Chapter 7 "Nobody's Perfect": Some Like It Hot, 1959

"Nobody's Perfect": Some Like It Hot, 1959 Although "Some Like It Hot" is the best Hollywood comedy, compared with Billy Wilder's several classics, it is often said to be "less spicy and sharp, on the contrary, it is more conventional, with men dressed as women. Gag to please the audience." (Kristen Thompson, David Bordwell, "World Cinema History").Indeed, Wilder's "Double Indemnity" (1944) displayed all the elements and characteristics of film noir and became the "authoritative representative" of film noir; "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) announced the end of the golden age of old Hollywood; (1960) became the last black-and-white film to win an Oscar for best picture, showing "the last creepy smile" before troubled times.And "Some Like It Hot" does not have any "deep" things from the story point of view, it seems that everything is entertainment for entertainment.

But at this time, we will recall the words of Wim Wenders "In America, entertainment is the most political thing...".In the era of "Some Like It Hot" (1959), various conflicts within American society on civil rights, race, women's rights, etc. began to breed, and one of the important aspects was about sex and gender.Billy Wilder did it at a time when no one dared to act out on screen a love that crossed the line of normalcy.Of course he did it very skillfully.His skill in expressing the pathologies and contradictions of American society was dubbed "two strokes to the left and one stroke to the right" by George Sadour.But in "Something Like Fire", his skill is "to keep the words in the mouth", not to say, he has the most exquisite dialogue, but he never breaks it.A year later, his "Apartment" satirized the depravity of the "sexual morality" of the American middle class in an extremely indifferent tone.When the clerk protagonist discovers that he has become part of the "system of cheating" (and social system), he emits "a terrible fit of laughter" (Ulrich Gregor, "World Cinema History").

It is said that Wilder's friends were not optimistic about "Some Like It Hot" at first, for the simple reason that Hollywood comedies should not have these two elements-violence and cross-dressing.The big-name producer David Selznick said directly: "Blood and laughter cannot be mixed." It turns out that he was wrong.At the beginning and end of "Some Like It Hot", it does seem to have the characteristics of a gangster movie: police detectives, shootings, escapes, Italian gangs, but in fact, this is just the beginning of the plot and the lead to the climax. The protagonists Jerry and Joe disguise a convincing motive for fleeing.Incidentally, Wilder also challenges some of the taboos of old Hollywood, just as he dated this film to the "prohibition" 1929.

It is true that Billy Wilder learned from Lubitsch and Strauchen. He does have traces of those two German predecessors, and he is also elegant and gentle. The use of elevator pointers as a comedy method in "As Hot as Fire" seems to be the expression and play of this inheritance.However, due to different personal experiences, the irony in Wilder's films is a little more profound and sharp.Not to mention "Sunset Boulevard" and "Apartment", just take "Some Like It Hot", the protagonist is poor, hunted by gangsters, and "forced" to become a woman. This description is reminiscent of Wilder's first arrival Dilemmas in Hollywood.He knew little English, had little money, and had no place to stay. Some Hollywood legends even say that he was living in the women's bathroom of the hotel.So every time he writes about the helplessness of the people in the play, the sadness is quite real.Although "Some Like It Hot" seems to be a farce, after the man Jerry dressed up as a woman Delphine, he was pursued by the millionaire Osgood, and even insisted on marrying her/him. Finding out that he turned out to be a man, the state of mind was absurd and helpless to the extreme.

Almodovar called Billy Wilder, Hitchcock and Buñuel his "artistic symbol of the Trinity", which I think may be referring to the black humor and precise plot arrangements in Wilder's films.In "Some Like It Hot", a story of sex and love packaged in cross-dressing, the love between Joe dressed as Josephine and Tang Tang played by Marilyn Monroe is the main line, and this love is used in turn. Prohibited booze, false wealth and sudden violence complete the story, all linked together.Billy Wilder insisted: "In a good screenplay, everything is necessary, otherwise it is not a good screenplay." He performed to the highest standard in his own screenplays.Although his playwright talent is more evident in "The Apartment," "Some Like It Hot" is also on a level where he pays attention to every detail.A musical instrument, a wine bottle, a flower, as long as it appears in Wilder's movie, it will come in handy in the following plot.Someone once asked Billy Wilder why he wanted to be a director, and he said half-seriously: "I became a director because of my scripts, and I want to protect them." His scripts really can't be shot out of shape.

If Billy Wilder's movies don't analyze his plays carefully, then the dialogue he wrote is the most impressive, such as the long monologue of the alcoholic in the tavern at the beginning of "The Lost Weekend".And in Wilder's comedies, he's always to the point, simple and to the point. The witty humor in "Some Like It Hot" has obviously been handed down, flowing in the blood of today's Hollywood commercial films, but few people can remember it. (In 1996, Wilder told The New York Times that the only thing that had given him "thrills" in recent years had been the movies.) Some of the "crash and vulgar" jokes in "Some Like It Hot" actually have quite a few " Very cultured", for example, Jerry said to Joe, whose alias is Josephine: "Not tonight, Josephine!" This is actually what Napoleon said when he declined to share the bed with Mrs. Josephine .By the way, the working title of the film was this semi-sexual "Not Tonight, Josephine!"

Of course, when it comes to lines, it is unavoidable to copy the last dialogue of this film—— Osgood: Mama wants you to wear her white gown. Jerry: Osgood, I can't wear your mother's wedding dress, we're not the same size. Osgood: Dresses can be changed. Jerry: No way.Osgood, let's be honest, we can't get married. …First, I'm not naturally blond. Osgood: It's okay. Jerry: My past is terrible. I lived with a saxophone player for three years. Osgood: I don't care. Jerry: I can't have kids. Osgood: We can adopt. Jerry: Osgood... I'm a man. Osgood: No one is perfect.

As soon as the voice fell, the subtitle of "THEEND" appeared immediately, which was naturally a hint of the "homosexuality" that was taboo at the time.But the beauty of this line is more than that. It is actually a questioning and subversion of gender concepts, and it is also Wilder's tolerance for extraordinary love.The meaning of this sentence is so profound that Billy Wilder's biography will be called "nobody perfect" in the future. Billy Wilder was at the peak of his career when "Some Like It Hot" was filmed, but it can be seen from this film that he never regarded himself as an artist, but as a person who entertained the audience, just in the Entertainment is the best, most accurate, and most revolutionary at the same time.Wilder once said his job was just to keep the crowd awake when they came in. "If within 20 minutes of the show, the audience will stand up to buy drinks, or the lovers will start to caress and kiss, and the film will be wasted. It must be so close that the lovers forget to hold hands, like something strangling the audience's neck , They have to stare at the screen. Such a movie is a good movie." Of course, today we find that in many ways, film history cannot bypass Billy Wilder, just like the series has done for him. Interviewed director Cameron Crowe said: "(His film) is told in a kind of Esperanto of love, full of wisdom and playful sparks. For all fans and those who want to learn the beauty of life, the article All roads lead them to Billy Wilder."