This Saturday local PBS Member Station KQED will be showing two of my favorite comedies back-to-back; Some Like it Hot at 8:00 PM and The Birdcage at 10:03 PM.

Some Like it Hot (1959) is brilliantly directed by Billy Wilder and equally as well acted by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.  Marilyn Monroe also stars and steals my heart just a little when she sings, dances and plays the ukulele in one of the movies best scenes.  Curtis and Lemmon play performers who witness a crime and then go on the lam, hiding out in a rather unique fashion.  The film was voted the funniest American movie of all time by the American Film Institute and I tend to agree; you will laugh hard and often while watching Some Like it Hot.  Don’t miss out!

The Birdcage (1996) is also one of my favorites; Robin Williams and Nathan Lane play a gay couple who must pretend to be straight when their son brings home his conservative soon-to-be in-laws played by Dianne Wiest and Gene Hackman.  The film also stars Calista Flockhart and Dan Futterman as the young lovers without whom the story would be impossible.  I love this movie because it brought Nathan Lane mainstream, proved Robin Williams can play the straight man in a comedy and got Gene Hackman dressed up in drag.  Thank you Mike Nichols for doing this movie!

– John Morton

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