‘Some Like It Hot’: 9 Revealing Facts About The Groundbreaking 1959 Marilyn Monroe Movie

The 1959 Marilyn Monroe film Some Like It Hot was certainly ahead of its time. After all, it wasn’t very common to see men dressing up as women on the big screen, but that notion was at the center of this Oscar-winning film. The story follows two men who witnessed a murder committed by the Mafia, and to protect themselves decide to dress up as women and run away. 

The film earned $2,883,848 at the box office and is currently available for streaming on Tubi. 

To celebrate the groundbreaking film turning 65, we’ve gone undercover to round up 9 revealing facts about Some Like It Hot. Enjoy! 

1. The film's most iconic line almost didn’t make the final cut

Some Like it Hot ends with the line, “Well, nobody's perfect!” The American Film Institute deemed it one of the greatest movie quotes of all time. The irony is that it was originally going to be cut, the writers only having put it in there as a filler until they could come up with something better. When that didn’t happen, they decided to leave it in. Thank goodness they did! 

2. Marilyn Monroe was pregnant during filming

Not for the first time during production, Monroe was pregnant while working on Some Like It Hot. However, the actress, who suffered a number of miscarriages, would sadly lose this baby as well. Before that happened, though, production covered up her belly by having Sandra Warner and Evelyn Moriarty act as her body double in many of the film's publicity photos. 

3. Some Like It Hot was adapted into a Broadway musical 

Because of the film's ever-growing success, Broadway decided to produce a stage version. The first time was in 1972 and was entitled Sugar — after Monroe’s character. It was adapted again in 2022 by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, co-written by Amber Ruffin and Matthew Lopez, choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, and starring Broadway faves like J. Harrison Ghee and Christian Borle—this time keeping its original title intact. 

4. Director Billy Wilder reportedly hated working with Marilyn Monroe

It’s no secret that Monroe was difficult to work with. Her attitude was very wishy-washy and she often dealt with bouts of depression, but according to Wilder, the actress was also incredibly insecure and would often disrupt filming to try and make herself feel better. He got so fed up with her antics that he often had to take sleeping pills to relax. He also disinvited Monroe from the film’s wrap party. 

5. Josephine was inspired by two very famous people 

Tony Curtis, who portrayed Josephine in the film, modeled his performance off two very specific people: his mother and actress Eve Arden — who was best known for her work in Our Miss Brooks (1952 to 1956). 

6. Marilyn Monroe only agreed to appear in  Some Like It Hot if production agreed to one thing

Actress Marilyn Monroe was very skeptical about signing onto the film and only agreed to do it if production gave her 10% of the film's gross. This was on top of her salary, which was never disclosed. 

7. Some Like it Hot was banned in Kansas

The concept of Some Like it Hot was a little ahead of its time and wasn’t widely received well in certain parts of The United States, Kansas being one of them and even went so far as to ban it from ever being shown in the state. Things have changed since then, though, and now every Kansan can watch the film just like everybody else. 

8.  Joan Shawlee was best known as ‘Sweet Sue’ and ‘Pickles’ Sorrell

Although most viewers recognize her as “Pickles,” the wife of comedy writer Buddy Sorrell (Maury Amsterdam) on the classic TV sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, actress Joan Shawlee really captured people’s attention as Sweet Sue in Some Like It Hot. Director Billy Wilder would repeatedly cast her opposite Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (1960), as “Amazon Annie” in Irma la Douce (1963) and Buddy Buddy (1981), the director’s last film.

9. Frank Sinatra was almost in Some Like It Hot 

Director Billy Wilder really wanted Oscar-winner Frank Sinatra to star as Jerry/Daphne, going so far as to set up a lunch meeting with the singer, but Sinatra never showed up. Needless to say, this meant Sinatra never ended up in Some Like It Hot and Jack Lemmon did. 

For more of our 1950's coverage, keep scrolling!

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