Billy Wilder Archives -

Published October 26, 2023

REMEMBERING SANDRA WARNER

Sandra Warner, “Some Like It Hot’ Cast Member passed away

Tonight, my heart is broken I have just found out that Sandra Warner passed away. Not only that, but she passed away 13th March 2022 age 87.

Looking through the archives, it wasn’t posted here at the time and I’m just so sorry for her friends and family that this news didn’t reach the Marilyn community sooner, as I’m sure we would have all showered her memory with love.

Sandra Warner was one of the last remaining “Sweet Sue And Her Society Syncopators” from “Some Like It Hot.” She played Emily and most famously chirps “Toodle-ooh!” to Jack Lemmon’s character Daphne in the train sequence of the film… “How about that “Toodle-Oooh?!” Jerry/Daphne excitedly responds!

Not only that, but she was Marilyn’s body double for all the promotional shots made for the movie after filming wrapped.

Speaking in 2001, Warner said:

“Marilyn and I were very round. I was a little taller than her, but I fit into her wardrobe.. and because she was pregnant, I was asked to do her publicity stills. Most of the albums, or wherever you see marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, they would use my body and Marilyn’s face… and it worked out perfectly, it couldn’t have been better and I enjoyed doing it.

Sandra Warner stands in for actress Marilyn Monroe in a publicity shot for ‘Some Like It Hot’, directed by Billy Wilder, 1959. With her are co-stars Jack Lemmon (1925 – 2001) and Tony Curtis. (Photo via John Kobal Foundation/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

And of course, spending the whole day with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis doing stills like this one…. a laugh a minute!… it’s a wonder we got anything accomplished!

We kept listening to the playback while we did these photographs… to keep in the mood…”

Sandra Warner also said of the iconic 1959 Billy Wilder comedy:

“Some Like It Hot” was like the greatest souffle ever made. It had the perfect ingredients, it had the greatest script, a great director, a great cast… of course the greatest Chef was Billy Wilder, but it really was like the greatest souffle ever made in history…… I was very happy to be a part of it.”

I am genuinely heartbroken tonight, as the “Some Like It Hot” star twinkles that little less brightly tonight.

Rest in Peace Sandra.

Words: Lorraine Nicol

Published January 25, 2022

NOBODY’S PERFECT – NOT SUCH A THROWAWAY LINE

Barbara Diamond, the wife of I.A.L Diamond (Billy Wilder’s writing partner for ‘Some Like It Hot’ and other Hollywood classics) said this about THAT famous last line in the iconic 1950’s comedy:

“One of the results of the way they worked is that it was impossible for them to seperate one person’s work from the other. They honestly didn’t know who had written particular scenes or individual lines, and truthfully, they didn’t much care.

The one line that they did know about turned out to be the one that everyone asks about, “Nobody’s perfect.” When asked, Billy always said that it was a throwaway line of Mr Diamond’s and they had hoped overnight they would think of something better, and Iz never contradicted him. However, I have a different version of it. I wrote the scene the day before it was shot and left a copy here with me while he took it over to Billy. When he came back and asked me what I thought, I told him it was a great scene but the last line was weak. He said, “That’s what Billy thinks and you’re both wrong,’ and proceeded to tell me why.

First of all, audiences love being able to anticipate a joke. The dimmest members of the audience know that Jack’s last line is going to be “I’m a man,” and they are bracing themselves for the explosive reaction. Therefore the only way to surprise them is to have no explosion, and the flatter the line the better.

The laugh comes from the structure of the scene, not the particular line. Would ‘never mind’ have gotten as big a laugh as ‘nobody’s perfect?’ quite possibly.

One reason why Billy called it a throwaway line was because it had briefly been in the scene where Tony is explaining to Jack why he can’t marry Osgood and was taken out because it stepped on another joke. I don’t imagine it gets as big a laugh now as it used to, the element of surprise is gone.

Iz loved that scene. When we were all on a European publicity tour for the picture he used to sneak into the theatre to watch the last few minutes, just so that he could hear that roar of sheer delight as Daphne and Osgood sail into the sunset.

I don’t think he ever really thought of it as a throwaway.”

Published November 24, 2020

MEMORIES OF ‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’ – JACK LEMMON

“Most of the mail I get is letters from all over the world talking about “Some Like It Hot.” I would say overall, it’s probably the biggest hit I’ve ever been in, I’m sure. I’ve had films that have grossed more in the beginning, but they’ve had a shorter life; this just keeps on going and going and going.

I think without any hesitation, no hesitation whatsoever-and forgetting the fact that I was in it, because that’s not what really affected the reusult for me–I think it is the best comedy script I have ever read and probably ever will read.”

I just can’t imagine reading a comedy script that could be better. I think that Billy Wilder was at the height of his powers, I think that it’s the equal of the best thing he’s ever done, comedy or drama. I think it’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen.”

Jack Lemmon on “Some Like It Hot.”

Published June 22, 2020

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY WILDER

Today in history, a giant of the entertainment industry, Oscar winning writer and Director Billy Wilder would have turned 114 years old.

Billy Wilder directed Marilyn in her two most successful comedies: “The Seven Year Itch” (1955) and “Some Like It Hot” (1959). In his many statements to biographers and journalists, his full appreciation for her talents, and dispair at the strains of working with her, are eloquently and directly expressed. Wilder defined Marilyn’s special magnetism on camera as “flesh impact- she looks on the screen as if you could reach out and touch her… she had a quality no-one else ever had on the screen expect Garbo.” And years after her death, he summed up his feelings: “I miss her. It was like going to the dentist, making a picture with her. It was hell at the time, but after it was over, it was wonderful. “

Dubbed “Hollywood’s most mischievous immigrant,” Wilder was behind some of the most iconic and highly respected movies ever to come out of Tinsletown. His impressive list of credits also include “Double Indemnity” (1944), “A Foreign Affair” (1948), “Sunset Boulevard” (1950), “Stalag 17” (1953), “Sabrina” (1954), all of which were Oscar nominated, as well as “The Lost Weekend” (1945), and “The Apartment” (1960), both of which won Oscars. In 1986, Wilder recieved a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.

After Wilder passed away in 2002, he was buried at Westwood Villiage Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, the same final resting place as Marilyn (and only two plots away from his long time friend and colleague Jack Lemmon.) His headstone reads:

A tribute to arguably one of his greatest gifts to the world: “Some Like It Hot.“