Nicola Jones was at Pop Ritzy for its launch
Pop Ritzy premiered on Thursday with a jazzy hum and a screening of the seminal Billy Wilder hit Some Like it Hot.
The three-hander film that stars Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and a peak Marilyn Monroe remains a classic well after its first release in 1959.
The gender swapping of musicians Jerry (Lemmon) and Joe (Curtis) to join a girls’ band and escape the mob on their tail still works as it inherently uses gender as a performance. The constructs of male and female performance within society ar further thrown with Monroe’s role as Sugar, a whisky drinking singer desperate for a millionaire, or so she thinks.
Monroe is hard to forget in this role as she coos and glitters in sequin dresses clearly sewn to her exact form. Not to be outdone Curtis’ riff as a yacht-owning millionaire is the best Cary Grant impression yet and Lemmon’s tango sequence with his suitor is a piece of superior character acting.
Yet it is the chemistry between the trio, the verbal play, and the debunking of gender roles that still feels fresh nearly 60 years later.
Some Like it Hot is fun on a big screen and Pop Ritzy provides a decently enjoyable atmosphere to revisit films already seen.
The buzz of Pop Brixton right outside provided a lively backdrop to a more intimate pop up cinema experience for a film centred on nightclubs and seduction.
The film was given an artificial intermission and London local Deborah Carew sang a jazz numbers for the crowd. At the end of the screening more music followed, which allowed the mood of Some Like it Hot to live on a little longer.
A newer venture for Ritzy Cinema, Pop Ritzy still has a few kinks, but in time could be a superior summer alternative for revisiting favourite films.
The next two nights at the Pop Ritzy include the Oscar winning film Beasts of the Southern Wild on Thursday, 18 August at 6:30 PM. The film will be accompanied by musician Dom Pipkin who will bring some New Orleans inspired tunes to the evening.
To close out the summer will be 500 Days of Summer on Thursday, 15 September at 6:30 PM and will include a karaoke session following the film. All screening tickets include a drink and popcorn.
Book tickets here.
Nicola Jones covers film on asophisticatednoise.com and can be found tweeting @MzJones
