Classic finds new audience

It's a common myth that old movies just aren't funny. Sure it seems like all the humor that came out of the '40s and '50s is pretty lame, and the people who lived through it appear to have a strange sense of humor (Jerry Lewis), but the 1959 comedy/crime/drama Some Like It Hot proves that myth wrong.

There's another myth, held mostly by young people, that old movies aren't as exciting and entertaining as the movies of the present. Some Like It Hot once again comes to the rescue of classic movies, adding danger and excitement to its humorous story line, making it a great movie by today's standards.

The movie, which is set in the '20s, opens with exciting gangland battles between gangsters of the prohibition and the police. We are then introduced to two out-of-luck musicians, played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, who always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their luck seems to have run out when they almost become part of the historic St. Valentine's Day massacre, but they narrowly escape the notorious blood bath. The problem is they are witness to the crime, and the gangsters know what they look like. So these two musicians do what any rational person would do in such a situation; they dress up in drag and join an all-girl band headed for Florida.

It is here that we are introduced to a sexy, innocent band member, played by beauty icon Marilyn Monroe, and it is at this point in the movie where the real humor begins. The two men, like any other man in the world, fall for Marilyn's character. Unfortunately Curtis and Lemmon have to spend the rest of the movie dressed like women, which makes it a little difficult to catch young Monroe's eye.

The idea of dressing up respectable actors as women and letting them connect with their roles creates lots of laughs. The idea has not been abandoned by Hollywood, remember To Wong Foo. The main difference between these two movies is that the believed lame comedy of the '50s prevails over that of the '90s, making Some Like It Hot a much better film.

Released nearly 40 years ago, Director Billy Wilder's comedy has the power to be a success in the theater of the '90s. Wilder has created the perfect combination of sex, comedy and violence, at a time in American movie history when such topics had to be handled very delicately.

Old movies can be funny and entertaining and Some Like it Hot is proof. Sure your parents and grandparents might not have a funny bone in their body, but don't let them represent the movies of their time.