Some Like it Hot analysis

The film is a romantic screwball comedy set in America, made in 1958 and released in 1959. Billy Wilder not only wrote the screenplay, but also directed the film. Some Like It Hot stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft.

The film is about two struggling male musicians who witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Realising that their lives are forfeit, they escape the city by dressing as women. The all girl band they join is heading to Florida, but unbeknownst to the men, they are booked to play in the hotel where the mobs are massing. Masquerading as women brings problems: one falls for a girl in the band (Monroe) but cannot reveal his true identity, and the other has a rich suitor who will not take "No," for an answer. The film ends with the four escaping on Osgood’s yacht.

The main protagonist is Joe, a saxophonist, caught up with his friend Jerry in the conflict between the Chicago mobs of the 1920’s. Their lives have been intertwined with the gangsters because they play in bands in the speakeasies, but when they accidently bear witness to the St Valentine’s Day Massacre, they are drawn into the violence. This is the inciting incident which sets up the rest of the plot. It is also the first part of act 1 “In this unit of dramatic action you set up your story- introduce the main character, establish the dramatic premise (what the story is about), and sketch in the dramatic situation, either visually or dramatically. “ Field, Syd (1982), Screenplay, New York: Dell Publishing. The end of act 1 comes when the men are committed to living their lives as women in order to escape to a better life. Even as this act comes to a close, the two main characters, Joe and Jerry, are already facing complications in their crossing dressing existence. Act 2 takes place in the Florida hotel. At this stage the subplot developing the main characters’ relationships takes comic precedence. Just as Joe starts to make head way in his relationship with Sugar (disguised as a millionaire) there the midpoint reversal as the gangsters converge on the hotel for their annual party. The climax comes as the two main characters are recognized despite their disguises. The resolution comes in the last few seconds of the film as Joe, Jerry, Sugar and Osgood escape together on the yacht.

There are two main characters, Joe and Jerry, but the audience is lead to see Joe as the protagonist from the first moment that they appear. His interaction with the chorus girl, and the way in which he manipulates his slower-witted friend causes the audience to focus more on Joe. Immediately, he makes Jerry feel guilty for using their first pay for months on a filling. “Dentist? We been out of work for four months- and you want to blow your first week’s pay on your teeth?” The audience knows at once that he is a womanizer and a manipulator. The same conversation begins to indicate to the audience that Jerry is shallow, vain and prefers to leave the thinking to his friend. Throughout act 2, their characters are fleshed out, much of it through the actions rather than dialogue. A good example of this comes when Joe is first alone with Sugar. Thinking he is Josephine, she confides her disastrous attraction to tenor sax players. Apart from his exclamation “You know- I play tenor sax”, it is predominately his actions which indicate his lecherous reaction to her poignant confidences. His character reaches new levels of despicability when he dresses up as a millionaire to trick her into falling for him. Just after the end of act 2, fearing that their relationship will endanger Sugar, Joe at last becomes the hero that the audience long him to be and breaks up with her, putting her safety before his feelings. Meanwhile, Jerry has given up his contest for Sugar, knowing that Joe’s feelings are more genuine than his own, and has settled on wooing Osgood, despite the fact that he is not gay. For him, riches are more important than a relationship with anybody.

The principal antagonist is Spats Colombo, the mob boss, who wants to see both the main characters dead. His character is never more than two dimensional, representing the violent threat from which Joe and Jerry are running. Despite the fact that he has very little screen time, the threat of Spats is ever present, and in the scenes that he does appear, his characterization is extremely menacing through facial expressions and tone of voice.

This a feel-good plot which starts in optimistic mood with the two men in work after four months of unemployment and ends with the fairytale escape to riches and love. With the ever present threat of violence and possible death which has surrounded the main characters despite the interludes of comedy, this escape to a boat on the ocean is the only outcome which could have left the audience assured of a happy ending. The male world of the 1920’s gangster was so dangerous that the main characters could only avoid it by becoming women. Having explored the complications that lead to comical confusion, the film never questions the masculinity of Jerry and Joe. Even as the film ends, with all four of the sympathetic characters going off to an idyllic lifestyle, the audience is fully aware that Jerry is not gay but is quite happy to live with a millionaire man.

I think this is a very good screenplay and a brilliant film. However, without the directors input, skillful acting and inspired casting, this screenplay would not have led to the classic that this film has become. The sweet vulnerability portrayed by Marilyn Monroe contrasts superbly with the shallow, flippant attitude of Tony Curtis’s womanizer. From the moment the audience meets her they want her to not get the “fuzzy lollipop” again.