After The Prince and the Showgirl, Marilyn Monroe delivered her most iconic on-screen performance in Some Like It Hot. Steaming up the glasses of Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, she swished her hips through Billy Wilder's comedy like a knife through butter. A really sexy knife. Made of jello. On springs.

There are lots of talented actresses around today - see Jessica Chastain's continued campaign for world domination in Take Shelter, also out this week - but there's something about Marilyn Monroe, that combination of knockout class and goofy naivety, that other performers don't have. And while we can talk for ages about those charming curves (something missing on a lot of leading lady's figures these days), that indescribable spark is perhaps best demonstrated through her most famous song: I Wanna Be Loved By You, performed (inevitably) in Some Like It Hot.

Can any of these other versions match Marilyn's for sheer effortless sass? 

Betty Boop

The second most iconic girl to boop-boop-a-doop her way through Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby's tune, Betty has vocals like Helen Kane and some sexy hand-drawn curves. But she still can't hold a candle to Norma Jean. Partly because she's a fictional character and has no real hands.

Sinead O'Connor

You can get as big a big band as you like, but you can't rival the parp of old Marilyn's tubes. Honk.

Ava

A shot of male angst gives the tune a nice new kick - no wonder it made its way onto the soundtrack for Nobody Else But You, a lovely Marilyn-inspired film noir set in snowy France (Read our Poupoupoupidou review). But would you rather be loved by these guys on guitar or have a strum on Monroe's ukelele?

Ken Kelly

Playful, Effortless. Total. Knockout. As if anyone could ever compare to Marilyn's signature blend of... hang on a minute. Screw Marilyn. I'm off for a trip on a yacht with Ken Kelly and his ukelele. What's that? He's a man? Hey, nobody's perfect. 

Head over here for more My Week with My Week with Marilyn goodness - or read our My Week with Marilyn review.