(peter bogdonavich) tony curtis is doing cary grant.ing an extreme version of marilyn. and jack lemmon's doing a woman. i mean, it, it's off into a kind of farce. (music playing) (ed sikov) oftentimes, drag comedy begins and ends with the image of a man in a woman's dress. this representation moves into something a lot deeper. osgood fielding the third. cinderella the second. bye-bye. (ed sikov) they end up getting harassed. you don't get off that easy! (ed sikov) they get pinched. all right, driver, once around the park, slowly, and keep your eyes on the road. (ed sikov) and it teaches them something. none of that, sugar. no guy's worth it. (ed sikov) and it makes them more human. billy wilder was pushing the limits of the code. but his sympathy is really with the decadent characters. (tango music playing) ole! he got away with that because his movies were so much fun. (susan seidelman) they worked on two different levels: you could laugh at all the characters' misadventures, for ten years i've been living with a saxophone player! (sus

(peter bogdonavich) the women, by and large, were the brighter of the two.ant that the women in the 30's had the top billing. (molly haskell) the women give as good as they get in these. they're active, and they're authoritative, or they're wild, or they're uninhibited. (whistling) don't you shush me! you've been shushing me for twenty-two months now. you' shushed your last shush! the women in these films are very strong, and they have a way of taking control of the situation, using men for their own uses, for their own pleasures. (ed sikov) barbara stanwyck, in "the lady eve," takes henry fonda for a ride. somebody breathing heavily and then ... (ed sikov) she enjoys watching m suer at her hands. ohh... ohhhh... you better go to bed, hopsy. i can sleep peacefully now. i wish i could say the same. why, hopsy! (narrator) ironically, it may have been the industry's censorship code that was at the heart of what made screwball comedies so clever, subtle, and even sexy. (announcer) hays enforcement officer, joel breem has done the difficult job of making sure no

(peter bogdonavich) the women, by and large, were the brighter of the two.icant that the women in the 30's had the top billing. (molly haskell) the women give as good as they get in these. they're active, and they're authoritative, or they're wild, or they're uninhibited. (whistling) don't you shush me! you've been shushing me for twenty-two months now. you've shushed your last shush! the women in these films are very strong, and they have a way of taking control of the situaon, using men for their n uses,for . (ed sikov) barbara stanwyck, in "thlady eve," takes henry fonda for a ride. somebody breathing heavily and then ... (ed sikov) she enjoys watching m suffer at her hands. ohh... ohhhh... you better go to bed, hopsy. i can sleep peacefully now. i wish i could say the same. why, hopsy! (narrator) ironically, it may have been the industry's censorship code that was at the heart of what made screwball comedies so clever, subtle, and even sexy. (announcer) hays enforcement officer, joel breem has done the difficult job of making sure no picture offensive to