“It’s not how long it takes, it’s who’s taking you.”
The working title was, “Not Tonight Josephine”. Director Billy Wilder originally wanted Frank Sinatra or Jerry Lewis to play Jack Lemmon’s role of Jerry-‘Daphne’– but they didn’t want to dress in drag. Anthony Perkins also auditioned for that role. Danny Kaye and Bob Hope were also considered as a team for the Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis roles. His first choice to play Sugar was Mitzi Gaynor, not Marilyn Monroe. Monroe was pregnant during the filming so she looked considerably heavier that usual. (She had no known children and several miscarriages in her life.) So the Studio had most of her publicity photos posed for by Sandra Warner, who had an uncredited role as one of the band members, and Monroe’s frequent stand-in Evelyn Moriarty. A head shot of Monroe was then superimposed over their bodies. According to Tony Curtis, Monroe was routinely 2 to 3 hours late to the set and sometimes refused to leave her dressing room. Billy Wilder publicly blasted Monroe for her behavior and she was not invited to the wrap party. Wilder, referring to Monroe: “We were in mid-flight, and there was a nut on the plane.” Monroe sang a vocal version of the film’s theme to be played over the opening credits but it wasn’t used. Her songs from the film were re-released in the 1970s, including, “I want to be loved by you”. Her vocal coach was friend Judy Garland. The film was banned in Kansas because cross-dressing was considered “too disturbing for Kansans”. The closing line, “Nobody’s perfect” was meant to be a placeholder, but test audiences loved it so they kept it.
