Best Actor 1959: Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot

Jack Lemmon received his second Oscar nomination for portraying Jerry as well as being disguised as Daphne in Some Like it Hot. 

Some Like It Hot is of course the film of craziness about two who dress up as women to run away from murderous gangster, by hiding in an all woman's band.

Some Like it Hot is usually called one of the best comedies ever, in fact it is called simply just the best comedy ever sometimes. Now I think it is wholly fine, and certainly enjoyable, but I just did not find it all that funny for it to be really considered the best comedy ever. Jack Lemmon's performance here is also commonly referred to as his best, or at least his best comedic work. Again I must disagree on both parts, finding a better performances by him overall, and I greatly prefer his performance in the Apartment to this film.

The reason I prefer his turn in the Apartment is that I felt he really toned down much of his Lemmonisms and turned in a much better performance. In this film though his Lemmonisms are probably at his highest in any film. He does not stop with them for a moment in the film. His whole performance is basically used for a comedy machine, and his whole purpose in the film is just to generate as many laughs as possibly, since he really lacks any dramatic scenes, where his co-star Tony Curtis as fellow cross dressing does have a few brief ones.

The the most important aspect of his performance is how funny one thinks he is in this. Well his brief moments as Jerry he does his nervous manic Lemmon, and when he is Daphne he acts almost downright insane with his energy. His performance I most certianly will give credit to for always trying to get a laugh, or something out of the audience. He never becomes really annoying with his constant comedic acting, like he did to an unbearable extent in Tribute, although he came a little close at times.

Still the pivotal question is, is he funny? Well most people say he most certainly is, one of the funniest performances ever. Well I can't agree I just never found him laugh out loud funny, since I specifically never laughed out loud at a single moment in his performance. That is the why comedy works though, you either find it funny or not, you cannot convince someone something is funny. I did smile at his performance, and I still did like him well enough. Overall this is a hard working performance, that did not entirely work for me, but I certianly can see how others might love it so much.