My Favorite Scene: Some Like it Hot

At about an hour and a half into the two-hour Some Like it Hot, the scene opens with Jerry (Jack Lemmon) dressed as ‘Daphne” – wig, dress, jewelry, make-up – lying on the bed, humming the tango and shaking maracas above his head, smiling at the events of his evening. Joe (Tony Curtis) climbs in the window, returning from his own escapade:

“Hi Jerry, everything under control?”
“Have I got things to tell you!”
“What happened?”
“I’m engaged!”
“Congratulations! Who’s the lucky girl?”
“I am!”

This exchange sets the tone for scene as Jerry, who up to this point had trouble playing along with the evening’s scheme (his occupying an elderly millionaire by accepting a date with him so Joe can woo a girl on the millionaire’s yacht he pretended was his own), fully embraces his role. That is why, for almost the entire scene, from when he is alone at the beginning until after Joe enters the room, he remains in “costume.” He only removes his wig when Joe tells him to remind himself “you’re a boy, you’re a boy” (a call back to a scene earlier in the movie when Joe has to remind Jerry “you’re a girl, you’re a girl” when they are surrounded women parading around in their underwear early into their masquerade).

Throughout the scene, Jerry cites all the clichés of a woman about to be married – “Do you think he’s too old for me?”, marrying him for “security,” mulling over honeymoon locations, wondering what his fiancé’s mother will think. After all, it’s his “last chance to marry a millionaire.”

Joe insists to Jerry that he has to call off the engagement/marriage. “There are laws, conventions, it’s just not being done!” but Jerry says he will go through it only until after the honeymoon, when he will ask for a divorce and “keep getting those alimony checks every month!” This represents the first time we see Jerry initiate his own money-making scheme, which are usually spearheaded by Joe. This time, however, Joe thinks, the idea is too far out – until Jerry shows Joe his engagement presents, a diamond bracelet. “Hey these are real diamonds!” Of course they’re real! Do you think my fiancé’s a bum?” Now, Joe recognizes the possibilities. When Jerry finally realizes he’ll have to call of the engagement and return the bracelet, Joe, replies “Now, Jerry, let’s not be hasty.” Joe’s true nature shines through.

In only about three minutes, attitudes, plans and schemes evolve, with a role reversal that unravels, as Jerry can’t maintain the deception and Joe is motivated by easy money. This, however, is the last scene where we see Joe behave in this way, as reality closes in and he also realizes the emotional damage his masquerade has caused. His change of heart is illustrated by what he ultimately does with that diamond bracelet (not that it was his to do anything with, but why quibble?). As such, this scene sets the stage for the final act of this brilliantly written, directed and acted classic with one of the best closing lines in movie history: “Nobody’s perfect.”