Name: ______Date: ______Period: ______Ms. Jones / Film Study 1

Some Like it Hot Study Guide

1. Even a credit sequence can establish the tone of a film with seemingly insignificant techniques, such as the font of the credits. What tone is established with both the font and the opening score? Why?

2. Considering what happens in the opening scene, what’s in the coffin, and the revelation that it’s Chicago, 1929, what historical period in the US does the setting occur?

3. How is Spats Colombo introduced in regards to his costume, what type of shot is used to showcase this type of clothing, and how is this filmmaking technique used as a motif throughout the film?

4. What happens at the garage is based on the real life St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. How is the violence filmed?

5. Listen to the music that is used to introduce Sugar, Marilyn Monroe’s character. How is she characterized by this music? If possible, name the instrument.

6. How does Sugar’s costume (e.g. color, fabric type, body exposure, etc.) onboard the train at nighttime characterize her? Note the color symbolism, especially in comparison to the other girls in the band.

7. What conflicts arise between Joe and Jerry when both compete for Sugar in Florida?

Name: ______Date: ______Period: ______Ms. Jones / Film Study 1

8. Note the swish pan (the world becomes a blur) that occurs when the film cuts between Sugar and Junior making out on the yacht with Josephine and Osgood doing the tango. What is the effect of this juxtaposition?

9. Why does Junior tell Sugar that he’s impotent, and what happens on the yacht? What is Jerry/Daphne’s plan regarding Osgood? Why?

10. Although Joe/Josephine/Junior deceive Sugar, her behavior improves. What does she no longer do, and how does this showcase change within her personality?

11. What type of shot and of what object does Wilder use to show that Spats’ gang knows the true identities of Daphne and Josephine? What effect does this have?

12. What is the effect of the angle of the shot of Bonaparte, the head of the “Friends of Italian Opera”?

13. How do the characters (if any at all) change by the resolution of the film?

14. What is the film’s closing line of dialogue? How do you interpret it? Why?

15. Looking back, why does the film appear in black and white even though colored photography existed in 1959? Why is it effective considering the setting and one of the genres evident in the film?

16. The film fits into several genres, including gangster film, comedy, farce, screwball comedy, etc. Which genre do you think it most belongs and why?