Some Like It Hot

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

In Some Like It Hot (1959), director and co-writer Billy Wilder tells us in the title that his comedy will be a sexy film, possibly even a rebellious one in the face of prudish standards. The movie also comments on the roles males and females play in society and uses the theme that appearances can be deceiving. It probably shares the prize for the best film of a man in drag with Tootsie, and as of now, it is still rated the best comedy ever by the American Film Institute.

The opening has tough looking guys in a hearse with a coffin covered by flowers who are chased by cops. The hoodlums have guns hidden in the roof above the casket. The gangsters’ gunfire causes the police car to crash (a highly effective action scene in the absence of present-day special effects). Liquid flows out of bullet holes in the casket. The occupants open it up and there are many bottles of booze inside, some of which have been hit by bullets. The movie immediately shows that what appears to be upstanding is a fake facade.

A note says it is Chicago, 1929, during the Prohibition era. The thugs deliver the coffin to Mozarella’s Funeral Parlor, whose name reminds one of the Italian dairy product. Fittingly, the Big Cheese, Spats Colombo (George Raft), a gangster boss, is there, hat in hand, pretending to mourn the nonexistent deceased. Detective Mulligan (Pat O’Brien) is outside with a snitch, whose comical nickname is Toothpick Charlie (George E. Stone) because he always has one of the food dislodging objects in his mouth. Charlie tells Mulligan the password so the cop can pretend to be an authorized guest that will allow him to enter the speakeasy party that is hidden inside the funeral parlor (deceptive appearances on both sides of the law here). Spats shows up and a drunk fellow spills his spiked coffee onto the gangster’s fancy footwear (from which his nickname derives). The shoes are supposed to add a refined look to the seedy criminal. You don’t dare upset Spats, as his henchmen drag the clumsy drunk outside. 

Girls in skimpy costumes dance (objectification here, but hey, it still goes on since the Rockettes still perform at Rockefeller Center) in front of the band which includes two of the main characters, Joe (Tony Curtis) playing saxophone, and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) plucking his bass fiddle. During a pause, they discuss how much in debt they are. Practical Jerry wants to use some of their paychecks to reimburse all their lenders. But risky Joe has a tip on a dog race and wants to gamble all their money, hoping for a big payoff. Joe says they have a longstanding gig there, so they can afford the bet. Jerry says suppose it gets cut short. Joe says that Jerry is always negative, and someone can suppose many things that will not happen, like the stock market crashing and the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn (of course these things do actually happen which undermines Joe’s judgment). Jerry’s concern about the job ending turns into a reality when he sees Mulligan put on his badge. Joe and Jerry calmly stow away their instruments and escape as the police raid the joint. Mulligan confronts Spats, who is safely drinking buttermilk and denies being the real owner of the building, Mozarella only being a front man (another bit of fakery). 

Joe and Jerry can’t even pay their rent now, but Joe still bets their overcoats on the dog race. Of course, his “sure thing” turns out to be totally unsure, and they shiver as they walk through freezing Chicago, getting turned down for gigs. The incurable gambler, Joe, wants them to pawn their sax and bass for another bet. Jerry is funny as he sums up Joe’s recklessness when he tells him, “we’re up a creek and you want to hock the paddle.” (There are a ton of funny lines in the script). At one of the music booking offices, Nellie (Barbara Drew) complains that Joe stood her up after she bought a brand new “negligee.” Nellie’s use of that word was daring at the time the film was made, since it suggests that extramarital sex was supposed to take place. Joe comes up with a lame excuse about taking care of Jerry’s bad tooth and says he’ll “make it up to her.” She smartly says, “You’re making it up pretty good so far,” which adds to the theme of presenting a false front. The scene also demonstrates the uncaring way Joe uses women.

Nellie plays a joke on them, getting their hopes up, by saying her boss is looking for bass and sax players for a three-week job with all expenses paid in sunny Florida. What she doesn’t let on is that the job is for an all girls’ band. Joe is angry at Nellie, but Jerry thinks they can fake it by dressing like women. Joe dismisses the idea outright and instead takes a job playing at a St. Valentine’s Day dance. It is fitting that the incident that sets the rest of the plot in motion revolves around that day since the movie deals with love and lust. Reason goes out the window when romance enters since Joe is able to use his good looks and seductive ways to get the already disrespected Nellie to lend the two musicians her car to drive out of town to the gig. 

They go to the garage where the car is parked. Men appear to be playing a friendly game of cards, but it is another inaccurate scene. Toothpick Charlie and other hoodlums are the men there and they pull out guns and aim them at Joe and Jerry when they approach. Once satisfied they are only musicians, the garage owner takes Joe and Jerry to Nellie’s car. Then a car speeds into the garage and men with machine guns order the card players up against the wall. Spats then exits the car as Joe and Jerry hide. What follows mimics the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The men are shot because Spats assumed correctly that Toothpick Charlie betrayed him, and the others are eliminated so there will be no witnesses. The day is supposed to encourage the union of lovers and the procreation that eventually follows romance. Instead, the mobsters turn it into a life-depriving slaughter. The hoods discover Joe and Jerry, but Toothpick isn’t dead yet and reaches for a telephone, knocking it over. As Spats and his men are diverted, Joe and Jerry escape and duck into a cigar store (Why cigars? Wilder uses phallic symbols often in this movie). Given their desperate situation, Joe makes a phone call and imitates a woman’s voice, saying they can play in the girls’ band.

Phony appearances become the center of the story as Joe becomes Josephine and Jerry turns into Daphne as the musicians pretend to be women. At the train station Jerry has trouble walking in high heels, and wonders how women walk in those types of shoes (which reminds us of Spats’s footwear, which, although flat, still contain a hint of femininity in their decorative appearance, adding to the gender blending of the film). The high heels illustrate how females feel required to accentuate the physical appearance of their legs and rear at the expense of safety and comfort. Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Monroe) appears now, her renowned beauty and shapeliness on full display, contrasting markedly with the attempted recreation of the female form attempted by the men. As she walks by the side of the train, steam shoots out at her, as if this mechanical phallic symbol (remember the end of North by Northwest?) is getting excited by her passing by, showing that some, indeed, like it hot. Jerry describes her bouncy gait with the memorable line that she looks like “Jell-O on springs.” Jerry rants that it’s impossible for them to imitate Sugar’s movements. Joe says Jerry shouldn’t worry because nobody is asking him “to have a baby,” a foreshadowing comment. 

They meet the band’s leader, Sweet Sue (Joan Shawlee) and her assistant, Beinstock (Dave Barry). Joe, when asked about their musical background, says they studied at a conservatory. Sue says the other women will have to make sure “to watch their language,” a reversal of what usually is required of men to hide their libido in the presence of women. It also shows women, too, can be sexual in their speech, as is shown when one of the band members starts to tell a dirty story. As Joe and Jerry pass through the car carrying the women, one says to Jerry to take off her “corset” and relax a little. The remark shows how women have to artificially alter their bodies by constraining themselves to put on sexually appealing appearances. Here is a safe space where they don’t have to conform to males-prescribed standards. 

Joe and Jerry come upon Sugar secretly drinking, and then hiding her flask in her stocking, which, again, creates a deceptive action. She says all the women drink, but she has been the one who gets caught. If her drinking is discovered again, she’ll be thrown out of the band. She says she always gets the “fuzzy end of the lollipop,” another phallic reference, but also points to the fact that she has been relegated to the lower end of the social class structure. At this time men can drink openly because it is a macho badge they wear, but women pretend not to enjoy alcohol because it is not seen as being ladylike. “Sugar” refers to something sweet to taste, and eating is linked to satisfying sexual appetites, as Jerry says he used to dream about being alone in a pastry shop, tasting everything. He connects that image to lust when he says he would like some of that “Sugar.” But Joe reminds him that to ensure their safety, they must abstain from indulging their sexual appetites because they are “on a diet.”

While rehearsing, Sue wants “Josephine” and “Daphne” to “heat” up their playing, another reference to passion. Sugar plays the ukulele (a shapely instrument to suggest her curves) and sings while shaking her body, causing Jerry to not even realize which side is the front of the bass. While pressing the strings on the neck of the instrument he possibly suggests it is like stroking the male member. The bass combines the curves of a woman with the neck that is phallic, and echoes the fact that Jerry joins both genders in his character. Unfortunately, the whiskey flask falls out of Sugar’s stocking. Jerry saves Sugar from expulsion by claiming that the bourbon belongs to “Daphne” (another deception). Sue says, next to alcohol, she doesn’t want her girls associating with men. Joe and Jerry say they would never get involved with men, which is actually true, since that would mean they would have to be gay. Jerry’s stated disgust with men as he assumes the role of a woman here becomes ironic later in the movie. 

There is a sexy scene as the women get ready for sleep and Wilder shows a good amount of skin considering the era, including Monroe’s ample cleavage. Jerry is salivating while Joe tries to cool off his partner’s hot libido. Jerry keeps repeating that he is “a girl,” for this trip, but his body seems to be rejecting his trying to be something he is not. He repeats the phrase as there is a contrasting shot of the masculine symbol of the train plunging ahead. Sugar visits Jerry’s bunk to voice her appreciation for pretending the flask belonged to “Daphne.” She hops into bed with him so Sue, who is walking through the car, will not see her up late. Of course the closeness to Sugar thrills Jerry. He gets some booze out of the sleeping Joe’s berth and says this might be a “surprise party,” which implies when Sugar has drunk enough he might reveal that he is really a man. But the other women see that there is alcohol being shared and they want to expand the fun. Jerry’s berth becomes so crowded it appears Wilder is trying to recreate the Marx Brothers’ crowded ship stateroom scene in A Night at the Opera. Jerry delivers a sexually funny line when he warns that they should watch what they are doing with the “corkscrew.” One of the women brings a salami. Need I say more? Also, the cramped quarters here echo other confining scenes, such as the elevator, the train, and Joe later as Junior sitting in a cramped chair on the beach. It suggests that society dictates strictly defined behaviors for males and females and upper- and lower-class people, and there is a desire to break those imposed molds.

The women wake up Joe who finds he can’t control the situation. Sugar gets a block of ice and goes to the bathroom to chip it up for the drinks as she talks to “Josephine” about how she used to play in male bands. She joined Sue’s group because she and the other women are running away from something (that confinement?). In this way they are like Joe and Jerry who are also trying to escape a bad situation. She admits to being attracted to saxophone players because their music arouses her. Sugar says that just when she thinks she has found true love, these men used her to acquire her money for gambling and other women. Of course Joe plays that instrument, which links him with those unsavory characters. Sugar described what Joe has been doing, so she is unknowingly indicting him for his past actions with women. (This scene is similar to the one between “Dorothy” and Jessica Lange’s character in the later Tootsie). Sugar says one morning she wakes up and the guy is gone and leaves her with a used tube of toothpaste with the contents squeezed out (yes, another sexual image here suggesting a man leaving after he has finished his self-gratification). But Sugar is not a feminist because she is going to Florida to land a rich guy who owns a yacht. She admits she would like a nerdy type who wears glasses because he reads the Wall Street Journal. So even though she is pursuing one of the few paths to gain economic security at the time for a woman, she does not seek the typical macho male, represented by the gangsters. Joe, who urged refraining from making any moves on the women, reverses himself when he thinks he has a chance with Sugar, and will use the information she provided later to try and win her over. 

Jerry now is enjoying the company of women and is almost feeling like one of the girls, which shows the beginning of a role reversal that is more than just clothes deep. The women drop ice down his concealing nightgown, and then put their hands down his back because they want to tease “Daphne” with tickling. Not wanting to be discovered, he pulls the emergency cord, and the train comes to a jarring stop. But the women all get back to their berths before being discovered by Sue. In this way, they act as if they have been following the rules set down for them as compliant women. These are all literal and figurative cover-ups. 

They arrive at a swanky hotel near the ocean in Florida where a bunch of rich old men await in rocking chairs to use the only leverage they have, their wealth, to win over young women. Among them is Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown), who is taken with “Daphne,” which adds a gay subtext to this comedy. It also continues Jerry’s transition to immersing himself more deeply into the role of being a woman. Walking up the steps of the building, Jerry loses one of his shoes and Osgood gets down on a knee to place the shoe back on the foot. The shot presents a comic version of Prince Charming placing the glass slipper on Cinderella, which is confirmed by “Daphne” referring to herself as “Cinderella the second,” after Osgood says he is the third with his name. Osgood has been married many times and admits to liking feisty women (more masculine ones?). Multiple witty double entendres ensue, such as Osgood saying he likes “deep sea fishing,” followed by “Daphne” telling him to pull in his “reel,” another male sexual organ reference. The two enter the elevator, and all we see is the sexually throbbing movement of the shaft-like pointer designating the floors, followed by the exiting “Daphne” slapping Osgood for making advances. Jerry says, “What kind of girl do you think I am?” which would fit the typical response of a woman at the time defending her sexual reputation, but “Daphne” is far from a typical female. 

The next scene amplifies how both Jerry and now Joe see how men sexually harass women. The exaggerated macho posturing of the short (suggesting he is also meager sexually) bellhop (Al Breneman) is on display as he makes unwanted advances on “Josephine.” Although Joe sees how repugnant male sexual pressure is, he is planning to be deceptive by playing an additional role to deceive Sugar to satisfy his own male carnal desires. Jerry complains to Joe that he was pinched in the elevator, and Joe says that they are now seeing “how the other half lives.” Jerry says he doesn’t even look attractive, and Joe points out the indiscriminate male sex drive when he says all that is necessary to arouse men is that one is wearing “a skirt.” Males are so taken over by their sex drive that they even chase a man that looks like a woman. Jerry wants to leave now that they are in Florida, but Joe argues they aren’t free from Spats yet, and plays up the current gig’s monetary benefits. Jerry has already figured out that Joe is after Sugar. Joe has stolen Beinstock’s suitcase and puts on nautical clothing to impersonate the owner of a yacht. He even acquired nerdy eyeglasses to fit Sugar’s stated preference. In the course of the movie Joe is rarely himself, which stresses the roles people play in life to hide their true selves under false appearances for personal gain or protection.

On the beach, the girls, which at this point includes “Daphne,” swim and throw a ball around. It is interesting that Jerry as a woman is somewhat offended when Sugar, who is trying to complement “her,” says that “Daphne” doesn’t have large breasts which allows clothes to “hang” on her better. Jerry is experiencing the emphasis on looks that society has placed on physical appearance when it comes to women. When the beach ball rolls past Joe he covertly trips Sugar and then says he hopes she is fine since many people sue him. That way he quickly shows he is rich. He calls himself “Junior,” since he is the heir to the Shell Oil Company, and that is why he likes collecting seashells. He reads the Wall Street Journal, which Sugar also stated was a male must, but he originally has the newspaper upside down which shows his fakery. Joe adopts a Cary Grant accent to stress his playing a charming romantic lead, but it also makes him sound like he is higher up on the socio-economic ladder. Sugar, trying to match Junior’s supposed status, also puts on a false front by saying those with whom she plays are society girls. When Joe discovers her band plays jazz, he announces the film’s title by saying he guesses “Some like it hot,” but he prefers classical music. Which of course he doesn’t, because he also plays jazz, and that music here becomes synonymous with physical passion. Sugar pretends she is on the same footing as the rich person, and acts as if she is rebelling against her upper-class family. Wilder is satirizing how people try to connect romantically by hiding supposed deficiencies instead of just being honest with each other.

Jerry wanders by and recognizes Joe in his new costume, but Joe issues a suggested threat about squealing. However, Jerry wants to tell “Josephine,” who is supposed to be in the bathtub in their room, right away about Sugar’s finding such a wonderful man. He wants Sugar to discover that Junior is a phony as he walks into their room. But that would mean “Josephine” is also a phony, and Jerry doesn’t seem to realize that also exposes him. Joe has outsmarted, and out run, Jerry, and is in the tub in a bubble bath. In telling “Josephine” about how Junior collects shells, Jerry, in a sideways comment, says, “you know, the old shell game.” The line is a humorous way of again stressing deception. After Sugar leaves, the duplicitous Jerry hypocritically lectures Joe on his pretend act. Joe rises from the tub, still wearing the male clothing, and he menacingly drips toward Jerry. The image literally and figuratively illustrates how there is more going on underneath than what appears on the surface. 

The phone rings, and Joe answers in his own voice, then quickly switches to Josephine. He has been so dishonest he loses track as to who he is supposed to be in the moment. It is Osgood calling, who seems to get a thrill out of being dominated by women, as he enjoys recounting being slapped by “Daphne.” Osgood wants “Josephine” to pass on the message that he has sent the crew of his yacht, the New Caledonia, on shore leave so he can have a quiet supper with Daphne. As payback for trying to expose him, Joe tells Jerry that “Daphne” will stay on shore with Osgood while Joe continues his charade as Junior by entertaining Sugar on Osgood’s yacht. 

After the evening show, Joe changes from Daphne into Junior (he’s like a human chameleon). He switches so often he almost forgets to remove his earrings. He hijacks Osgood’s motorboat but makes lame excuses as to why he has trouble using it, and can only drive backwards. He is literally out to sea in this identity. He doesn’t even know anything about the yacht. As if all these ruses weren’t enough, Joe as Junior acts as if he has a mental block about women, saying they don’t excite him since the woman he loved fell into the Grand Canyon as they were about to kiss. (He says that he gave her transfusions because their blood type was “O.” Wilder uses the blood type as a running gag throughout the film whenever something dangerous is mentioned). He says that he and his family tried everything, but nothing worked to cure him. This strategy allows him to kiss Sugar, saying how he feels nothing, which makes Sugar want to prove that she can overcome his lack of passion. He says if he could find a woman who could revive his interest in romance he would marry her immediately. That is plenty of incentive for Sugar, who plants a passionate kiss on Joe while he lies on the couch. Her large breasts are prominently accentuated in the dress she is wearing, and Joe’s left leg rises, comically symbolizing an erection. 

There are then cuts back and forth between the two couples. While Sugar and Joe/Junior are on the yacht, Jerry/Daphne is at a Latin American club dancing the night away with Osgood. Jerry is just going through the motions at first and Osgood complains that his disguised male companion is leading while they tango. Back on the boat, Joe says, after numerous kisses, that it feels “like someone is barbecuing” his toes. Sugar says, “Let’s throw another log on the fire,” an additional line with a sexual innuendo. While dancing, “Daphne” and Osgood switch having a flower in each other’s mouths, and eventually enjoy themselves so much that they continue dancing even after the club closes. Meanwhile, “Junior” says Sugar has overcome his problem as they keep kissing.

In the morning, Joe and Sugar arrive at the dock just as the drunk Osgood goes to his boat still voicing the music of the night. Joe escorts Sugar to the hotel, then climbs back up to his room after she is inside. Jerry is still singing, too, shaking maracas (symbolic of breasts?). He/she tells Joe that he is engaged. After Joe asks who is the lucky girl, Jerry says, “I am.” He has temporarily transformed into Daphne, switching gender roles, and says Osgood asked to marry Daphne. Jerry says he’s getting married for “security,” like other women of the era (including Sugar). He says he will get a financial settlement after the marriage is annulled. Since women aren’t allowed financial and cultural independence, Wilder is commenting on how society turns romance and marriage into a business arrangement for women, who exchange sex for cash, which constitutes a sort of legal version of prostitution. Joe tries to bring Jerry back to the reality of the time when men couldn’t marry men, and, in a reversal of his previously prescribed mantra, tells him to repeat, “I’m a boy,” in order to do a gender reboot. Sugar shows up at the door to talk about her night and in accordance with the film’s theme, Joe performs a literal cover-up by putting on Josephine’s wig, and jumping under the covers of the bed. 

In a bit of plot contrivance, there happens to be a gangster meeting at the same hotel hosted by the mobster boss, Little Napoleon (Nehemiah Persoff), whose name sounds redundant given the French leader’s height. We again have a facade erected since the crooks are supposed to be attending an Italian opera fan convention, a move that again stresses class distinction and legitimacy. Spats is there with his gang, as is Detective Mulligan, who tells Spats that when they find the two witnesses who were present at the St. Valentine’s killings, Spats will be arrested. Joe and Jerry see Spats and his thugs in the lobby, try to escape on the elevator, but the mobsters get in the same car. Even though they appear as Josephine and Daphne, one of the hoods asks if he met them before in Chicago. “Daphne” says, with a double meaning, that they “wouldn’t be caught dead in Chicago.” As the elevator door closes, Spats gives the two pretend women a hard look as if he is trying to see below the disguises to find the truth. 

Joe and Jerry quickly start to pack, planning to escape again. Jerry says they will sell the diamond bracelet Osgood gave him and head to South America. But, he picks up the maracas and remembers what a great night he had and says, as if he is a woman, that he’ll never find another man who is so good to him. When Joe picks up the hat he wore as Junior, he feels he must at least say goodbye to Sugar. Jerry says Joe usually just left women without a word. Joe says that was when he was the saxophone player, like the jerks who left Sugar without caring about her. He says he isn’t that person anymore, and wants to be like the millionaire gentleman he portrayed, which additionally emphasizes social class differences. They both seem to be internally taking on the characteristics of what they appeared to be on the surface. Joe as Junior calls Sugar and still lies by saying he has to go to Venezuela to firm up an oil merger and marry the other company head’s daughter for the sake of the stockholders. He puts the diamond bracelet in the box of orchids that Osgood gave to “Daphne” and slides them over to Sugar's room, saying she should have received his present, which her roommate finds outside the door. Joe is thinking more about Sugar than himself now.

Joe and Jerry try to sneak out by way of the balcony and down the side of the building, but the gangsters see them through their room window. Joe and Jerry had said they were musicians when they were in the garage in Chicago, so Spats suspects they are the witnesses since the disguised men are carrying instruments. Joe and Jerry are able to avoid the mobsters by climbing back up, but the crooks get the bass fiddle and find the bullet holes which confirms Spats’s suspicions. 

Spats and his men rush to the lobby. Joe and Jerry assume more disguises (additional fraudulent appearances) as Joe pretends to be an old man in a wheelchair and Jerry, dressed as a bellboy, pushes the chair. They head through the lobby but Spats sees that Jerry didn’t take off Daphne’s high heels. Jerry is symbolically male and female now in his appearance at the same time to stress the gender blending. 

The two evade the gangsters, hiding under the dinner table where the gangsters are meeting (another example of outward appearance not revealing what is truly happening). Spats is angry at one of his men and starts to pick up a grapefruit to smash into his face (a reference to James Cagney’s performance in Public Enemy). Little Napoleon arrives and he uses large hearing aids (exposed to too much gun noise, or does he not care about hearing what others have to say?) He wants to remember those that were killed on St. Valentine’s Day. Apparently, Little Napoleon was a friend of Toothpick Charlie, and is angry about his death. Little Napoleon has a man with a machine gun inside a huge birthday cake in order to kill Spats (a benign appearance hiding danger underneath). After Spats and his men are shot, the shooter runs off. Joe and Jerry are again witnesses to murders, and run out. Mulligan shows up after hearing the gunshots to arrest Little Napoleon. 

The gangsters, who were able to leave the party before Mulligan arrived, look for Joe and Jerry as the two again disguise themselves as Josephine and Daphne. Joe plans on getting away on Osgood’s yacht and has Jerry, as Daphne, call him. But Joe hears Sugar singing how she’s through with love. He is moved and goes up to the stage and kisses Sugar as Josephine. He tells her that no guy (which includes himself) is worth the pain, so it is appropriate that he kisses her as a woman. 

The thugs see Joe/Josephine kiss Sugar and chase after him, knowing Joe is in disguise. After the kiss, Sugar realizes that Josephine is Junior and is happy to discover he didn’t leave. Joe and Jerry again go literally undercover, hiding beneath the gurney wheeling out Spats’s body. They meet Osgood at his motorboat, and “Daphne” says that “Josephine” will be a bridesmaid. But Sugar chases after them, and despite Joe admitting that he’s one of those selfish saxophone players that hurt her in the past, and says she deserves better, Sugar chooses the new Joe who realizes his own faults. 

The story concludes with a conversation between “Daphne” and Osgood which leads to one of the great last lines in the history of movies. Jerry is trying to convince Osgood that they can’t marry. When he says she smokes, he says he doesn’t care. He says he has a scandalous past because he has been living with a saxophone player (how true), but Osgood says he forgives her. When “Daphne” says she can’t have children, Osgood says they can adopt. Jerry finally takes off the wig and admits to being a man, to which Osgood responds, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” As we have seen in this film, men are nowhere near perfection, but after walking in women’s shoes (and wearing their dresses), there may be reason to hope for improvement.

The next film is Adaptation.