mate to see it, feeling sure he'd love it as much as I did. He didn't get it. The only joke he laughed at was the one about the woman band conductor Sue saying all her girls were virtuosos 'and I intend to keep it that way' (wink) which, okay, is a good joke, but not really where the film is at in terms of humour. She's not really a humorous character.
One problem is the slow start. It's maybe five mins before anything that funny happens. I would even go so far as to say it might kill the movie for the uninitiated. The movie did badly in test previews and I would suggest this is the reason why.
But it also has that Jewish (but also British) complaining humour where everything is about to go wrong and Lemmon is complaining about it all. Some like that stuff, others don't. If you don't suspend disbelief and think the gangsters are really out to get them, that's a problem too. You're meant to be in that world.

Everyone needs to read that review. Its wonderful and on the money. I think that the ones who feel this movie is overrated or not as funny as it was made out to be just dont get the humor of this movie. The brillancy of the writing and the delivery by the actors plus the things going on in the scenes that are not dialogue. Its one of those things that one gets it or they don't and if one can't see it they just won't be able to. It's the same way about people getting Marilyn and others don't. It is understandable to those who do "get it" why it has been voted the funniest comedy even if the humor is not the rip roaring roll on the floor stomach hurting kind of funny, that is not what it is about. It doenst have to be over the top funny like that to still be one of the funniest comedy movies ever.

you saw it as an adult when it first came out???? you must be in your 70s at least, congratulations on being able to use the internet
ebert's review
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20000109%2 FREVIEWS08%2F1090301%2F1023