Billy Wilder Writes, Directs and Produces an American Classic
Writer, director and producer, Billy Wilder made another great American classic movie that made fun of mobs when he made the movie “Some Like it Hot”. Movie viewers loved the movie when it came out in theaters in 1959. Very few, if any films had made fun of the mob before - so this film was a first and it was risky business for the creators. The main characters of the film were actually transsexuals because they had to double as women. This was unheard of at the time of the movie release because the American culture had not embraced such diversity. Overall, the film is funny, multi-layered and fun to watch. Plus, is stars many of America's favorite actors.
Movie celebrity Jack Lemmon (playing Joe/Josephine) and Tony Curtis (playing Jerry/Daphne) manage to pull-off transvestite disguises in order to escape the humorless mob that is after them. The mob is headed by Spats Colombo (George Raft). The two escapees must get away from the mob after witnessing the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago. To blend in and not be caught, two men wear women's clothing to join an all-female band headed for Florida on a train. Along the way, both men fall in love with members of the band. Yet, they must not tell the women that they are actually men if they don not want to get caught.
Millionaire Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown) and singer Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Monroe), which are two women in the traveling band, cannot even identify that the two men are actually men and not women. Jerry, posing as a Shell Oil heir, appeals to Monroe's fun-loving and innocent character. He spins a heart-warming tale of lost-love that has resulted for him love apathy. “Sugar” (Monroe's character) begs for a chance to make Jerry love again by kissing him and flirting with him. The audience believes as much as she does that they need each other.
Monroe's simple gestures, such as when she leans over Jerry or hustles to catch the train, make a not-so-simple character of Monroe. She is a juxtaposition of innocence against an unusual sensuality. Sugar is a woman who knows what she wants in life. She is also a girl who is floating from one relationship to the next, one town to the next, without direction, it seems. The audience hopes that she has found, and will continue to find, love with Jerry.
On the contrary, Joe is attracted to Fielding, who is a true millionaire. She dances with him until dawn, pretending to be Josephine. Fielding begins to fall in love with Josephine. Likewise, Josephine has a wonderful time acting as if she is in love and is a true lady. Lemmon fits so well into the women's clothes that he wears that it is almost as if he enjoyed it! He is a wonderful dancer and enjoys being just one-of-the-girls with everyone else.
Joe lies in bed the next morning whimsically thinking about his great evening with the millionaire. He announces that he is engaged to be married to Fielding, and that the marriage will provide him with “security”. In America in 1929, it was common for the man to provide the woman with all of her financial security. Even though Joe is truly a man, he seems to have adapted to life as a woman seamlessly. Josephine walks around with a silly smile on her face and the attitude that nothing can harm her the next day, like a woman in love.
Finally, in the last scene of the film, and at the prodding of Jerry, Josephine confesses to Fielding that she is actually a man. “Nobody's perfect” Fielding says. He, nonetheless, accepts her into his boat, as if he did not care about her gender. The pair truly seems to be in love. The closing shot of Fielding and Josephine escaping danger by riding a motorboat into the sunset is classic and unforgettable in American film.
The two transvestites, Joe and Jerry, are deceptive, manipulative, and out for only simple happiness (sex and money). Yet by the end of the film, the audience wants to believe that Lemmon is indeed a real woman as much as they want to believe that Curtis is Monroe's true Shell Oil Millionaire. The characters become vulnerable when they face their major dilemmas with the mob. We hope right along with them that the solutions are more possible than they seem. We also hope that they are able to successfully find they love that they are after.
At the time of it's making, “Some Like it Hot” pushed the limits of transsexual/mob issues that had been unheard of subjects until 1959. It speaks openly about love, gender and greed. Furthermore, the film is a commentary about what people are truly looking for in relationships. “Some Like it Hot” is heart-warming, deeply comical, and a rare treasure that turns the heat up in the comedy genre.
