Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot, 1959
121 minutes

Some Like It Hot is a 1959 American romantic comedy set in 1929, based on a screenplay by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan from the French film Fanfare of Love. Directed and produced by Billy Wilder, it stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. The film is about two musicians who dress in drag to escape from mafia gangsters. It is worth noting that the film was produced without approval from the Motion Picture Production Code because it plays with the idea of homosexuality and features cross-dressing. That said, the code had been gradually weakening in its scope during the early 1950s due to greater social tolerance for previously taboo topics in film, but it was nevertheless enforced. These issues are not lost on Simmons, who refers to the film in My Art and whose work is readily recognized for challenging gender expectations.

Tuesday Evenings at the Modern: Films is an extension of the Modern’s weekly speaker series, Tuesday Evenings at the Modern. This special winter version of Tuesday Evenings at the Modern: Films is in conjunction with Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera, as it traces references made in Simmons’s own feature-length film, My Art, 2016. In My Art, the film’s protagonist, Ellie, a 65-year-old artist played by Simmons, enlists those around her to play various roles in restaging excerpts from old movies, which are threaded together in Ellie’s art to address nostalgia and memory.

To create a full experience for audiences, as with the lecture series, these presentations include a brief introduction and opportunity for discussion following the films. Seating is available in the Modern’s auditorium at 6:30 pm, and the program runs from 7 pm to no later than 9 pm. With this special program, the museum’s galleries and Café Modern are open until 7 pm. Tuesday Evenings at the Modern: Films is free and open to the public. Up to two free tickets can be attained at the admission desk beginning at 5 pm the day of each screening.