Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Welcome to five Minute Film Finder, brought.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: To you by Pioneer Library System.
Welcome back to another episode of five Minute Film Finder. We are two of your many hosts. Librarian hosts with the Pioneer Library System. I am Kendall. If you do not recognize the voice. And I'm joined today by a familiar voice.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: Samuel.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: Samuel as well.
[00:00:26] Speaker C: I'm back.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: You know, Samuel, we're gonna obviously hop into what we have, but I didn't realize. Did we actually intend to make this like a follow up to the Sunset Boulevard? Because this is actually a Billy Wilder Jack Lemmon. This is a full. This is like a level on, level follow up.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: I didn't realize that you and I.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: I love this kind of like old stroll through old Hollywood, I guess we're kind of doing, you know. Yeah, it's really exciting.
[00:00:49] Speaker C: Was the. I think the first episode we did together was we did a silent film.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:00:55] Speaker C: And so now we're into old Hollywood, and so we're just gonna. It's gonna. We're gonna spin off a film history podcast.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: We are. We are. At this point. At this point, we are. Well. And you know what's fun, too? Just the nerd in me. It's like, you know, we have. We'll of course, say our titles here in a second, but we have a film from, you know, the 50s golden area of Hollywood, and then we have from the 90s, who a lot of people argue is like the second best decade of movies in America. So it's gonna be kind of fun to talk about.
So anyways, just taking a quick step back. If this is your first episode joining us, we both have five minutes to talk about these films that we've chosen from these streaming services available with your library card through the Pioneer Library System.
My choice today is from the streaming service Canopy. Do you know by chance if yours is on both.
[00:01:37] Speaker C: Mine's on, I think just Kanopy.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: Just Canopy as well. Okay. But these services are available through your Pioneer Library system card. And so I say we just hop right into it, if you are. So we kind of alluded to it. But before I begin my five minutes, this is our Jack Lemmon episode. Episode.
Which in 2025 is an interesting choice. You know, I think some people might not really know Jack Lemon as much, you know, as. As even 15 years ago. Yeah, I would argue actually really quick before we start our timer.
I have to be honest with you, I have not seen a lot of Jack Lemmon movies like the Apartment I know is a really big one, which is also, I think, A Billy Wilder movie.
[00:02:15] Speaker C: It is. It is. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: Hadn't seen that.
I had, of course, seen my film. I'll go and say Some Like It Hot. Yeah, I'll hop into that here in a minute. But I'm really enjoying just.
I guess I'll step back. This is really the role that I knew Jack Lemmon for was hot, and so I'll go ahead and hop into it. But I'm excited to hear about yours as well.
[00:02:38] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll get his range today.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: We'll get his range. And it's.
I had actually just rewatched the last scene of your choice and so it was. Yeah, just to that point. I can't wait to talk about the range, his actual range. So, Wilhelm, if you'll start me off with that five minute timer, I'm gonna go ahead and talk to y' all very quickly about Some Like It Hot.
So Some Like It Hot, if you're not familiar with the title, is actually considered by the American Film Institute and many to be considered one of the best films of all time. Considered one of the best screwball comedies of all time.
Before I kind of get into the info about it, I would say I hard agree, you know, I.
This is a romantic comedy, a slapstick screwball comedy. This is not something that I would normally seek out on my own. I watched this, I Believe, in class when I was in high school for the first time and was just completely infatuated with it. What was your first experience kind of seeing this movie? Do you remember, by chance?
[00:03:30] Speaker C: Oh, man, vaguely.
I mean, it was only a couple of years ago, I think, when I saw it for the first time.
And yeah, it's. It is.
You're quite taken with. With. I don't know, there's something about like those old screwball screwball comedies that's just. It's nice. I don't know. It's a good watch. It's funny.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: It's. Yeah, yeah, I love it. And exactly kind of what you said. It's just. It's charming. So kind of. Let me give you some background. Had already alluded to it, but Billy Wilder is a very famous Hollywood director, especially in the 50s. He wrote and directed this film. But this film, very, very unique. It's kind of a trio starring. It's starring Marilyn Monroe as a character called Sugar Cane Kovalchek.
That's a great, great one. Offline. Sugar Cane used to be Kovalchek.
Tony Curtis, who You might. You probably know this, but many of our listeners might. This is actually Jamie Lee Curtis. Dad is Tony Curtis.
[00:04:25] Speaker C: I did not know that.
[00:04:26] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:04:27] Speaker C: Believe it or not.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And then Jack Lemmon, Jerry, our hero of the day. So these three very much take like a center role in this movie. You know, there's kind of relationships between the three of them, but I would argue they're all kind of three. Primarily protagonist Jack Lemmon may be falling behind a little bit.
[00:04:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: But really it's about them. And with my time, I kind of want to get at least paint a picture of what the movie's about. So I kind of lifted this plot for y' all just to know it roughly of what it's about. So it's set in the prohibition era. The film follows two struggling musicians, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, who witness a mob hit and flee by disguising themselves as women in an all female led band. The central tension revolves around maintaining their disguises while navigating romantic entanglements and escaping the mob.
[00:05:11] Speaker C: Yes, yes.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: And it's a. It's a pretty. That's just for our conversation. That really is what the movie's about. Yeah, there's a lot of conversations in terms of characters. And, you know, of course, the two main characters take on these female identities for the majority of the movie.
And so there's a lot to kind of dive into as far as identity and whatnot. But I really. I kind of want to focus less on the themes and more of the performances. Just kind of what's unique about it? And again, in Jack Lemmon, too. So really, again, we're trying not to overrun on time, but with Joe and.
Sorry, with Joe and Jerry, the two main characters.
What was your. What are your thoughts, Samuel, on having two protagonists like this in the 50s and kind of the manly kind of characters and being willing to take on a role like this?
[00:05:57] Speaker C: Yeah, I was thinking about it. There was the scene with Jack Lemmon dancing with. What's the.
Osgood. The Millionaire.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: I have it written down, but yes, continue. I'll look it up.
[00:06:11] Speaker C: And he's there and he. Because it's kind of a historical fiction almost, because it's 1929 is when the film takes place, so.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:06:19] Speaker C: They go back 30 years from when it was released. And so he's almost in like. Almost like the flapper dress and everything. And. And he's doing, you know, this dance and he gets dipped by Osgood. And I'm like, man, like, this is either the funnest thing for an actor to do or just horrifying. Right. For like Particularly, I think, like, for like, maybe like a straight man in, like the fifth in 1950s America to take on this role. It could have been, like, horrifying to do, I guess. But it was probably. I bet it was. It was, like, a lot of fun to just get into.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: I love that. I read a quote from. From Jack Lemmon talking about Tony Curtis and talking about kind of the natural getting into that character. And a lot of people at the time praised Jack Lemmon for being kind of effortless in his kind of role. Whereas Tony Curtis had a very interesting quote and kind of said that he, to that point, said it felt. He felt very kind of masculine and at first kind of felt very awkward and interesting. It was interesting just to hear them talk about the dynamics because he felt very uncomfortable in dressed like that. Whereas he said Jack Lemmon, there was a quote saying he stormed out of the dressing room like a queen on set or something like that.
And so there's so much more to say about this film, and I would be remiss if I. If I don't encourage you to at least seek it out on Canopy. I am almost out of time, so I'll just sum it up by saying this. This is a film that I knew Marilyn Monroe was beautiful, but this film truly convinced me that she was just an icon. Yeah, she is just absolutely just. And purely beyond her looks, too. She is.
That's my time, so I'm going to go ahead and just wrap it up. Final thoughts. She is fantastic. All three leads just absolutely lean into the roles.
Tony Curtis is a really fun, purposeful, like, Gary Cary Grant impression when he's the millionaire. And it's like they did it, like, on purpose to, like, jab at Cary Grant. So anyways, it's super fun. It is absolutely a relic of its time, but I would say it holds up really well, too. Yeah, I would say that the humor holds up. Last thing I just want to say, the tagline, I think, really sums it up really well for this movie. The tagline, at least at the time when it came out, was not since Scarface. So much action. Not since the Marx Brothers. So much comedy. And not since the Seven Year Itch. So much Marilyn. Yeah, wow. I thought that was a good. I thought that was a good tagline for it. So anyways, Some Like It Hot. It came out in 1959. Available with your library card on the streaming service Canopy. I encourage you to check it out. And after this break, we'll come back with Samuel's Pick.
[00:08:53] Speaker C: Welcome back to five Minute film finder. Now we'll kind of fast forward in time to the 1990s. 1992 with Glengarry Glen Ross, also starring Jack Lemmon. He's kind of the protagonist in this. Oh, if I'll let Wilhelm get my timer started. Sorry. Very important, Very inconsiderate of me. Maybe I watched Glengarry Glen Ross too closely here.
But yeah, so, yeah, Jack Lemmon plays Shelley Levine, who is a down on his luck salesman.
They sell kind of real estate and it's kind of guys who are cold calling people showing up at doors. They're getting leads to follow up on people who might be interested in buying property and things like that.
And I think one of the big reasons why this movie became what it was was because it, it kind of hit, I think probably in many ways, like Death of a Salesman, you know, sort of the.
Which maybe I could be completely wrong. I've actually never read or seen that.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: No, I think, I think you're on point though. Well, and I'll absolutely hop back to it. But I think there, I read a sentiment one time that there. People like watching people be good at what they do and taking it seriously. And so I think that kind of applies to these scenarios of like salesmen and like why we're kind of naturally drawn to these stories. But.
[00:10:16] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, there's a sense of which, like, you know, there's this whole backstory of, of Shelly Levine's daughter maybe being sick. Right. Like, you don't really get too many details.
And he really needs to, to earn money because he needs to help take care of his daughter.
And then comes maybe the most iconic scene.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: I admittedly I had not seen this and I knew this scene.
[00:10:42] Speaker C: Yeah, it was like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If anyone's ever said, like coffee is for closers, this is where they got it. Alec Baldwin, just in his busy schedule in the 90s, decided to drop off on set and, and give really just like a two minute almost.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: It's really not that long diatribe. When I watched it, actually I was surprised when I went back and watched it. Yeah, it's really not that long.
[00:11:03] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, it is not that long. He just shows up and he just abuses these salesmen. All except Ricky Roman, played by Al Pacino, another great performance. That's, that's worth watching.
And so now it's like you either sell or you lose your job. And you're not going to get the good leads, right? The promising leads. You're not going to get the stuff that you could actually probably sell with. Unless you sell to the bad leads.
And so then, you know, kind of running through the plot here, someone breaks into the Office and steals the leads and. And it doesn't really become a mystery, but. But it turns out kind of one of the. One of the guys in the office has done it.
And the consequences, the fallout of it is just quite incredible.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:11:58] Speaker C: And the perform. I mean, really. So this is. This is.
I wouldn't say this is my favorite kind of movie, but it is one of my favorite kinds of movies. And they're very often stage plays that have been adapted into films, which is, why don't we just get a bunch of really good actors, throw them on a set and just let them cook? And that's what happens here, right?
[00:12:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
Do you mind listing some of the names?
[00:12:23] Speaker C: Yeah. So you have Jack Lemon, Right. Playing Jelly Levine. You have Al Pacino playing Ricky Roman. You have Alan Arkin playing George.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: His last name was Last names. I was ready for just the first names playing George.
[00:12:38] Speaker C: And then you have Oklahoma Legend Ed Harris playing, I believe, Dave Moss. Right. In the hot head of the office. Really great. Alec Baldwin makes a cameo appearance. And then I should preface this.
I'll just do a large trigger warning here.
Don't watch this movie if you don't want to hear just the absolute worst cuss words in the world just thrown around like it's like a preposition.
And then don't watch this movie if you can't stomach watching Kevin Spacey.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:13:10] Speaker C: Because he plays the office manager, a pretty.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: Pretty prevalent role.
[00:13:13] Speaker C: Yes, yes.
He's a big role in the movie.
He's very unlikable.
So if you want to watch, if it might be cathartic for you to watch Al Pacino swear out Kevin Spacey, then watch this movie. You know, but there's. There's some really great, great performances from the cast in this film.
And yeah, I would say this is one of my favorite Al Pacino roles. Yeah, this is one of my favorite Jack Lemmon roles because unlike some like, it's Some Like It Hot. It's not a comedic role.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
[00:13:50] Speaker C: It's drama driven.
And you get.
You get almost the range of Jack Lemmon in this film where he is sort of trying to be the.
He's trying to have the bravado of a salesman. Right. The guy who can. Who can talk anyone into a sale, which he can't. So that also comes through. Right. He's not as. Right. You know, you compare it to Some of the other smooth talkers in the office, he's not as maybe accomplish. You kind of, you know, you feel.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Off with him talking to you.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: He's aging. Yeah, some. Oh, man, I'm almost out of time here. But then I'll just say something snaps and you see him at his weakest. You see him as kind of a sad character.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: It is truly.
[00:14:37] Speaker C: And there's Wilhelm, I think, screaming at me.
[00:14:40] Speaker B: I'll just say, just because you hit it on nail on the head, it is truly, without spoilers giving it away, particularly Jack Lemmon in this movie is again, it's. This is a person that we're talking about 40 years later from a role that he's already known for. For the rest, you know, it's like. And so he's already. This is already an established character. It's established actor, but he. In this film, it's just. I mean, it's an acting clinic, I would argue. I mean, you see him as a cornered animal, you would almost say at times. And then you see him as a sniveling, full of himself.
[00:15:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: You know, like, it's. He's just incredible.
[00:15:11] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And it's. It's also. I mean, sorry, we're over time, but I think there's another interesting thing to this, which is not to redo our Sunset Boulevard episode, but there's a way in which here you have this aging actor amidst sort of some of the biggest names in the night. Right. Alec Baldwin is doing a lot of big. Like, he. He's kind of not fresh off of oh, geez, what's the jazz?
[00:15:38] Speaker B: October.
[00:15:38] Speaker C: Red October. Yes.
And then you have Al Pacino, who's.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: Just, you know, 70s, 80s, 90s.
[00:15:45] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. He's still kind of at the height of his powers. And so then you throw in Jack Lemmon and there's almost like this, you know, I don't want to say it's like, oh, yeah, Jack Lemmon can't cut anymore because he does cut it here in this film. But there's a sense of like, you know, the aging salesman amongst.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: I mean. But you're right, that's a great point. I love that so much. I hadn't thought about that. But I mean, that really is. I mean, again, I know we're over on time, but a lot of these actors, I would. I would guarantee you a simple Google search, they'd probably be like, I looked up to Jack Lemmon when I was growing up. You know, a lot of these people actually probably did actively watch Jack Lemmon Yeah. And so it's interesting to kind of see exactly what you said, his legacy, kind of.
[00:16:23] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: On screen.
[00:16:24] Speaker C: Yeah. No, and for sure. And, yeah, just watch Jack Lemmon movies. He's in so many good things, and they're.
[00:16:30] Speaker B: I'm convinced I'm gonna watch the Apartment now. I know.
[00:16:32] Speaker C: You have to watch.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: I know. And I know it's like one of the greatest movies. Yeah.
[00:16:35] Speaker C: And it's another one of those where I think he's not just a comedic actor because it's a rom com. But. But there's some heavy stuff that happens in that film and he captures that. That kind of, like, character as well. And so anyway, yeah, I could go on. I mean, before we started recording, I talked to your off about another Jack Lemmon movie. It's called Missing. Check it out.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: But anyway, so, yeah, well, now I'm thinking, like, after this, you know, do we. How is Billy Wilder or Jack Lemmon going to sneak into our episodes?
[00:17:02] Speaker C: There's no escaping.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: There's no escaping. Yeah. Cool.
Well, great. I did want to say, just because I forgot, I wanted to recommend, just really, really quickly, some alternative choices for my film since my film is a little older, some more contemporary things. So again, as a reminder, mine was Some Like It Hot.
I saw a very interesting little piece that was talking about how it directly related to, like, Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire and, like, those 80s 90s kind of, you know, protagonists switching in and out of identities and whatnot. Yeah. And so, yeah, I mean, I think it's pretty clear if you watch Some Like It Hot, like, you'll see those tracks being laid for things that can come.
I saw that it was very, very involved in breaking that production code, too, and coming out with the ratings and not getting approved or disappeared. And so anyways, it's a very influential film. So definitely, I definitely recommend it. And I love that. I mean, these was really your idea. So thank you for bringing these ideas.
[00:17:53] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, no, this is great. Love talking to these movies.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: I look forward to our next episode, and we look forward to bringing you some next movies. Hopefully, we'll start our. We'll work on our offshoot as well.
All right, we'll talk to you all next time. Thank you all so much for your time, and we'll catch you on the next episode of five Minute Film Finder.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Five Minute Film Finder is a digital program brought to you by Pioneer Library System in Oklahoma.
All opinions expressed in this episode are those of the host and not those of the organization.
Five Minute Film Finder is produced, recorded and mixed by Ben Si. Theme music by Ben Si.
If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please email podcastioneerlibrarysystem.org Remember to like, review and subscribe. Thanks for listening.
