Some Like it Hot

Some Like it Hot

‘Some like it Hot’ (Wilder 1959)

- Film is set in 1929 (Time of the stock market crash)

- Different social groups are represented, gender and femininity

- Boot legging (Illegal alcohol selling) and gangs in background - speak easies

• Civil rights movements happening around that time
• Social norms and values of the says dictated the films genre and tone
• The comedic aspects are built around the theme identity, disguise and cross-dressing had to use humour as a vehicle for the more progressive, taboo and controversial themes as the centre (Hays code)
• One device in this vein is to situate the plot and events back to the 1920s. So it is set in 1929 although produced in 1959
• Paradoxically, the films historical context is the chaos and uncertainty of the Wall Street crash whilst films production context in 1959 marks a new departure for the US in terms of social and cultural life 

Overview

• Two friends (Musicians Joe and Jerry) witness a massacre by the Italian mafia and so they need to leave town
• Depression had set in so there’s poverty. The two musicians can be employed in a women’s travelling band so they dress as women (Josephine and Daphne) and get recruited
• They meet a lonely musician named Sugar
• The events take place in Florida and involve an elaborate plot of misunderstandings and miscommunication, misplaced longings (Sugar) and the notion of identity and disguise

Review opening - Some Like it Hot

The mise en scene in the opening scene is very representative of the time it was set, the costume of the gangsters is symbolic of the historical context of the time: Hats, suits and spats. Additionally the cars and buildings are symbolic of the 1920s.

Dialogue and sound, such as the American Italian diegetic dialogues, is representative of the gangsters in the 1920s

Diegetic sound of the speak-easy music: upbeat and jolly

Review Questions: Representation - Some Like it Hot

Please make notes on:

1. The representation of issues around female identity

• Woman wanting to go for a rich, wealthy man for a husband. ‘Gold digger’ representation of relying on a males wealth and income rather than their own. Shows the lack of independence of woman at the time.
• Always getting hit on by men (assaulted sometimes even) but they don't take notice as it occurs very commonly. Normalised objectification.
• Sugar’d drinking and having the ‘blues’ (depression). It doesn’t really conform to society’s standards at the time
• Women were playing within the rebellious rules even if it was the wrong thing
• Innocence and foolishness makes woman seem younger than they actually are. Almost ‘child-like’ (Men were more serious at the time)
• Easy for men to disguise themselves?

2. Representation of masculinity - attributes

• Joe and Jerry had two different sides to masculinity —> Joe wasn’t committed to the date with the secretary (aloof?) —> Jerry was more used to the idea of disguise, he was pushing it onto Joe
• How far were Joe and Jerry prepared to go and compromise their masculinity
• Overall focus is that there are different presentations of masculinity - macho, selfish, sensitive, gangster
• Leader of woman band is almost detached from her femininity and is more masculine in order to take charge of the woman’s band. She has to make sure they’re all in line and ready to perform so she takes a more stern and strong role which is said to be more of a masculine attribute

3. Offer examples to support above observations

Yacht Sequence notes

• A yacht immediately elevates a male status
• Sugar has desperation for him to ‘feel something’ with her. She almost idolises him
• The horizontal spin transitions between the Joe and Jerry is effective in portraying the different scenarios between the two happenings
• They’re both deceiving people —> Jerry (daphne) is presenting he is a woman on the date with Mr Osgood “should I lead” - Daphne. And Joe is pretending to be a rich oil company owner for Sugar
• A lot of over the shoulder shots, keeps our focus on the details of that specific characters dialogue. It also enhances the realism of the scene
• Close ups of Sugars face, reflects her state of awe when speaking to him, symbolises the lack of independence with  woman and the representation that women have a sense of immaturity and hopelessly rely on other for assurance and support
• Sugar wears a sequinned tight dress, contributing to her beauty. The costume is symbolic of how women at the time undergo a large effort into enhancing their appearance for the approval and likes of men
• Joe talks about money a lot in order to enhance Sugars feelings towards him as money was the way you got women to fall for you you back then —> Women went for men who had status and money was the way to get status (stereotype)
• Joe was lying the entire time to get a woman to like him. The yacht wasn’t even his, and it wasn’t his own life
• Stereotype that women were gold diggers and were always desperate for rich men and would do anything to get them (she wouldn’t stop kissing Joe to make him ‘feel something’)
• Counter-type, that Joe was saying “Hes harmless” and “Hasn’t loved since” because most men would go for any beautiful woman they would see and be very open and obvious about it, whereas Joe was in fact saying he “didn’t feel a thing”
• The camera tracks whenever a character moves rather than jump cutting (maybe due to the fact it involved physically cutting film to do a jump cut so it took more man power)
• Sugar was constantly moving wherever Joe went even though they were always in the same room. This shows the stereotype of women being helpless and need for constant assurance

Key Elements of Film form - Some Like it Hot (Yacht Scene)

• Mise en scene - detail
• Wide angle two shots: Framing and composition - balance, equality - gender?
• When sitting on couch - each have one foot on ground (Hays code)
• Over the shoulder shots - exchange, point of view
• Medium shots - feeling on the yacht - space
• Back shots
• Low key lighting - below deck
• Upper body shots in medium close up

Parallels

• 1929 and 1959 - both have stability after a major war and both reflect tensions between past and present, old norms and values and anticipation of social and cultural change
• 1929 - Gender role challenged by changes in world of work, unemployment - Wall street crash and great depression
• 1959 - Political shifts: Fear of Russia, communism, McCarthyism (McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s) also known as witch hunts.

Social and Cultural contexts

1929	1959
Age of the flapper - more confident woman	Parallels - women emerging more in public life: Education and career
Sugar - Plays to stereotype of single dependant female, vulnerable, alone and lonely	Conservatism also preserved more in some parts/states
Aspirations to find wealthy men	Liberalism on the horizon - across the board: Gender, civil rights.
Humiliation - she tries to make him respond to her charm

Osgood saying “No ones perfect” when Gerald admits to being a man sort of sticks to the ‘Hays code’ as it still sort of sticks to the idea that ‘Being gay isn’t perfect/Normal’.

8/10/2020

Aims of lesson

-Detailed exploration of the closing sequence, analysing key elements of film form, context and representation 

-Leading to a detailed and analytical written response and building this into homework on yacht sequence

Key Elements of Film Form, Context, Representation (Yacht scene and in general)

• Long shot- Sugar attending to Joe as he’s lying on his back on the sofa
• Sugar is wearing quite a revealing dress
• Desire to be wealthy and financially ‘Stable’ - stereotypical roles that men would be the providers ad women would do the house work and look after children
• Performance - ‘Joe’ pretends to be Josephine and also the Shell oil company owner at the same time - representation. Hes trying to fill a role that he’s not so he’s trying to fulfil a relationship with lies
• Comedic space, It was meant to be a woman disguise/Play a role due to the rules and taboo around cross-dressing  
• Historical context based around the difference of when it was filmed and when it was set. It includes woman wanting financial stability and cross-dressing.

Nobody's perfect scene (Ending) 

• Hays code doesn’t allow you to shed positive light on homosexuality so when Gerald admired he was a man instead of saying “Thats okay” he says “Nobody’s perfect” in order to show that homosexuality is “Bad” and “Not perfect”.
• Gerald gives a whole list of reasons on why not to get married yet “Being a man” was the last on the list which makes it seem ‘more shameful’. It went from claiming he wasn’t a ‘natural blonde’ which was a problem and worry of women to finally claiming he was a man in a shameful manner
• Medium shot with steady framing and symmetrical which could symbolise and equality between the two
• Osgood didn’t seem so surprised and seemed almost okay with it when Gerald claimed he was a man which suggests he knew the entire time. He may of thought of him as not ‘Biologically male’ rather than ‘A man in drag’
• Representation in the setting, they can only admit themselves at sea, the American land still holds judgement, so the truth can only be said far from the mainland

Representation

• Gerald as Daphne - A disguise which enables Gerald to literally step into women’s shoes and to experience what its like being a woman in a world of privileging men
• Complexity and tension in representations, reflect those of historical context: produced in 1959 - US society changing - Norms, values and traditions shifting away from conventional attitudes and lifestyle across the board
• In terms of civil rights, Rosa parks 1955 Alabama- refuses to leave the bus (segregation) yet there’s still an absence of POC in the film - very whitewashed - unconscious biased
• Rise of consumerism and urban culture (advertising and ‘man men’)
• We only seem to see woman’s issues through men
• In the dance scene (when it goes between yacht scene and dance scene) all the people are wearing white in the background and Gerald it the only one wearing black, this could convey that he is ‘the odd one out’ and ‘not right’ - This could link to racism and the one who’s ‘not right’ is in black.
• The dance scene could also link to marriage and status - Gerald (Daphne) is in black because he’s not going to be able to get married (to Osgood)
• Men - being out of work was shameful as they’re supposed to be the ones providing for the family
• Sexuality (Osgood) - falls into both categories for analysis - sexuality and gender (mummy’s boy), rich but not traditionally ‘masculine’, yet he divorced wife on mothers advice because they were a smoker
• Gender - male and female attributes - social constructs (Sweet, sugar, sue) women are made of ‘sugar and spice and everything nice’
• Tensions; Traditional and new gender roles

Context: 1959-1929-1950

Produced in 1959 - US society changing - norms, values and traditions shifting away from conventional attitudes and lifestyle across the board. It was a time for change as Kennedy was about to go into power and sat down and talked with M.L.K. Reflects the moment of transition from post-war era, Republicanism and anticipates everything that Kennedy’s presidency encapsulates- liberalism across all spheres of society- women, civil rights, pacifism (Vietnam), gender activism– San Francisco

Essay Question

WITH CLOSE REFERENCE TO THE YACHT AND ‘NOBODY’S PERFECT’ SEQUENCE ​

ANALYSE HOW FAR KEY ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM ARE USED TO REFLECT REPRESENTATIONAL ISSUES AND THE FILM’S WIDER SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS.

Introduction	Identify sequences and outline scope of your analysis - How two sequences are linked
Yacht sequence	Key elements, context and representation-detailed, focused analysis
nobody’s perfect’ sequence	Linking sentence- connecting ideas and both sequence and then Key elements and context, and representation- detailed, focused analysis - Hays code can be mentioned
Evaluation and analysis	Stepping back- highlighting key points
Conclusion	Summing up and no new material

The Film “Some Like it Hot” by Wilder (1959) is a black and white film set in the 1920s and is about two men who dress up as women to hide from mafia gangsters who they witnessed committing a crime. Within the Film we're shown two sequences; The ‘Yacht’ sequence, and the ‘Nobody's perfect’ sequence. The ‘Yacht’ sequences consist of Sugar trying to make Joe, who pretends to be the owner of the oil company ‘Shell’, feel love as Joe made up a story of his heart being broken and never being able to feel love since. And the ‘Nobody’s perfect’ sequence involves Gerald, whilst still dressed up as Daphne, listing out reasons why he can’t get married too Osgood and finally confessing to being a man, in which Osgood replies with “Nobody’s Perfect”. These two scenes can be linked and compared through the use of representation and performance. The two scenes also both conform to the ‘Hays code’ which was the set of industry moral guidelines for the self-censorship of content.

To begin with, the ‘Yacht’ scene represents women through stereotypes of the year 1920 (the year the film was set) These stereotypes, however, may not continue to reflect the stereotypes during the year it was filmed (1959) as the society in the US were shifting away from conventional attitudes and lifestyles. During this scene, Joe is shown to be lying on his back on the sofa, whilst Sugar was still standing with her drink. Once Joe says “If I weren’t such a coward id kill myself’ Sugar is shown to run to Joe and kneel by his side on the ground. This represents the stereotype of a woman being the neutering and ‘motherly’ as she kneels by his side in the way mothers would to their children. Another stereotype this scene conforms to is the stereotype that all women were just looking for rich, wealthy husbands, and would do anything to get them. Sugar is shown to be trying her very best to make him to ‘Feel something’ by constantly kissing him, as Joe said that if any woman made him feel love, he would “marry her on the spot just like that”. This fits in with the stereotype of women living only to fulfil men's needs as we see Sugar consistently trying to make Joe feel love so he would marry her, all for the sole purpose of gaining financial stability and a husband.

The use of women’s stereotypes continues into the ‘Nobody's perfect’ scene. Within this scene were shown Gerry (who is still dressed up as Daphne), listing all the reason he can’t get married to Osgood. He starts this list with stereotypical ‘Woman problems’ such as not being a ‘natural blonde’ and ‘smoking all the time’, he also jokes about not being ‘built the same’ as Osgood's mother so he can’t wear her dress, which can relate to how women in those days (and even today) were constantly worried about the way they look and the way their bodies look. He also goes on to say how he “Can never have children”. This would have been a huge issue as part of women’s ‘jobs’ in a way, was to have children, so by Gerry saying this any ‘normal’ man back in the day would leave her, but Osgood doesn’t. So throughout this scene, Gerry is trying to think of all the biggest problems that he thinks women have, yet gets shut down by Osgood still wanting to marry him. This in a way contributes to trying to demolish these stereotypes by adding coming relief to the serious issue as hand.

Lastly, both of the scenes mention have conformed to the Hays code. The Hays code was a set of industry moral guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1934 to 1968. You can see that the yacht scene observes the Hays code as one of the actors always have at least one foot on the floor when laying and sitting on the sofa. Likewise, the ‘Nobody's perfect’ sequence still manages to conform to the hays code. They do this by making Osgood say “Nobody’s perfect” after Gerry tells the truth about being a man. Usually, by Osgood not caring, this would give hints of homosexuality which was not allowed and goes against the Hays code that was in place, however, by Osgood saying “Nobody's perfect” it can imply that being homosexual isn’t ‘perfect’ or ‘normal’ so it manages to stay within Hays code guidelines.

In conclusion, the two scenes can be compared through their use of representation of women with the use of stereotypes that applied during the time it was set, and also the use of moral guidelines of self-censorship using the Hays code.