DURING the climax of Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, we find our two protagonists, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), hiding underneath a table. Above them, a room full of gangsters gather to celebrate “Italian Opera” and resolve a long-standing dispute. Naturally, tensions are running high for our two protagonists due to the situation, but the construction of the scene itself lends the most to the atmosphere.
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The following scene analysis contains spoilers for Some Like It Hot (1959).
Back beneath the table, Wilder packs the frame tightly, producing a sense of claustrophobia and anxiety. A pole runs in front of our view of Joe, a tablecloth takes up a quarter of the frame on either side, and Wilder films both Joe and Jerry with a medium close-up shot. But perhaps most importantly, Spats’ trademark shoes reside on the left-hand side of the frame, just behind Joe and slightly out of focus, but prominent enough to remind us of the danger of the situation.
The film routinely introduces the primary antagonist, Spats Colombo (George Raft), with a close-up shot of his distinct shoes. The film then either cuts to his face or employs an upward pan (tilt) to reveal the entirety of the menacing man. This process of association takes place repeatedly throughout Some Like It Hot. So by the time Joe and Jerry find themselves underneath the table, the audience understands the dramatic weight of the shoes sharing the frame. Tensions peak when all of these elements come together for a brief few seconds, and then momentarily dissipate when the unmistakable shoes slide out and go limp for the last time. That is, until we and our protagonists realize an even larger threat just effortlessly inserted himself into the chase.
