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Some Like It Hot (1959)
Dir. Billy Wilder
Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon
I could never imagine what a crime-comedy film would look like until I watched the hilarious feature film that is Some Like It Hot. Considering the social context of when this film was released, it makes sense that women are not depicted as the typical homemaker/housewife archetype. After World War II, women were joining the workforce and becoming breadwinners. In the film the band is an all-female band, with the exception of “Josephine” (Tony Curtis) and “Daphne” (Jack Lemmon). This made the film attractive for female audiences. Moreover, the leading lady “Sugar Kane” (Marylin Monroe), strays away from the typical gender roles for women. Her promiscuous, “dumb blonde” character makes the film attractive for the male audiences.
Although the film inserts these 50s’ ideas into a 20s scene, the film does a lot to make it feel like it is taking place in the roaring 20s. For example, its mix of black and white and shining lights, flappers, mafia crimes, and jazz music transports the audience into an old world. What impresses me the most about this film was how it blatantly defied the Hays code. Hays code was a way of censorship in film and worked as a way to keep explicit concepts off the screen. However, Wilder took the most taboo subjects and made them funny and delightful to watch. One of my favorite scenes was when Jerry’s bass had gunshot holes along the side because the mafia boss’s henchman had shot at it.
The last thing I want to discuss about this film is Curtis and Lemmon’s performance. While crossdressing is not something new in film or theater, Some Like It Hot took it to a new level as it masterfully incorporated the crossdressing into the development of plot. I can tell crossdressing, modern films such as White Chicks (2004) and Madea (2005) took inspiration from Wilder’s work.
Some Like It Hot (1959) is a timeless film and a golden age classic. If you haven’t already seen it, I definitely recommend giving it a watch.
It's clear you watched the film and considered it for how it fit into the year of release while still being a period piece. It's cool how they modernize that old period and yes it was quite risky during the code, for example Wilder could outwardly endorse homosexuality however the film's sympathy to Osgood as a clearly gay man does make it controversial in the age of the code. Thanks for posting!
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