Movie #38: Released in 1959, 122 minutes, directed by Billy Wilder. New to me!

LetterBoxd score: 4 stars

It is legitimately funny, and I would like to watch again, with Grace sometime. Some favorite moments:

• The joke about it being hard to move on, because Sugar will think of the millionaire every time she passes a shell gas station.
• The chaos of so many women crowding into Daphne’s berth; just surrounded by women.
• The audacity of concocting a story where you can’t feel any passion, and you would marry the first woman who could reignite that passion, as a way to get Sugar to try and make you feel.

It’s also delightfully relaxed about some social conventions. After some initial hesitation, Daphne just completely embraces being a woman, and delights in her madcap engagement to Osgood. And then Osgood’s famous closing line of the movie. Sugar doesn’t care about Josephine’s betrayal. And so on. Everyone here is just having a good time.

Why would someone think it’s one of the ten greatest films ever made?

All of the above is true – it’s just a great madcap comedy. And the gender angle elevates it. And it was also influential in bringing down the tyranny of the Hays code.

But it’s also pretty obvious people are horny for Marilyn Monroe. Ebert is explicit about it in his review. Actually, maybe it’s wrong to say “people” are horny for Monroe; maybe it’s just men. I would love to see if this movie has an unusually stark gender divide in its nominations from critics. But at any rate, Monroe is very good at doing her thing. Is that a good criteria for a greatest movies of all time list? I guess it is one criteria you can use.

Next: The 400 Blows