Product Description Some Like It Hot occupies a unique place in American culture. This beloved classic showcases five comic geniuses: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, I. A. L. Diamond, Billy Wilder, and Marilyn Monroe. It has been honored by the American Film Institute as the "Funniest Film of All Time". It has contributed quotes, styles, and stories to film lore. Yet the full story of its making has never been told—until now.
Amazon Exclusive: Interview with Tony Curtis
Acting legend and author of
The Making of Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis, sits down for an exclusive interview with co-author Mark A. Vieira to talk about his book, his legacy, and of course, Marilyn.
Mark: Tony, both your fans and the potential readers of our book would like to know what prompted you to write
The Making of Some Like It Hot?
Tony: Well, Mark, while my last book,
American Prince, was going great guns a year ago, I was invited to
The Bonnie Hunt Show. My agent, that handsome Alan Nevins, was with me in the green room. And Alan says to me, “Tony, you know the anniversary is coming up of your movie
Some Like It Hot. Why not do your own book about it?”
Mark: Did you like his idea?
Tony: Frankly, no. There was a lot of stuff, a lot of memories I hadn’t dealt with. The business of my romance with Marilyn. I thought I should let it alone. And for years I did.
Mark: Well, what persuaded you to deal with it now?
Tony: I realized something. People love the picture
Some Like It Hot. They cherish it. Being an artist myself, a painter, I can see why they call the picture a work of art. It is. So I thought to myself, people want to know how we made it. Why not tell them the whole story? It’s not just that I’m the only actor left to tell it. I’m the one that can tell it best.
Mark: When I was working with you, I sensed that some stories were easier for you to tell than others.
Tony: Oh, yeah. Yeah. You see, Mark, when you go back and look at yourself fifty years ago, how you were then, it’s tough. I don’t mean that I would change a lot of things that I did, but I—well, let me put it this way—it’s like trying to ride a roller coaster backwards. It’s tough going back and sorting all that stuff out. You know I’ve had my health problems in the past few years. Luckily, my memory wasn’t affected. But thinking about Marilyn and Billy Wilder and all that, well, it got to me. You saw that.
Mark: I did. But you managed to tell a tale that no one else can.
Tony: What can I say? I was there. I was me. Billy called me “the best-looking kid in town.” Being that kid gave me a particular kind of access. Certain people question why Marilyn chose to get involved with me. Look at the pictures of us together. That should answer their questions. We were two beautiful young animals. Why shouldn’t we get involved?
Mark: Do you think that helped the film?
Tony: Once again, I say: look at the picture. You can see the heat between Marilyn and me. Without that, what would you have? A funny picture with a hole in the center of it. Billy needed that, he needed that chemistry to make the thing work. He got it.
Mark: Any parting words about the book?
Tony: Yeah. Like the rest of the world, I’ve grown to love
Some Like It Hot. I mean, it did a lot for me. And I’ve always loved telling stories. So this story—the story of how we made it—is my bouquet to the picture. This is for you, Billy and Jack and Marilyn.
"Curtis's writing in this memoir of Billy Wilder's 1959 comic masterpiece is staccato, repetitive and occasionally baffling. But even if the voice is a little insane — on Wilder: "He was wiry. Energetic. I don't think I ever saw him stand still. Not a guy given to repose. Always moving. Like his pictures" — it suits the edgy, emotionally charged set of "Some Like It Hot" perfectly. There are sexual encounters with Marilyn Monroe, whom Curtis describes as his "first adult relationship." They slept together both before she was a major star and later, when they were working together on this film. It's left an open question whether Monroe was subsequently pregnant by Curtis or by her husband at the time, Arthur Miller. What is definite is that the racy seduction scene on the yacht in "Some Like It Hot" was Method acting at its finest. Speaking of the Method, Curtis suggests that Lee and Paula Strasberg were to blame for Monroe's neurotic behavior on the set and her failure to get there with any regularity. "Before going to the Actors Studio she was like a tightrope walker who doesn't know there was a pit she could fall into," Curtis quotes Wilder as saying. "After the Strasbergs got to her, she thought of nothing but the pit." Sometimes Curtis's revelations about Monroe feel invasive (especially when it comes to her abortions and miscarriages) or borderline mean (were her hips really those of "a Polish washerwoman"?). But to the extent that he could overcome his own dazzling narcissism, Curtis was clearly under her spell. His book (written with Mark A. Vieira) may be more feverish than fluent, but it's a wonderful tribute to one of the funniest movies ever made." (
The New York Times Book Review, December 6, 2009)
"Curtis gives us a personal, behind the scenes look at the trials and tribulations of Hollywood film making in the 1950's; it contains many additional humorous vignettes…." (Examiner.com, 15 September 2009)
