Well, nobody’s perfect.

In this episode, John, Westy and Matt tell the story behind Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot, the film the American Film Institute later crowned the greatest American comedy ever made. Two skint Chicago musicians witness the St Valentine’s Day Massacre, and their only way out of town is to join an all-female band, which is how Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon end up in wigs, heels and a great deal of trouble.

Our deep dive follows the film from Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s screenplay to a shoot that tested everyone’s patience, not least when Marilyn Monroe needed dozens of takes to deliver a single line (the bourbon, by all accounts, was easier to find than the dialogue). We get into Wilder’s decision to shoot in black and white because the heavy make-up on his leading men looked positively ghoulish in colour, Curtis playing a millionaire in a pinched Cary Grant accent, and Lemmon throwing himself into Daphne with the kind of glee that won the role its place in history.

From the way the film cheerfully ignored the Production Code to that closing line nobody involved quite believed in, we cover the production stories, creative decisions and sheer nerve that turned a gangster farce in drag into one of the most beloved films ever made. Whether you’re here for Monroe at her most luminous, a masterclass in comic timing, or simply the reassurance that nobody’s perfect, this is the thoroughly researched film analysis that makes All The Right Movies the movie podcast for film fans everywhere.

Listen to the full episode above, or find All The Right Movies wherever you get your podcasts. Please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.