Read these three articles--Ebert's, "Masterpiece: Some Like it Hot,"and this one.
Then, in a thoughtful, articulate, and carefully proofread two paragraphs or more, pick a scene from the movie and offer a close textual analysis of it, citing from the articles to support your points. Requirements: 2 paragraphs (minimum), 3 citations, and extra credit if you offer a second post that comments on one of your colleagues' comments.
The scene that I have selected to analyze from Billy Wilder's 1959 film "Some Like It Hot" is the scene in which Jerry (played by Tony Curtis) tricks Sugar (played by Marilyn Monroe) into thinking that he is the heir of the Shell Oil company. While the scene is overtly light-hearted and humorous, it is essential to the film, as it introduces new conflicts, love interests and personalities to the already complicated plot. Furthermore, this is the first instance in which Curtis and Monroe interact when Curtis is not in drag. Their automatic infatuation with each other is palpable throughout the scene. As Roger Ebert articulates in his article “Some Like it Hot”, ‘When sincere emotion finds these characters, it blindsides them: Curtis thinks he wants only sex, Monroe thinks she wants only money, and they are as astonished as delighted to find they want only each other”.
ReplyDeleteProps are extremely valuable to the mise-en-scene of the scene. Joe seeks to not only cater to Sugar’s weakness for bespectacled millionaire, but also to hide his own face less he risk someone associating him with his persona of Josephine. Initially Joe uses the newspaper to coyly hide his face from Sugar and gruffly attempts to refuse her advances. However, as he loosens up to her charm, he drops the newspaper and picks up the bucket of shells. In obvious improvisation, he suggests that he is the heir to Shell Oil.
The scene is filled with harmless deception that is explicit to the viewer. Curtis pretends to be a “gentle, sweet, and helpless” billionaire, while Monroe mentions that she is a highly educated society girl. Furthermore, Jerry, (played by Jack Lemmon) appears in the scene dressed in drag, and acts like a caricature of a young woman. Unlike Joe who “sticks with [the pseudonym] Josephine, a conservative choice that indicates the transience of his transgression” (Daniel Lieberfeld and Judith Sanders), Jerry refers to himself as Daphne and in doing so, embraces that “security” that his new gender brings to his life. Originally as Jerry chats with “Junior” and Sugar, he is shot in at a low angle. His dominance in the frame is based off Jerry’s knowledge of Joe’s real character and his true intentions with Sugar that he knows he could potentially reveal at any time. Conversely, Joe and Sugar are shot from a high angle, for different reasons. Sugar is shot from a high angle because she is unaware of the deception of Joe’s character. Charles Taylor notes that ironically, “Joe is the exact sort of heel Sugar is running away from. And the means he uses to get her—fulfilling her fantasy of the sensitive bespectacled millionaire—are trickery”. Joe is shot from a high angle as well because he realizes that he needs Jerry to keep his mouth shut and as a result he grudgingly recognizes Jerry’s level of power in the situation. However, when Joe stands up the camera rises with him and the shot becomes an eye level shot, making himself as equally powerful as Jerry. Although relations between Joe and Jerry become especially agitated and the plot becomes more complex, the humorous nature of the scene makes it one "Some Like It Hot"'s most memorable.
I agree and admire the way that alison took on the importance of props within her scene because that is not a common analysis in the way she explains how the newspaper was used to hide his face.
DeleteThe 1950’s in America were a time of social conservatism, coupled with an emergence of a more materialistic culture. Both of these societal trends are aptly portrayed in Billy Wilder’s “Some Like it Hot,” specifically in the scene in which Wilder employs parallel editing to contrast “Daphne” tangoing, and Joe in his intimate moment with Sugar. This scene “constructs Joe's masculinity in opposition to both Sugar's femininity, expressed as masochistic passion and a lack of insight, and to Jerry's failed masculinity, expressed as "lost" control” (Lieberfeld and Sanders). Joe, as a representation of conservative 1950’s males, is not able to totally give into his feminine persona, and has thus reverted to his true gender in this scene. However, as a male, his relationship with Sugar has shifted from their previous status of equals. He is enthralled by her and overpowered by her sexuality, as demonstrated by their positions in the frame. Sugar towers over Joe in the medium-long shot, taking up almost the entirety of the height of the frame. This is a reversal of society’s traditional gender roles, as is consistent with the rest of the film, including the next shot of “Daphne.” In this medium-long shot, Daphne and Osgood are tangoing, with Osgood completely oblivious to Daphne’s true nature. However, Wilder does not allow the audience to forget. Daphne is clothed in a black dress, with Osgood in a white suite. This is a complete contrast to both the couples surrounding them and Joe and Sugar, whose men are the ones in the dark clothing. Daphne also keeps taking lead as they dance, signaling her inability to be a true women. However, she, has failed at being a man too. As Wilder keeps cutting back to the Tango scene, Daphne gets more and more effeminate in her movements, which when paired with her dress, headband, and heels “becomes a vehicle through which the masculine imagination enacts and exorcises fears of heterosexuality” (Lieberfeld and Sanders). She has been transformed, despite the culture of the time, which would disapprove of such actions.
ReplyDeleteIn order to not create too much of a distance between the characters and the audience, Wilder makes the scene laughable rather than off-putting. According to Charles Taylor, “Billy Wilder was never an especially subtle filmmaker. His comedies both before and after this one tended toward the heavy-handed, even the vulgar.” This is apparent here, with the rose switching mouths during the tango and the absurd courtship during which Osgood holds a shimmying Daphne in a table cloth- unaware of her true identity. Wilder also balances Daphne’s overt heterosexuality, with the more traditional shots of Joe and Sugar. These shots have less kinesis and a still camera, implying normalcy and forcing the audience to slow down and appreciate Sugar’s beauty. Viewing women as an object of gaze was typical at the time, and in her sparkly dress, she invites the gaze. This allows the male viewer to feel like a man again, incase the cross-dressing raised any doubts. Joe is acting as any man would in the face of someone like Marilyn, keeping with society. Yet, the quick pans which Wilder uses to go back and forth between the two scenes, and two representations of men, imply confusion. What is normal in society?
I think Alison's interpretation of the shot types in her scene is very well analyzed. She was able to tie in the cinematography in a way that highlighted characterization, which is something that is central to the film. The entire narrative is based upon hiding one's identity, yet through Wilder's direction, the characters are made more vulnerable and open to the audience than they wish to be.
ReplyDeleteBilly Wilder’s 1959 “Some Like It Hot,” as described by Ebert, is “one of the enduring treasures of the movies, a film of inspiration and meticulous craft, a movie that's about nothing but sex and yet pretends it's about crime and greed.” It explores many aspects of sexuality, including the ideas of love versus lust. The scene that encompasses much of which Wilder was trying to express is the famous, “Tango Scene.” This scene highlights the growing sexual culture of the times and the “topsy-turvy exploration of sexual desire and identity (Taylor).” As Sugar and Joe go on a quest to find champagne, the mood of the film harshly changes. It transcends from a silly, light comedy, to something that holds much more meaning. This is the first time the audience sees any real aspect of human relationships--as Sugar begins to effortlessly seduce Joe. The diegetic music coming from the record player which is turned on by Sugar, openly sets the mood for the scene. It brings the viewer closely into the narrative and sheds insights onto the themes being presented. It not only allows for the viewer to understand what is happening between these two characters, but it makes the viewer, in a sense, feel seduced as well.
ReplyDeleteThis scene, and movie as a whole, makes deep connections to Mulvey’s feminist film theory. Sugar is obviously seen scantily clothed and “sexy” in various parts of the film--obviously presenting her as an object for male gaze. However, in this scene, the audience can see a different side to her. This new Sugar appears to be extremely powerful. Her sex appeal puts Joe in a trance, which in turn, makes him much more vulnerable than her. Wilder shows this shift in power by Sugar’s position over Joe. As the camera stays at a stagnant medium shot, Sugar remains bigger throughout the entire scene. She hangs over him, which makes him unable to change his position. Additionally, lighting further asserts Sugar’s ultimate power. Throughout the entirety of the scene, she is bathed in a soft, white light, while Joe’s face is engulfed in shadows. This illuminates her raw beauty, and gives implicit meaning to the way she explicitly “lights up” his life. This scene also relates to men’s quest and need to find love, mainly so they can live up to social standards. As Lieberfeld and Sanders state, “Male fears that affiliation with a woman entails loss of masculine identity can complicate the transition to adult heterosexuality.” This is the first instance when strong sexual desire is acted upon, which takes away from the men’s previous state dressed as women.
I really like Flora’s analysis of the parallel editing and the contrast between Daphne and Joe. I completely agree with her comment on how this scene reversed gender roles and how it changed the culture of the times. I also really enjoyed Alison’s addition of the importance of props, because that is an aspect of mise-en-scene that can often be looked over.
“Some Like it Hot” is a 1959 comedy directed by Billy Wilder. The film blends the genres of gangster noir (though more of a tongue-in-cheek parody if anything) and broad comedy, just as much as it blends the gender roles. As Ebert says the film is “a movie that’s about nothing but sex yet pretends it’s about crime and greed”. The film is just as much of a satire of the roles of men and women in the cinematic and real world at the time as it is a slapstick farce. The two characters of Joe and Jerry are the two biggest subjects in the film, even more so than Sugar, largely because Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are entrusted to play two roles each (although technically Curtis plays three roles) – one a male character and the other their female counterpart. Jerry’s absorption into his character of Daphne is one of complete takeover: he becomes a woman, or at least his idea of a woman, and slowly is more recognizable as one than not. Unlike Joe who plays both Geraldine and Junior, Jerry is rarely seen without being dressed in drag. Even when trying to escape from the gangsters he forgets to remove his high heels and his cover is blown; Charles Taylor notes that “by the end of the movie he’s so comfortable in heels that he wears them without thinking, giving himself away”.
ReplyDeleteOne scene that transcends this particularly well is the seduction scene between Sugar and (Jerry playing) Junior, which cuts back and forth between Jerry (as Daphne) dancing with millionaire Osgood. Ebert notes that the film is very “Shakespearean in the way it cuts between high and low comedy, between the heroes and the clowns”. Wilder, as a director and screenwriter, was always adamant that a good script could carry a film even if other aspects of the film felt short. And here the script takes center stage, with almost every line a double entendre. The viewer must be quick to pick up on the double meanings in nearly every word that either Jerry or Joe say. However, Wilder does not rely solely on script, and employs many stylistic devices to display how Joe is on the verge of blowing his cover by falling for Sugar, while Jerry descends farther and farther into femininity. Dark, almost angelic lighting is placed on Joe (as Junior) and Sugar in a seductive manner, while the music drags along slowly. The camera then quickly spins, transitioning to the next scene where salsa music is playing and the camera follows Jerry and Osgood as they dance around with a horrified expression on Jerry’s face. The camera then spins back to Joe and Sugar, Joe’s glasses now fogged up. We then get a glimpse back to Jerry and Osgood as they continue a dance, with a rose now in Jerry’s mouth. Back on the boat, Joe is now back to himself as a man, no longer womanly, as he falls for Sugar and gets Sugar to fall for him. However, Jerry has now made (what appears to be) a complete transformation into a woman as he dances with Osgood in an empty room, with the salsa band blinded. The next scene we seem him appear to be excited that Osgood has proposed to him, and though the audience eventually learns that his excited his over the thought of alimony, Wilder and Lemmon lead us to believe that it is over the idea of marrying a millionaire. This only furthers to combine the female and male characters in the film – both after happiness, which just so happens to be money. The characters of Joe, Jerry, and Sugar all become involved in their search (whether indirectly or not) for the same thing, and this is the great equalizer of the movie. As Joe says, “That was when I was a saxophone player, now I’m a millionaire”; and thus the genders are mixed.
Like Alison, Flora, and Ellie have all pointed out the film is a may be a light comedy on the surface, but has much more meaning underneath. The film is a sharp satirical take on the ideas of feminism and the roles of men and women in society at the time. Through the mise-en-scene, dialogue and characterizations, Wilder is able to create the ultimate gender bending send up of the ideals (in both the real world and cinematic world) of the 1950s.
ReplyDeletebefore i write my beautiful blog i just want to appreciate the title of the 3rd article that we had to read..."this one" lol
ReplyDelete“Some Like it Hot” is a 1959 comedy directed by Billy Wilder. The film is a perfect balance between a gangster film, comedy, and romance. From the point of view of the audience “the plot is a screwball.” The plot that Wilder was able to portray was very unique during this time. The very beautiful Marilyn Monroe played the major “true” female of the film(Suagar). Monroe was a perfect addition to the cast to portray the sex symbol and represent the romance aspect of the film. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon who are two male musicians who dress up as women to join an all girls band as they travel to Florida accompany her in the film. “Curtis thinks he wants only sex, Monroe thinks she wants only money, and they are as astonished as delighted to find they want only each other”. As this love story is being created Curtis and Lemmon give the audience a very comical performance.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that I chose to analyze is the second to last scene of the film. The scene opens with Curtis and Lemmon being chased by the staff of the hotel while they are in masculine clothing. They lead them upstairs and the camera pans to the left to reveal the elevator, the elevator opens and Curtis and Lemmon are fully back into their female persona. They walk together to the phone booth as Josephine (in love with Sugar) tells Daphne to call her “future husband” as a plan for them to escape. As Daphne exits the frame to make the call, a very familiar female singing voice is heard. Josephine walks toward the voice and the camera cuts to a shot of Sugar on a piano in a very seductive mesh sequin dress. It is very interesting that she is singing a very sentimental song and as Josephine gets closer to Josephine she sings the words “I must have you, or no one” in an extreme close up. Throughout the performance, Sugar is very brightly lit, at the end of her performance the camera is at a close up and the lighting of the entire frame dims, representing her lost of love. Then the camera cuts to a medium shot of Josephine, who is now on the stage, and as she leans forward she comes from darkness into the light, representing Sugars finding of love. Josephine then comes from behind Sugar and kisses her. “It’s the vision of Monroe and Curtis in drag, locked in that kiss, maybe the only sexual exchange in the picture where both partners are being honest with each other, that stands for the movie’s world of crazy possibility.” The camera then cuts to the composer yelling and the guards run to chase Josephine as she darks up the stairs, in heels. The camera then cuts back to Sugar in shock, but starting to put together some clues.
I chose this scene because I thought it portrayed the perfect mesh of the violence, romance and humor, which was present throughout the entire film.
"Some Like It Hot" is a 1959 comedy directed by Billy Wilder, starring the beautiful Marilyn Monroe. This movie plays on the concepts of love, theft, and most importantly sex and sex appeal. Roger Ebert said it best in his article on the film, "... a movie that's about nothing but sex and yet pretends it's about crime and greed."
ReplyDeleteThe scene I chose to analyze is the scene where the all girl band is performing at the hotel. We are brought into this scene from an establishing shot that allows us to see the band as well as the audience, where Marilyn's character, Sugar, is at the front as the lead singer. The camera then cuts to a medium shot of Sugar as she turns around and begins to sing. The mise-en-scene of this part plays a big role. She is presented in a almost see through dress where her breast are almost out for all to see. This plays on the theme of sex. "Poured into a dress that offers her breasts like jolly treats for needy boys, she seems oblivious to sex while at the same time melting men into helpless desire." This is apparent throughout this scene because not only is Sugar in this dress that attracts so much attention, but she is lit beautifully and softly, as if to reveal her innocence, which speaks to her obliviousness to her sex appeal.
This is also vividly stated in the article by Charles Taylor. "The gown Monroe wears to perform with the band is a barely-there number of sheer nylon netting that clearly shows her breasts, the nipples just covered by small cascades of sequins. As she boop-boop-be-doops her way through “I Wanna Be Loved By You,” Wilder puts a tight spotlight on her face and shoulders. When she gets to the line “I couldn’t aspire/To any-thing higher” she wiggles slowly up so that the tips of her breasts stay teasingly just below the spot." This final quote speaks to her sexual appeal while Roger Ebert speaks to both her sexual appeal and her obliviousness to that appeal.
Billy Wilder’s “Some Like It Hot” served as the perfect spoof on the growing materialism of society in the 1960’s. One of the film’s most memorable qualities may be the chemistry between Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Cane and the camera, something that defied the conservatism of the times and daringly exposed dramatic stereotypes of both sexes. One could most certainly tie in Mulvey’s Feminist Film Theory in reference to costume design and overall theme of the film, as it seems to surround the idea that femininity and “spectacle, obliviousness, and impulsivity” are one in the same (Daniel Lieberfield and Judith Sanders). The ultimate juxtaposition within the film is unexpectedly the contrasting attitudes of Joe and Jerry while in drag. While Joe, even as Josephine, holds on to his masculinity and lustful male desires, Jerry is absorbed by his character Daphne and lets his identity slip. A fair representation of this concept can be found within the “Tango Scene” in which the camera jumps between the two scenarios: Joe, now disguised as Junior, the heir to Shell Oil, enjoys the night on his borrowed yacht subtly seducing Sugar. At the same time Jerry progressively gives himself in to his female counterpart as he spends the night dancing with a real millionaire. It is as Charles Taylor commented: “[Lemmon] didn’t want to turn the role into gay shtick. And he doesn’t. He goes for something much farther out and riskier — utter immersion in the feminine”.
ReplyDeleteThe scene opens with Sugar twirling, glasses of rich champagne in hand, toward the couch where her heartthrob lounges superciliously. The way Monroe moves is exaggerated femininity and she seduces the audience with each step: "Look how she moves. Like Jell-O on springs. She must have some sort of built-in motor. I tell you, it's a whole different sex” exclaims Jerry to Joe as they board the Florida-bound train. The next shot, in medium close-up, implicitly exposes the pair. Joe is surrounded by trophies that suggest he is accomplished, however, the audience is aware of his flaws. Sugar’s motives are made clear as she feeds him the glasses of champagne one after the other. The music accompanying them in the background is as genuine as Joe isn’t. “Don’t fight it,” she soothes him “relax” as she “kisses him not erotically but tenderly, sweetly, as if offering a gift and healing a wound” (Roger Ebert). The goal might be to portray the innocence and obliviousness of Sugar and all women for that matter. Her series of kisses are clearly satisfying Joe as his glasses begin to fog, his eyes bug. Yet, he manages to maintain his character and refuse her the satisfaction of his feeling something. She is persistent and keeps trying, completely ignorant to the fact that she’s being lied to. When the camera swiftly blurs it opens to reveal a new scene in which Jerry’s Daphne and his/her date, Osgood Fielding III, dancing the Tango back at the hotel. At first, Daphne appears completely unenthused by the situation, often rolling her eyes and holding a straight face as they trot up and down the dance floor. When Osgood complains that she is leading again a sarcastic “sorry” escapes Daphne’s lips and they continue without eye contact or conversation. The scenes continue to alternate and each develops as the night moves forward. With Joe and Sugar the camera moves in closer as the two get more intimate. To relieve each scene of too much seriousness, Wilder throws in witty comments and actions made by each party that can be suggestive or comical. On Joe’s side the two “throw another log on the fire” in hopes of curing Junior of his inability to desire, while Jerry and his dancing partner get closer and closer exchanging a flower from mouth to mouth. The overarching scene concludes with each protagonist embracing their disguise. Joe’s final comment, “Tomorrow, remind me to send a check for $100,000 to the milk fund” is obviously suggesting that he has the money to do so. On the other hand, Jerry can be found dancing his heart out well after hours as only the band remains to entertain he and his millionaire.
ReplyDeleteThe 1959 American romantic- comedy “Some Like It Hot” directed by Billy Wilder is a comedy unlike others. The gangster/ crime plot hides the true theme of sex while parodying other film’s in a comedic manner. Referred to as “one of the enduring treasures of the movies, a film of inspiration and meticulous craft…” (Roger Ebert) Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play two musicians who are witnesses to the St. Valentine’s Day massacre and are incognito. They “change their identities” and join an all women jazz band, during which they both fall lustfully for Marilyn Monroe’s character, Sugar. Monroe is a singer who dreams of marrying money and Curtis is the usual “no- good saxophone player type” that she would usually be into. Curtis disguises himself as a millionaire to win her over and Monroe romantically falls for him and gives him lessons in love. Lemmon’s, comedic, situation is “flipped and mirrored” as he gets engaged to an actual millionaire.
ReplyDeleteThe scene both Lemmon’s and Curtis’s love affairs blossom, is a scene that wraps up the entire film and themes in one. Comedy, sex, romance, and sexuality perturbation, are being portrayed through the love scene between Curtis and Monroe and the romance between Lemmon and Joe E. Brown. As Monroe walks through the yacht in amazement, she is compose within the frame just right, so she’s not only seducing Curtis she’s seducing the audience. As Curtis lays on the couch the viewer sees a HA MS of him, then a LA LS of Monroe portraying how truly out of Cutis’s league she was. He convinces her that he his incapable of loving a women and makes her feel truly sorry for him. In trying to help him with his “problem” Monroe come as close to making love as possible in a movie. Meanwhile there are cuts back and forth to the comedic tango scene. The MS’s and LS’s of Lemmon and Brown tangoing and taking turns leading. Brown complains about how Lemmon keeps taking lead and, naturally being the man in this situation he’s supposed to lead. A clear parallel to the Curtis and Monroe situation where Curtis wants her to lead and she involuntarily assumes the position. “But they both have so much fun in their courtship! While Curtis and Monroe are on Brown’s yacht, Lemmon and Brown are dancing with such perfect timing that a rose in Lemmon’s teeth end up in Brown’s.” The scene ends with both parties parting on cloud nine.
Appearently the reply button is working for me, but I just really want to say that Flora's comment is really inciteful and raises a really good point about what is normal in society. Some film's atempt to portray that and by the end of the film you realize they never actually were able to portray an exact depiction of the topic. As what happens in the Graduate, but purposelully.
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