Some Like it Hot is showing at the Delphi Filmpalast in Berlin on Sunday, September 20 at 11:30 am, with The Seven Year Itch to follow on October 25, as part of Billy Wilder: Master of Comedy, a series honouring Marilyn’s two-time director.
“Hardly any other director knew how to blend humour, melancholy, and social commentary as brilliantly as Billy Wilder. Starting September 20, we’ll be showing seven of his finest films on the big screen at the Delphi Filmpalast – ranging from irreverent political satire to bittersweet romantic comedies, some of them in restored 4K versions and in the original English. Look forward to seven films packed with Wilder’s signature wit – sharp, heartwarming, and timelessly relevant.”
And Some Like It Hot is coming to London from next month, as part of a Wilder retrospective at BFI Southbank.
“The BFI today announces programme details for a major two-month season celebrating the extraordinary career and legendary wit of one of the finest émigré directors to dominate the studio system, Billy Wilder. Curated by the BFI’s Ruby McGuigan, Almost Perfect: The Films of Billy Wilder will run at BFI Southbank from 19 October to 31 December, and will feature more than 30 films, from smash hits like Some Like it Hot (1959), Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Apartment (1960) to collaborations with other greats of the era such as Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (Ernst Lubitsch, 1938), Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, 1941) and People on Sunday (Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, 1930).
The season will be programmed across four key themes: Billy Liar, where fake identities, half-truths and bald deception enable Wilder’s characters to bamboozle the system into submission; Class Warfare, exploring the characters who are constantly manoeuvring across class divides; A Crisis of Masculinity, full of anti-heroes that offer us a variety of sympathetic lenses through which to examine modern patriarchy, none of them rose-tinted; and In Pursuit of Fame and Fortune, which delves into the murky waters of Hollywood, media manipulation and the pitfalls of ambition.
Ruby McGuigan, BFI Programme Development Manager and season curator said: ‘In many ways, Billy Wilder is the definition of the American Dream. A refugee-turned-Hollywood titan; a plucky teenager who scammed, charmed and bulldozed his way to a life of wealth and critical acclaim. A legendary raconteur – both on the page and propping up a Beverly Hills bar – Wilder’s talent for exaggeration and imagination lit up the screen, with his work being immortalised by Hollywood icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and many more. Wilder leaves behind an incredible cinematic legacy, and we’re thrilled that audiences will be able to experience these timeless films as they were meant to be seen, on the big screen and alongside fellow cinemagoers this autumn.'”
- SOME LIKE IT HOT: October 20, 29; November 10, 24 – “In a frenzied attempt to escape the mob, two musicians trick an all-female jazz troupe to hire them. They soon discover life disguised as women is more treacherous than expected, particularly if you’re sharing a bunk with Marilyn Monroe. Wilder’s own hitchhiked journeys with a travelling jazz band inspired his gender-bending masterpiece, which sees the lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry of three comedic powerhouses immortalised. (New 35mm print made with funding from the National Lottery and the additional support of donors to our Keep Film on Film campaign. Courtesy of MGM.)”
The Marilyn Report 