Billy Wilder and Some Like It Hot

The American Film Institute has ranked Some Like it Hot as the greatest comedy of the 20th century for 25 years. Much has been written about its talented co-writer and director Billy Wilder and the trainwreck casting of the unstable Marilyn Monroe, from whom Wilder managed to get a successful performance. However, the real secret of the film's greatness lies in Wilder's career up to its production. He had fully nailed the six comedy subgenres, and his masterful intertwining of parody, dark comedy, romantic comedy, personality comedian, screwball comedy and populism was the trick.

The famous final line "Nobody's perfect" was Wilder's own little LGBTQ+ time bomb. At the end of his screenplay (1959) he wrote that America was just not ready for Joe E. Brown's comment. But the film's critical accolades and today's popularity of its musical comedy adaptation say otherwise. As critics suggest, the provocative Wilder would be loving it. This book explores the history, context, and success secrets of this venerated American comedy.