Farce, Dreams, and Desire: Some Like It Hot Re-Viewed

Abstract

Some Like It Hot (1959) is the best film by the last European director (Billy Wilder) to flourish in the United States. It is the best film of the last great sex star (Marilyn Monroe) created by Hollywood. It is the last of the carefree American comedies that sprang up when sound came in, bloomed through the thirties, and had a revival after World War II. And it is the last really good film farce produced in the United States to date. This essay explores the farcical element in Some Like It Hot, in addition to applying to the film the premise that, like dreams, farces show the disguised fulfilment of repressed wishes.