Some Like it Hot
ESL 251 -- Himes
Characters – in order of appearance
 George E. Stone as "Toothpick" Charlie – a gangster from Chicago. Spats’ rival.
 Pat O'Brien as Detective Mulligan – A police sergeant who is chasing Spats
Colombo
 George Raft as "Spats" Colombo – a gangster from Chicago. He buys and sells
illegal alcohol during Prohibition. Spats is based on real-life gangster Al Capone.
George raft was famous for playing gangster in movies such as Scarface (1932)
 Tony Curtis as Joe/"Josephine"/"Junior" – a poor saxophone player, a gambler, a
womanizer, and sometimes a liar. Jerry’s best friend.
 Jack Lemmon as Jerry/"Geraldine"/"Daphne" – a poor string bass player and Joe’s
best friend. Jerry is the more reasonable and honest of the two friends. This character
is more of the clown while Joe is the straight man.
 Billy Gray as Sig Poliakoff – an agent who finds musicians for various bands.
 Joan Shawlee as Sweet Sue – the leader of an all lady jazz band which is traveling to
Florida.
 Dave Barry as Beinstock – Sweet Sue’s assistant
 Marilyn Monroe as "Sugar" Kane Kowalczyk – a beautiful singer who always picks
the wrong men. She plans to avoid this problem in the future by meeting and marrying
a millionaire while in Florida.
 Joe E. Brown as Osgood Fielding III – A millionaire. He has been married multiple
times and now finds himself attracted to Daphne.
 Nehemiah Persoff as "Little Bonaparte" – a national crime boss. This character is
based on Edward G. Robinson in the famous gangster movie Little Ceasar (1930).
To be on the wagon – idiom – to no longer drinking alcohol
The police chief is trying to get into the wake and the man at the desk asks him
why they haven’t seen him before. The police chief responds, “I’ve been on the
wagon.”
If you have got to go – slang – if you must die
“If you’ve gotta go, that’s the way to do it.”
Booze – slang – alcoholic beverages, especially hard liquor
Hearse – a car for carrying coffins and dead bodies
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Funeral – the ceremony held after a person dies
Wake – the watch over a body of a dead person before it is buried, sometimes
accompanied by feasting and partying
Speak easy – a secret, illegal club where people could buy and drink alcohol during
prohibition
A shoo-in/shoe-in – slang – a horse racing term for a prearranged win.
Jerry: “You’re going to bet my money on a dog?”
Joe: “He is a shoo-in. I got it from Max the waiter. His brother-in-law is the electrician
who wires the rabbit.”
A sure thing – idiom – something that is sure, something that will definitely happen
Jerry: “You are not going to put my overcoat on a dog!”
Joe: “Look Jerry, I told you it is a sure thing!”
To want someone’s head on a plate/platter –
Jerry to Joe: “What do you want from me, my head on a plate?”
To be up the creek without a paddle – idiom –
Jerry: “We are up the creek and you want to hock the paddle!”
To have a lot of nerve – idiom – to be stupid and brave at the same time
Nellie to Joe: “You’ve got a lot of nerve!”
To be a heel – to be a selfish, careless person
Joe: “Now Nellie Baby, if it’s about Saturday night, I can explain!”
Nellie: “What a heel! I spend four dollars to get my hair marcelled, I buy me a brand new
negligee, I bake him a great big pizza pie, and where were you?”
To make it up to someone – to compensate or provide restitution for something
After Joe didn’t show up for a date with Nelly, Joe says to her: “I’ll make it up to
you.”
To make something up – colloquial – to create a fictional story
Nelly says to Joe: “You’re making it up pretty good!”
To run off with – colloquial – to leave with, to go away with a lover
Sweet Sue says: “Idiot broads…. The saxophone runs off with a bible sales man”
To flip one’s wig – idiom/slang – to go crazy or insane
Joe to Jerry: “You have flipped your wig
To bump someone off – (idiom/slang) to kill someone
Jerry says to Spats, “It’s none of our business if you want to bump each other
off!”
Conservatory – a school for fine and dramatic arts, especially music.
Joe and Jerry tell Sweet Sue they went to a conservatory.
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Corset – a type of women’s undergarment designed to pull in the waist and hips.
Once on the train with the band, a band member tells ‘Daphne’ to take off her
corset and spread out.
To be blue – (slang) to be sad
Sugar says she drinks when she is “blue”.
Get kicked out of – colloquial – be told one must leave
Flask – a small portable bottle for holding hard liquor
Rain check – colloquial – a deferral or a postponement of acceptance to an offer,
usually to an unspecified time.
Sugar asks if Josephine and Daphne would like a drink. Daphne says, “I’ll take a
rain check.”
Conductor – 1. One who leads an orchestra or band 2. A person who checks and
controls train passengers’ tickets.
Sugar: “I come from a musical family. My mother was a piano teacher and my
father was a conductor.”
Josephine: “Where did he conduct?”
Sugar: “On the Baltimore and Ohio.”
I’ll say! – idiom – an enthusiastic agreement or confirmation
Sugar: “Are my seems straight?” Daphne: “I’ll say!”
Time off for good behavior – This is typically used to describe when a prisoner gets
out of jail early because he or she behaved well.
Sweet Sue catches Joe and Jerry in an inconsistency about how long they
studied at a conservatory. Joe tells her they got time off for good behavior.
To put up with – to tolerate
Sweet sue says she will not put up with drinking and men.
The last straw – idiom – (The straw that broke the camel’s back) the final of many small
things that finally changes something, often related to making someone angry.
Sugar drops her flask. Bienstock says, “Sugar, this is the last straw.”
Ulcer- a painful stomach ailment
Sleep tight! – idiom – Sleep well!
Get a load of – slang – look at
Rhythm section – in a band, the percussion instruments, bass and piano, which set the
rhythm for the band
Daphne: “Get a load of that rhythm section”
Search me – idiom/colloquial – I don’t know
Daphne pulled the emergency break. Sugar: “What happened?” Joe: “Search
me!”
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Cinderella – folk story – A poor girl who
I’m Osgood felding the third.
I’m Cinderella the second!
To bark up the wrong tree – idiom – To search for something in the wrong place
Osgood Feilding is showing interest in Daphne. He says he is supposed to be deep sea
fishing in Florida instead of chasing women. Daphne then says: “Mr. Feilding you are
barking up the wrong (fish).
Take a crack at something – idiom – to try to do something
Sugar: “Could I take another crack at it?”
I’m afraid not – a softer way to say no
Shell Oil: “I’m afraid not. I’m terribly sorry.”
To lead (while dancing) – to decide the steps and moves while dancing, push and pull
one’s dance partner around
Osgood: “Daphne, you’re leading again.”
To be on the right track – idiom – to be almost right or almost successful: also to be
“headed in the right direction”
Shell Oil: “I think you’re on the right track.”
Kaput – slang – the German and Yiddish word for broken
Shell Oil: “They told me I was kaput.”
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