Some Like It Hot

Steven Cohan (Syracuse University, USA)

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English

BFI Publishing
29 May 2025

Film, TV & Radio; Individual film directors, film-makers; Film movie guides & reviews

Series: BFI Film Classics

Billy Wilder's classic screwball comedy Some Like it Hot (1959), starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe, tells the story of two struggling Jazz musicians who accidentally witness a mob massacre in Chicago who then, disguised as women, join a female band to escape the gangsters' pursuit. Despite the film's popular reception, with Academy Award nominations for Wilder and star Jack Lemmon, the film gained notoriety for its crossdressing plot and gender-bending comedy.

Steven Cohan's study of the film disentangles its production history and subsequent notoriety from the film itself, reconsidering the ways in which it playfully challenged generic and gender conventions of the 1950s. He provides an in depth analysis of the film's near perfect comedic structure, Wilder's aesthetic choices and self-reflexive star performances by Curtis, Lemmon and Monroe.

He goes on to consider the film's queerness, as well as its promotion and reception in 1959. Contextualizing the film within its contemporary moment, he argues its textual richness, one that allows it to be viewed differently across generations, securing its lasting influence in popular culture.

By: Steven Cohan (Syracuse University USA)
Imprint: BFI Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 190mm, Width: 134mm, Spine: 10mm
Weight: 165g
ISBN: 9781839027314
ISBN 10: 1839027312
Series: BFI Film Classics
Pages: 104
Publication Date: 29 May 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Acknowledgements 1. A Perfect Comedy 2. Billy Wilder and Some Like It Hot 3. The people in Some Like It Hot 4. Some Like It Hot in 1959 5. The queerness of Some Like It Hot? Conclusion Notes Credits

Steven Cohan is Dean's Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University, USA and was the former President of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies from 2015–2017. His books include Sunset Boulevard (BFI Film Classics, 2022), Hollywood by Hollywood: The Backstudio Picture and the Mystique of Making Movies (2018), The Sound of Musicals (BFI 2010), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (BFI TV Classics, 2008) and Incongruous Entertainment: Camp, Cultural Value, and the MGM Musical (2005).