From the Film School Vaults: I Have to Praise You Like I Should? Marilyn Monroe: The Blonde Venus in Some Like it Hot vs. Joan Crawford: The Fallen Independent Heroine in Mildred Pierce
Abstract
In Some Like it Hot (Wilder, 1959), there are many point-of-view shots of Joseph (Tony Curtis) and Gerald (Jack Lemmon) ogling at Sugar’s (Marilyn Monroe) derriere and remarking on her physical attributes. In Mildred Pierce (Curtiz, 1945), there are point-of-view shots of Wally (Jack Carson) and Monte (Zachary Scott) staring at Mildred’s (Joan Crawford) calves. Such shots in both of the films convey men’s preoccupation with women’s physical assets. Some Like it Hot is shot in black and white, downplaying Marilyn Monroe’s sexuality in order for the main focus to be on her acting abilities. The black and white in Mildred Pierce aptly represents the darkness and unpredictability of this film noir.
Each of the central female characters has bad judgment when it comes to men. Sugar repeatedly dates saxophone players who take advantage of her while Mildred is double-crossed by two men that she has blind spots for—Wally and Monte. Both women are also traded in for younger, more exciting, and more attractive females. At times, Some Like it Hot upholds the belief that it is more effective when the female is the passive one and it is up to her male counterparts to challenge the patriarchal norms. In doing so, Joseph and Gerald find their respective equals in Sugar. In Mildred Pierce, the expectations that are placed on the female lead are too unrealistic to meet and she ends up getting trampled underfoot by the patriarchy, becoming an even more passive female than Sugar.
In comparing and contrasting Mildred Pierce (Curtiz, 1945) and Some Like it Hot (Wilder, 1959), the gender ideologies in each of the films are drastically different from one another. In Mildred Pierce, the central female character (Joan Crawford) aspires to be the post-war feminist, while Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), the female lead in Some Like it Hot, is simply the blonde bombshell. Because Some Like it Hot is predominantly told from the male point of view of its two central characters, Joseph (Tony Curtis) and Gerald (Jack Lemmon), the responsibility is theirs as to whether or not they’re going to be likable characters by giving the central female character, Sugar, the respect that she deserves. Consequently, they end up fulfilling such a responsibility, whereas, in Mildred Pierce, the expectations that are placed on the female lead are so unreasonable that when she tries to measure up to them, she fails miserably, thus turning out to be a surprisingly unlikable female character.
Mildred Pierce is the central female character’s story, periodically told in her voice over to discuss the past. In the beginning of Some Like it Hot, the narrative predominantly belongs to Joseph and Gerald, with a lot of point-of-view shots of them gazing at Sugar’s backside and commenting on her physical assets. “Some Like it Hot revolves around the male problems and reactions with Monroe providing a foil for the male situation as well as an object of their sexual fantasies and desires” (Welsch 1992, 196). Once Joseph becomes better acquainted with Sugar, he becomes more attached to her. As a result, the more he falls in love with her, the less point-of-view shots there are of him ogling at her and there are more long shots of her appearing unattainable as he gazes at her in admiration from afar. In Mildred Pierce, there are point-of-view shots of Wally (Jack Carson) and Monte (Zachary Scott) gazing at her calves. Such shots in each of the films communicate the male preoccupation with women’s physical attributes.
On a conscious level, Mildred’s ideology is to be a completely independent woman who runs her own business and raises her children all on her own, never having to rely on a man again. Subconsciously though, she depends on men for approval and emotional security. Monte makes her feel loved, while Wally is perfect for companionship. “The new Crawford is a lacquered woman of a certain age whose aura of assurance fails to mask her deep-rooted discontent and loneliness” (Robertson 1996, 96).
In comparison, the ideology in Some Like it Hot is one that is more physically inclined. “The underlying question of so many screwball comedies is what mental or spiritual consequences derive from the biological differences between men and women. Although they never suggested a clear answer, they always suggested that the smart woman was an oddity and exception, different from the culture’s anticipated norm” (Mast, Kawin 1996, 570). Joseph and Gerald might ogle at Sugar’s physical attributes, but there is also a sense of reverence for womanhood. This is illustrated perfectly when Joseph and Gerald are staring at Sugar in awe. Using her as inspiration, they try to emulate her mannerisms, but it’s useless. Gerald shakes his head. “She moves like Jell-O on springs. I’m telling you, it’s a completely different sex.”
In both of the films, the costumes, physical attributes, tone of voice, expressions, and mannerisms portray each of the female lead’s occupations. Because there is a certain kind of flamboyance that goes with being a lounge singer, Sugar wears a lot of glitzy, tight-fitting dresses that show off her curves and bare a considerable portion of her breasts. Her facial expressions and her features are representative of the blonde bombshell—wide eyes, huge smiles, and full, pouty lips. Her mannerisms also suggest a certain looseness and frankness in regard to her sexuality as she winks her eye, raises her eyebrows, and shakes her boobs, hips, backside, and mussed-up head of hair and sings in her deep, husky voice while performing. On the other hand, the lead in Mildred Pierce has very determined eyes and usually wears a serious expression, which communicates what a dedicated woman she is, who is set on getting what she wants. Her attire is representative of her uptight and reserved demeanor. She dresses like the mother that she is in high-necked dresses, dress suits, blouses, jackets, and long skirts. Her hair, always pulled back in a matron-like hairstyle, and her low and controlled voice also signify the practicality and modesty of her job position as a restaurant owner.
For the most part, Some Like it Hot is brightly lit, conveying the upbeat tone of this musical/romantic comedy, while Mildred Pierce, which is representative of the film noir genre, is darkly lit with strong shadows and the characters’ faces are partially overshadowed, suggesting the dangerousness and dreariness of the film’s predicament. Only a few scenes are brightly lit, particularly the beginning of the flashback scene in which she’s explaining offscreen to the detective why her first husband couldn’t have killed her second husband. In the middle of the flashback, when her first husband leaves, the film resumes being darkly lit, suggesting that she cannot be happy without her husband in her life. Such bright lighting in the beginning of the flashback and her dialogue offscreen as she praises him clashes with her husband’s actions and words in the scene. For example, the scene implies that he is cheating on her as she receives a phone call from his mistress. Also, he finalizes their separation in an impersonal, Dragnet-like tone of voice while wearing an indifferent and callous expression.
There are various aspects in each of the films that take on previously taboo content. In Mildred Pierce, the following qualities are quite shocking: a woman so harmless looking is a murder suspect, she is a single mother entering the workforce, her children know that their father is having an affair and speak of it so casually, and Mildred’s daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth), who is so young, is so evil and heartless, and ends up being the killer of her stepfather and a willing participant in incest by sleeping with him. In comparison, Some Like it Hot’s qualities are shockingly funny. Joseph and Gerald are convincing as women in their cross-dressing, conveying a certain kind of flexibility and androgyny in gender—that men can be men, but can also be women and have just as much fun, if not more, in being women. When Joseph kisses Sugar in his female get-up, the people in the lounge are so convinced that he is a female kissing another female that they start screaming.
In Some Like it Hot, the black and white is very fitting, curbing Monroe’s sexuality so the viewer can focus on her acting and on the witty and intelligent delivery of her lines. If her clothes and lipstick had been colorized in bright red Technicolor, the effect would’ve been too distracting and the viewer wouldn’t have taken her as seriously. The black and white in Mildred Pierce perfectly captures the bleakness of the film and sets a tone of danger and uncertainty—that anything could happen. There is also a sharper contrast between high-key and low-key lighting, which makes the transition from light to dark all the more disturbing, illustrating that it doesn’t take long for circumstances to go awry and for people to turn on one another.
Both of the leads in each of the films aren’t very bright when it comes to choosing men. Sugar consistently makes the same mistake of dating saxophone players who use her and take all of her money. Mildred makes the same mistake. The only difference is the men aren’t saxophone players. Monte takes her money and sells half of her business to Wally, who accepts this other half so he won’t go broke.
In this regard, Mildred represents the castrating woman who usurps masculine power and must be punished or returned to femininity, thus reflecting a backlash against professional women coincident with the return of American GIs after the war and need to reassert masculine authority in the workplace after the unprecedented wartime employment of women (Robertson 1996, 89).
In this sense, Mildred is the man-hating female who challenges the patriarchal structure and ideals of the workforce. Because she is successful, perhaps more successful than any male restaurant owner, is the reason she is put back in her place and her business is grabbed out from under her. Women are not allowed to achieve more than men and when they do, they must be punished for posing a threat to their masculinity. Sadly, this illustrates how short-lived a woman’s success can be.
Essentially, Mildred and Sugar both symbolize the scorned woman who is pushed aside and replaced with someone more exciting, new, and preferably younger. For example, Mildred is rejected by Monte and replaced by her more youthful daughter, Veda. Such an idea is further conveyed by the author in the following statement: “If the woman is accepted in her environment through her work, morally, she is still more or less rejected. What we have here is the residue of an outworn morality, dictated by the rich and idle society, stigmatized and swept away by the morality of these films (Gledhill 1987, 92).
The fact that Mildred Pierce is a woman’s film is not only an illusion, but it’s a paradox as well. Because the film does not belong to our female lead and solely to her, she is the fallen independent heroine as she walks off into the sunset with her first husband. Such an ending indicates that a man ensures a happy ending. Without a man, a woman’s life is hopeless and meaningless, with very little prospects for the future. Had our female lead had more faith in herself and in her capabilities and wasn’t so indecisive, being able to consistently adhere to the decisions she made, the film’s strengths wouldn’t have been diminished by the happy ending. This is further elaborated upon by Gledhill. “The affirmative tendency seems to have been restricted to the conventional happy ending. The domestic melodrama could only lapse into an ironic form because it lacked the power of self-determination and the ability to transform society through individual action and a structure of conflict built on a system of black and white values” (276).
In conclusion, Some Like it Hot proves that sometimes a society functions more effectively when the woman is the passive female and the duty to challenge the beliefs of a patriarchal society are challenged by their own male spectators. Because the forties and fifties were a time when women were viewed as a threat to the patriarchal norms of society, in being members of such a society, men were seen as less threatening, even if they challenged the beliefs more radically than their female counterparts. They were in a position of advantage to get away with it more easily. Because the film upholds such a belief, in Sugar, not only does Joseph find his equal, but so does Gerald. In Mildred Pierce, our active female lead tries to find her equal in the patriarchy, but gets crushed by it instead, and instead of continuing to fight and challenge its beliefs, she gives in to such a society, ironically ending up to be an even more passive female than Sugar, thus representing the absolute fallen and tainted female heroine.
Works Cited
Gledhill, Christine. 1987. Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and the Woman’s Film. London: British Film Institute.
Mast, Gerald and Bruce Kawin. 1996. A Short History of the Movies. New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Robertson, Pamela. 1996. Guilty Pleasures: Feminist Camp from Mae West to Madonna. London: Duke University Press.
Welsch, Janice. 1992. Film Archetypes: Sisters, Mistresses, Mothers, and Daughters. New York: Arno Press.
This was my second to last paper for Dorothy Roome’s (a great professor!) Women in Film class at Towson University in 1999. Since then, I would like to think that I’ve become a better writer and am more well-rested. Moreover, the MLA style guide has changed over the years as well. So I’ve made some necessary revisions.
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