YOU'VE MADE SO MANY MOVIES, RANGING FROM COMEDY TO DRAMA, DO YOU HAVE ANY PERSONAL FAVORITES, AND WHY?
"Some Like It Hot, is the funniest film I ever made... I think it would've been exactly that funny even if somebody else would've played my part."
(SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) was Jack Lemmon's 12th film. It also starred Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe, Joe E Brown and George Raft. It was the first of seven films Lemmon and Wilder did together. Both respected and admired each other's talents. Lemmon describes Wilder as, "The greatest film-maker of all time." While Wilder says of Lemmon, "When most actors walk into a room you've got nothing. When Jack walks into a room you immediately have a situation.")
IN THAT FILM YOU WERE A GREAT GERRY, BUT AN EVEN GREATER DAPHINE...
The character Gerry just doesn't think. He reacts... That's the genius of the plot. Tony and I were well aware that we were just a party to Wilder's folly. He is the greatest film makers of all time, no question of that... The only reason that film was being make was because it was, Billy Wilder. Anybody else would've been thrown it out of a producer's office if they came in with this kind of story. Basically what Billy did, was take a 5 minute Burlesque sketch of two guy running, and made a two hour farce out of it.
* Next week: Jack Lemmon talks about Marilyn Monroe and working with director Billy Wilder...
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