We rate Tony Curtis most highly when his characters are thinking quickly under pressure. His comic self-control rewards close attention, and Some Like It Hot gives it the company and the material it deserves.
Fi1m perspective
In Some Like It Hot (1959), Tony Curtis treats becoming Josephine as a practical problem. His Joe calculates quickly, keeps his movements under control and leaves Jack Lemmon’s Jerry to make the more conspicuous adjustments as Daphne. We laughed when Lemmon’s delight began to overtake his caution, and Curtis’s composure made that agitation funnier. It is generous comic acting, and Billy Wilder gives him a partner whose busyness makes his own restraint worth watching.
The early leading roles in swashbucklers offered less to occupy him beyond looking the part. Trapeze (1956) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957) brought greater critical attention, with the latter casting him opposite Burt Lancaster as press agent Sidney Falco. Falco’s ambition gives Curtis’s streetwise energy a less agreeable use. The Defiant Ones (1958) then provided another demanding dramatic part, before Wilder’s comedy made such good use of his timing.
Wilder’s film also shows how much this sort of performance needs from the people around it. Orry-Kelly’s dresses turn walking into part of the comedy, but Curtis’s self-control and Lemmon’s busier movements ensure that the clothes do not supply every laugh. Cinematographer Charles Lang lets us study their faces, giving particular attention to the small changes in Marilyn Monroe’s expression as Sugar. These are good conditions for an actor who does not need to underline every adjustment. The gangster passages are the caveat: they occasionally interrupt the exchanges among the three leads, just when we would rather stay with them.
Curtis later moved through more comedies and into supporting and character parts, with less consistency in the material. The Boston Strangler (1968), in which he plays Albert DeSalvo, offers a sinister change from the comic impersonations. The routine work in his later career gives us less reason to follow him through every credit, but that darker performance deserves attention alongside Josephine. Begin with Some Like It Hot, then try Sweet Smell of Success for a less comfortable evening.
Biography
Tony Curtis was an American actor. Born Bernard Herschel Schwartz on 3 June 1925 in the Bronx, New York, he died on 29 September 2010 in Henderson, Nevada.
He appeared in more than 100 films over six decades. His credits include Some Like It Hot (1959) as Joe/Josephine, Sweet Smell of Success (1957) as Sidney Falco, The Defiant Ones (1958), Spartacus (1960) as Antoninus, and Operation Petticoat (1959). He also had roles in television series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Roseanne.
