JFK

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

JFK (1991), directed by Oliver Stone, is a conspiracy theory film about an alleged plot to kill President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, that was propagated at the highest levels of the United States government. Donald Trump is not the only person who believes in the idea of a “deep state.” This movie is factually suspicious. However, the craft in making it, especially the editing and cinematography, is exemplary as it presents a vast number of clipped images that explode with information and power. As Roger Ebert said in his book, The Great Movies, the film has “emotional truth,” since it captures the feelings of the country whose citizens were confused, angry, and hungry for answers concerning this national tragedy. I think it might be best to see the film as a fictional thriller based loosely on actual events. Ebert also states that despite the numerous scenes, which include flashbacks, the feel is feverish, which fits the agitated drive that fueled the desire to answer questions about the killing of President Kennedy. The camera work often adds to the feeling of authenticity with the appearance of a documentary, as narrators speak while the images flash before the audience. Stone’s premise is that in a conspiracy, one must look below the fictitious façade to find the truth beneath.

The story is partially based on the book, On the Trail of the Assassins, by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, played by Kevin Costner, who investigated the shooting of President Kennedy. The film starts with Kennedy’s predecessor, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the general in the U. S. Army that led the Allies in World War II in Europe, who warned against the danger in the growing power of the “military-industrial complex.” (The opening narration is supplied by Martin Sheen). The opening states that Kennedy didn’t provide air cover for the anti-Castro forces at the Bay of Pigs, which was a disaster for Kennedy’s attempt to overthrow communist-led Cuba and its leader Fidel Castro. The movie states that Kennedy felt the CIA “lied” to him and attempted to “manipulate” him about the operation. In archival footage, Kennedy stated that it would be difficult to win a war in Vietnam. He also stated that he did not want the United States to dominate the world with its military, but instead wanted a one-world community. The film hypothesizes that “military-industrial complex” saw Kennedy as a threat to their existence.

Garrison investigated the New Orleans connection to the assassination by way of private pilot David Ferrie (Joe Pesci). Ferrie’s story about not knowing Oswald, who lived in New Orleans for a while, and who was in Ferrie’s military unit, and his contradictory comments about being in Texas after the assassination, cause Garrison to keep him for the FBI investigation. Garrison was rocking the boat by questioning the cover story of Ferrie, and eventually of the United States Government itself. The Federal Government dismisses any connection between Ferrie and Oswald without notifying Garrison’s office. After Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle Murray) kills the alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman), the investigation ends. One member of Garrison’s team, Bill Broussard (Michael Rooker), says, after seeing Ruby shoot Oswald on TV in front of many policemen, “This is crazy.” His words reflect what practically everybody felt at the time.

However, Garrison, following the Warren Commission completed study of the killing in 1966, felt there were discrepancies in the report and reopened the investigation. There is a question as to Oswald’s ability to fire off his weapon with such accuracy and precision, and that shots were heard coming from the infamous “grassy knoll” near the assassination. Supposedly the route Kennedy took was changed which, according to Garrison’s team, would allow for a better attack from multiple shooters.

Jack Lemmon gives a great performance as Jack Martin, a frightened individual who witnessed Guy Bannister (Ed Asner), a brutal man who recruited for far-right extremist organizations and hated Kennedy, meeting with Oswald and Ferrie, along with Cuban anti-communist sympathizers in the midst of the American intelligence center in New Orleans. Bannister also conferred with Clay Bertrand (Tommy Lee Jones), a local bigwig. They were gathering guns for another Cuban invasion, which Kennedy shut down. Bannister considered the president’s death would bring about a “New Frontier,” ironically taking Kennedy’s words. Bannister beat Martin when he questioned Martin’s loyalty.

Effective supporting performances abound in this film. John Candy plays a sweating flamboyant lawyer (the sweat was real) named Dean Andrews, Jr., who says that his client, Clay Bertrand, also known, as we find out as Clay Shaw, a homosexual, wanted to hire Andrews to defend Oswald. Shaw was involved with Willie O’Keefe (Kevin Bacon) and Ferrie in gay parties. (Despite Costner's Garrison's denial of the homosexual element having anything to do with the investigation, the film portrays gay men as villains). Garrison finds out about these relationships when he meets with the imprisoned O’Keefe. The inmate says he met with Oswald once, too, through Clay. He says that Ferrie ranted about Kennedy being a Communist and that he could be taken out in an open area with triangulation of sharpshooters, with one man being sacrificed as a patsy, which is what Oswald said he was later. Garrison learns from witnesses that support Ferrie’s plan. But the belief that there were multiple shooters, and that Oswald knew Ruby were dismissed by the Warren Commission, which also showed that accounts of what happened as reported by people earlier were later changed. O’Keefe spouts pro-fascist beliefs, which makes Garrison question Oswald’s pro-communist backstory since O’Keefe said Oswald associated with far-right men. However, Broussard knows that O’Keefe’s sexual orientation and beliefs would make him less than a credible witness (especially in 1966). Garrison is funny when he says why is it that a woman, just because she is a prostitute, can’t have good eyesight.

Garrison’s group discovers that Oswald’s income tax and other records are “classified” so that even law enforcement people can’t obtain them. He supposedly defected to Russia but was able to get back in the country with his Russian wife with no problem. Garrison suggests to his team that Oswald was a CIA operative who was used by the intelligence community to take the fall for the assassination. Broussard begins to find it difficult to believe that the American intelligence community would kill the Commander-in-Chief. The movie challenges what we want to believe by suggesting there may be an alternative way of looking at what happened.

As Garrison becomes immersed in his suspicions about the assassination, his home life with his wife, Liz (Sissy Spacek), deteriorates, as he misses family events. He has nightmares about the contradictions he sees in the Warren Report. (There is a shot of Garrison’s child watching cartoons that show characters having a shootout and playing with toy guns while Garrison and his team discuss the case. These scenes show how early in life children are exposed to gun violence in the country).

As the story plays out, there is an increasing sense of doom as witnesses die, including Bannister and Ferrie, and Garrison’s investigation hits roadblocks. There is the possibility that unseen powerful forces are trying to tie up loose ends. Garrison’s office is bugged. Martin told Garrison he is “so naïve” to think nobody cares what they are investigating.

Garrison’s team supposedly finds evidence that makes it look like someone was impersonating Oswald, showing up in Dallas, acting conspicuously, so that witnesses would testify that he was staking out the area before the assassination. This activity would aid in setting up Oswald as the fall guy. This information adds to the theme of how false appearances appear to be trustworthy.

While the story continues, Stone inserts TV footage of the Vietnam War cranking up, which implies that that military-industrial complex was benefiting from the change in the presidency from Kennedy to Lyndon Johnson.

Garrison finds out that Clay Bertrand who was seeking counsel for Oswald and knew Ferrie, is really Clay Shaw, a prominent New Orleans citizen, who says he admired Kennedy. Garrison calls him in on Easter Sunday for an interview. The date seems ironic given that the holy day contrasts with the dire events that are discussed. It also adds to the idea that what is on the pleasant surface above hides the dark truth below, which is at the heart of all conspiracies. He accuses Shaw of having conducted business for the CIA, and is a secret operative, adding to the belief that the intelligence agency participated in the assassination. As Garrison said earlier, his team has gone through the looking glass, as did Alice in Wonderland, and reality is being reversed. Garrison says, “white is black, and black is white.” Garrison tries to cut through Clay’s Southern surface charm and hospitality as he tells Clay, who says he is a patriot, that he finds it odd that conspiring to kill a president is likened to being patriotic. Garrison is finding what people claim to be the truth here is suspect. After Shaw leaves, Garrison adds to the movie’s theme of hypocrisy when he quotes Shakespeare, saying, “One may smile, and smile and be a villain.”

After the interview with Shaw, the investigation becomes public, and Garrison suspects Shaw of publicizing Garrison’s actions. Reporters now hound the DA is and he is accused of grandstanding and misusing public funds. Ferrie feels he is now a target due to his association with Shaw and Oswald exposed to the public. In a hysterical scene, Ferrie admits to working for the CIA, as was Oswald. He claims Shaw is an “untouchable” in the Agency. He says that there was so much secrecy, that the truth was even hidden from the actual shooters in the assassination, so deep does the deep state go. He admits that the CIA and the Mafia worked together to try to kill Castro, which indicates that there is no defining line between what is legal and illegal.

Garrison meets with a Mr. “X” (Donald Sutherland) who was involved in “black ops,” and in many overseas coup d’états. He was transferred out just before the assassination and read a whole background story on Oswald in a New Zealand newspaper before Oswald was charged. His professional assessment was that it was a cover story (false appearance again) to distract people from the truth. He believes he was sent to the South Pole to stop him from allowing better security in hostile Dallas, where protection of the President was allowed to be lax. Kennedy fired several powerful intelligence officers and planned to withdraw what troops there were in Vietnam. Kennedy also was slashing defense spending. Kennedy’s actions were a threat to that military-industrial complex, which “X” believes got Kennedy killed. Here we have a man hiding under the surface, not even revealing his own name, but who actually wants to bring truth into the light of day.

After Garrison arrests Clay Shaw, he is dismissed as an agent involved in the assassination by Earl Warren, and the FBI gives no credence to Garrison’s assertions. There are lies put forth about how Garrison intimidated, bribed, and drugged witnesses, and that he was tied to gangsters. In this film, we again have a false front put on again, in this case a negative appearance to cover the positive motives of an individual. Garrison suffers tax audits and is forced to leave the National Guard based on what the movie sees as a persecution of Garrison for getting too close to the truth of the conspiracy.

Broussard can’t tolerate the idea that Lyndon Johnson might have been involved in the assassination, as Garrison implies. He leaves the investigation, but he returns later to tell him that he heard of a hit placed on Garrison, which follows a previous threat against the DA’s daughter. But Broussard trying to help Garrison is phony, and he actually tries to set Garrison up at an airport restroom to insinuate that Garrison had a homosexual encounter. The team discovers that Broussard turned all their findings over to the FBI. The traitor (again, someone who appears to be other than he is) in their midst is especially upsetting to Garrison and his people, who are besieged on all sides.

Martin Luther King, Jr., an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War, was assassinated in 1968. and a couple of months later, Robert Kennedy is killed. Garrison predicted that “they” wouldn’t allow Kennedy to get elected and carry on his brother’s anti-military policies. Garrison’s wife now believes her husband’s quest is a just one as the enormity of what is happening hits them both. Garrison confesses that he is now truly “scared,” not for himself, but for the country, as democracy and the virtues on which the nation was established are threatened. They find solace in each other’s arms as a sanctuary from the assault on the nation.

The trial of Clay Shaw begins, but Garrison has trouble getting subpoenas and extraditions. The defense attorney attacks the character of the state’s witnesses, accusing one of being one a liar, another a drug addict, and another unbalanced mentally. The lawyer Dean Andrews now disavows under oath any of the statements Garrison says Andrews made to him. The judge says that Saw admitting to the alias of Bertrand is inadmissible because a lawyer wasn’t present, which Garrison says is never required when someone is being asked if using another name. Shaw of course denies doing anything wrong or even knowing those who supposedly he conspired with.

Then comes the long speech by Garrison that includes discussion about the “magic bullet” theory propagated by the Warren Commission. He details how impossible is the theory of so much damage being done by one shot. By using the Abraham Zapruder film, which was locked away for five years, his point is to show to what illogical lengths the conspiracy has gone to cover up the truth.

The jury found Clay Shaw innocent based on the evidence, but one juror stated that there was a belief that there was a conspiracy. The end credits note that, later, the CIA admitted that Clay Shaw was a part-time contract agent for the intelligence agency, and that secret records concerning the assassination would not be released until 2029. Some were later released by the Trump Administration.

Garrison at the end of his speech says, “it’s up to you,” to fight for truth, to look behind the lies and preserve the ideals of the United States. He is talking to the jury, but Costner is looking right at the camera, and at us. We are the ones Oliver Stone is addressing.

Glengarry Glen Ross

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Here is another post that comes out of a class discussion at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), based on David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, focuses on the themes of the punishing aspects of capitalism, the line between legality and criminal behavior, and male toxicity.

The film begins with the credits displayed against passing subway cars. The images tell us that it’s an elevated train, which places us in Chicago, as one of the few cities that has this type of rail system. It also implies speed, which the real estate sellers in the story must adopt. As the audience soon discovers, they have to beat the clock or they will be fired. One of the rules in writing a play is to include a sense of immediacy to hold the audience’s attention.

The first part of the story takes place at night and there is a drenching rainstorm. The setting provides an atmosphere that suggests that dark deeds are about to transpire. One student noted that these elements are included in the film noir genre. However, our instructor noted that the noir element of a femme fatale is absent since these men do not need a conspiring female to corrupt them. (Mamet reverses the femme fatale character in House of Games where the con man subverts the female character).

The film starts in a restaurant with Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon) in a phone booth inquiring about the health of his hospitalized daughter who has no insurance. In the phone booth next to him is Dave Moss (Ed Harris) who is trying to sell some properties. The story quickly sets up the theme that money is needed by these men not just to enrich themselves but so that they and their families can survive, which of course places extreme pressure on them. Following their calls they go into the men’s room and gripe (especially the vocal Moss throughout the film) about the bad “leads” they have. The company they work for is making them try to sell to people they have encountered before who are unwilling to buy property or don’t have the means to do so. The large financial institution that employs them is ordering them to make transactions that are almost impossible to finalize. It’s like Sisyphus trying to roll that big rock up the hill, and these men are also condemned to a fruitless task. The one salesman who has been successful lately is Ricky Roma (Al Pacino), who has an amazing gift of gab, and he is working on a sale at the restaurant to James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce).

At the office, Levene and Ross, along with George Aronow (Alan Arkin) are confronted with the crude and demeaning company representative, Blake (Alec Baldwin). (Mamet, who also wrote the screenplay, added this character and Levene’s phone calls to the movie, and many, according to the IMDb, believe the film script may be better than the play). Blake is brutal, telling the men that they are losers, and if they don’t go out into the literal (and figurative) storm and triumph over their adversity, they will be fired. Levene goes for a cup of coffee and Blake yells at the man, saying, “Put that coffee down! Coffee’s for closers only.” In this economic hell, even basic items are denied unless one meets the company’s demands.

There is a contest going on to determine who sells the most property. Blake says, “the first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” It’s sort of an all or nothing capitalistic game they must play. In the film Wall Street, the merciless Gordon Gecko points out two men on the street: one is well-dressed wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, and the other appears homeless. Gecko says you can’t say that the difference between the two is just based on luck. The implication is that success is earned. That may be true, but is the alternative to winning mean that anyone who doesn’t finish first must sacrifice everything and become destitute? According to Blake, the answer is yes. Blake tells them the law according to their job is, “A-B-C... Always Be Closing!” He is saying that if they are not always making money on every deal then they are failures.

Moss complains that the “leads” are “weak,” Here is where Blake uses, as one of our students noted, emasculating language. He says, “The leads are weak? The fucking leads are weak? You’re weak!” He says that if they are good guys who just want to be with their families, they aren’t real men since they are not making the grade as salesmen. Blake flaunts his income, his expensive watch and car, setting them up as the measure not only of success but of what makes someone manly. He pulls out two metal balls attached to a string and places them in front of his crotch. He says, “It takes brass balls to sell real estate.” He calls them “cocksuckers.” The insults throughout the film accuse men of being homosexual or children, which, in this macho world, means they are not “real men” if they can’t close the deals. Blake holds up the Glengarry leads like they are a present, tied up in a bow. They will only go to the salesmen who can close the mediocre leads. It’s a sort of a Catch-22 because nobody can get the leads that will bring in money if they don’t already make the sales. It’s a version of the rich getting richer. The title of the movie, which also refers to other choice properties that were sold, thus becomes a symbol for the pot of gold at the end of a sullied mercenary rainbow.

John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) is the office manager (a job Mamet had in real life) who hands out the inferior leads. He is a bureaucrat who, like the others, is only out for himself since this survival of the fittest environment fosters that approach. Levene, worried about his daughter, feels driven to negotiate an unethical deal with Williamson so he can get some of the Glengarry leads, offering the office manager a cut of his earnings and payment for each lead. However, Williamson will not compromise on his price to meet Levene’s lean resources since he feels he must be highly compensated for taking a chance that might get Williamson caught. Human decency is not a factor here, as there is no sympathy shown for Levene’s daughter’s medical situation. After this rejection, Levene continues to cross over into unethical behavior as he pretends to be a busy big shot who is willing to throw some deals toward some potential customers. But, his high-pressured pitches fail to close on any properties.

There are extended scenes between Moss and Aronow which on the surface seem to be commiserating about how dire their fate is, and how badly they are being treated. The dialogue here illustrates Mamet’s signature style, with interruptions occurring between the speakers that sets up a rhythm that, as Arkin noted in an interview, is not subject to variation or improvisation. One student noted the musical score is jazzy, which fits in with Mamet’s writing style which has him riffing on a subject. IMDb states that Al Jarreau’s version of “Blue Skies” in the film refers to blue sky laws that aimed to prevent sales fraud, which is ironic given the unscrupulous actions occurring in this story.

Moss proposes that they stage a burglary at the office and steal the Glengarry leads from Williamson’s file cabinet and sell them to a competing firm. But Moss’s chumming it up with Aronow is just a ploy to get him to do the robbery since Moss, because of his vocal dissent, would be the prime suspect. Aronow does not wish to be part of yet another example of crossing over into illegal activity. But Moss, using the unscrupulous ploy of blackmail, says Aronow is already guilty since he has listened to Moss’s plan.

Roma does not try to strongarm his potential clients, as does Levene. He talks about all sorts of philosophical topics to ingratiate himself with his mark, because, as with other Mamet films, such as House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, characters are trying to con others by achieving a personal connection. However, what Roma says to Lingk reveals a capitulation to a lack of a moral compass. He tells him, “You think you’re a thief? So what? … You cheat on your wife? You did it, live with it. You fuck little girls, so be it. There’s an absolute morality? Maybe. And then what? If you think there is, go ahead, be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don’t think so. If you think that, act that way. A hell exists on earth? Yes. I won’t live in it.” Roma says it’s up to the individual how a person wants to live, but for his money, he doesn’t buy into rights and wrongs, He just wants to avoid the guilt that would hold him back from escaping from the hardships in life and enjoying whatever pleasures there are.

The story now enters daytime, where underhanded activities are revealed. The agency has been robbed, with the Glengarry leads taken. The audience might assume that Moss and Aronow did the deed, given their conversation. Roma is upset because he made a deal to sell property to Lingk and doesn’t want the burglary to mess up his first place standing that will get him the car and the good leads. Aronow and Moss are interrogated by the police concerning the theft, and Moss acts indignant about being suspected, which is deceptive considering we know he wanted Aronow to steal the leads.

Levene, however, is ecstatic because he sold property off of one of the inferior leads, and brags about his abilities. Roma admires the older man because Levene was his mentor. At that point Lingk shows up. He has talked the deal over with his wife. She contacted an attorney who told her the law says they have three business days to get out of the deal. Lingk haltingly tries to get out of the transaction. Roma, illegally trying to evade a termination of the contract, has Levine, who catches on quickly, to pretend he is an enthusiastic customer who Roma has to get to the airport. But Lingk stops him just before Roma leaves by saying he wants his money back. Roma tries to buy time to convince the Lingks to continue with the deal. Williamson, however, enters and doesn’t know what has transpired. He thinks he is helping by saying that he sent Lingk’s check to be cashed. Lingk is upset that he now has to take legal action to end the deal. He actually apologizes to Roma, and comes off as a pathetic character who allowed himself to be a victim, but now has been ordered by his wife to put him in this uncomfortable position. In this testosterone-fueled environment, he appears unmanly.

Roma then verbally attacks Williamson for opening his mouth when he shouldn’t, calling him a “fairy,” another example of the homophobic, emasculating attitude in this environment. After Roma goes into Williamson’s office to be interviewed by the police, Levene continues to insult Williamson, since he is angry at Williamson coldly dismissing him earlier when Levene tried to make a deal for the Glengarry leads. But, Levene slips up, telling Williamson he shouldn’t make things up if he doesn’t know what’s going on. Williamson then asks how would Levene know that Williamson didn’t send in Lingk’s check to be cashed. He and the audience now realize that it was Levene who broke in and stole the leads. In addition, Williamson says the people to whom Levene sold property are “crazy. They just like talking to salesmen,” and the check they wrote will bounce. His statement illustrates how futile their task is. The system is rigged to penalize these men if they aren’t unscrupulously slick enough to cheat their way to the top.

It is sad to hear Roma come back into the room and continue to praise Levene and talk about starting a partnership, not knowing that Levene will probably go to jail, not for doing something wrong, which is what would happen in an ethical world, but for getting caught. Aronow returns to his desk and starts making calls again, as the exploitative process continues.

The next film is The Station Agent.

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.