Two of Billy WilderÆs most successfully directed films are the classics Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch. In the former film, we are treated the one of the most cynical and satirical comedies ever filmed, while in the latter we are taken inside the fantasies of an urban executive whose sexual urges toward his neighbor threaten the sanctity of his marriage of seven years. Both films deal with sexuality. In Some Like It Hot, the sexual allure of Sugar Kane Kowalczyk drives two musicians, Joe and Jerry, to risk life and limb for a chance to be with Sugar. In The Seven Year Itch, the sexual allure of Richard ShermanÆs neighbor threatens to derail his marriage of seven years while his wife and son are away for summer vacation. In both films, Marilyn Monroe provides the sexual allure. In Some Like It Hot, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play the characters smitten by her charms, while in The Seven Year Itch it is Tom EwellÆs character that cannot stop fantasizing about his neighborÆs abundant charms.
Both Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch are comedies. However, they are distinctly different in narrative approach. In Some Like It Hot, Joe and Jerry become involved in what is presumably the St. ValentineÆs Day massacre when they witness the murders. With the mob on their trail, Joe and Jerry are forced to dress in drag and become Josephine and Daphne, respectively, in order to escape town with an all-girl band. In The Seven Year Itch, RichardÆs wife of seven years and his son go on summer vacation while he stays behind in the heat of the city. That heat becomes even more pronounced by the presence of his voluptuous neighbor. In Some Like It Hot, the narrative is fueled by Joe and JerryÆs efforts to avoid the mob. Throughout this effort, the film becomes a combination gangster film and slapstick comedy as Joe and Jerry must masquerade in drag to not only avoid the mob but to also have an opportunity to remain...