Some Like It Hot (1959)

An absolutely wonderful comedy classic. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are the musicians who have to impersonate women to escape Prohibition-era gangsters. Marilyn Monroe is the singer and ukulele player in the all-girl band they join in order to flee Chicago.

It’s very, very funny and the slapstick is perfectly timed. Curtis and Lemmon make it work because they through themselves so completely into pretending to be women. The most amusing moment is probably the sequence on the train after lights-out when an absurd number of girls cram themselves into Jerry's tiny bunk for a secret party.

Monroe is perfect as Sugar Kane. There are stories of her being unable to remember her lines on set, but her performance is so natural and charming that it’s hard to believe.

Spartacus (1960)

I had never seen this Stanley Kubrick classic, so was curious. It deserves all the hype, pretty much. Kirk Douglas is shiny and reasonably charismatic in the lead role. Jean Simmons is appealing as his delicate love interest, often shown in soft focus. The smouldering scenes in which the pair fall in love at the gladiator training centre are remarkable because almost no words are exchanged between them. Tony Curtis, Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier and Peter Ustinov make up what is the very definition of an all-star cast. They are all on excellent form, but Curtis seems weirdly underused despite being built up as important because he’s different to the others.

At over three hours – and with amazing crowd scenes with hundreds of extras amassing for battle on huge landscapes – it’s epic in every sense.

Like many classics, it’s odder than you might expect. The lighting is all over the place, with some strangely illuminated interior scenes jarringly placed amid the exterior locations. There are also some peculiar scenes showing “ordinary life” within the slave camp. The senate is surprisingly small and low-key for a film that specialises in grand gestures. But it works because it keeps the themes of idealism (the idea of Rome) and political corruption (greed for power) on a scale you can relate to.

There’s a fascinating scene in which bisexuality is alluded to. Crassus says to Antoninus: “It is all a matter of taste, isn't it? And taste is not the same as appetite, and therefore not a question of morals. My taste includes both snails and oysters.” Strong stuff for a “PG”, as are the gory moments and the points at which Jean Simmons tastefully de-robes.

Tackling big issues of freedom, democracy and class, it’s a rich film. There’s a moving finale that manages to offer both a happy and a sad ending.