Chapter 11 of 19 · 2'08"
Jerry, dressed as Daphne, has just been groped in the elevator and decides he is done. Wearing a skirt, he says, is "like waving a red flag in front of a bull" — and he is tired of being the flag. Joe refuses to leave: they are broke and on the run, and Jerry suspects Joe is stalling for Sugar.
Jerry Is Sick of the Disguise
Jerry Accuses Joe Over Sugar
❝ Monologue · 6 lines Osgood loses his things
He piles loss on loss without losing his dignity, which is what makes it funny.
In their Miami hotel room, Jerry, still posing as Daphne, complains that he was groped in the elevator and says he is sick of the disguise. He wants to quit the band and try a male one, but Joe refuses: they are broke, and Spats's men are searching every male band for them. Jerry accuses Joe of staying because of Sugar.
The scene turns the film's central joke into an argument about freedom. Jerry is the one who volunteered for the disguise, and now he is the one who cannot stand it: being a woman means being "pinched in the elevator" and treated as fair game. His image — "like waving a red flag in front of a bull" — captures both the harassment and his own regret. Joe's answer is the practical one: they cannot leave, because "Spats Colombo and his chums are looking for us in every male band in the country." The comedic twist is that Joe also has a personal reason to stay, and Jerry calls it out: "I know why you want to stay here. You're after Sugar." The scene sets up the split between the two friends — one chasing love, one chasing safety — that drives the rest of the film.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“- It's like waving a red flag in front of a bull. - Really? Well, I'm sick of being the flag.”
The answer flips a proverb around and hands the joke back to the speaker.
Informal
“Would you rather be picking lead out of your navel?”
One absurdly grim image silences the complaint better than any argument.
Informal
“Well, I'm your fairy godmother, and I'm gonna keep an eye on you.”
Dressing surveillance up as a fairy godmother makes the threat both warm and funny.
Informal
“I want to be a bull again. What do you say? Let's get outta here. Let's blow.”
It catches the earlier metaphor and turns it into a call to bolt.
Informal
“They don't care, just so long as you're wearing a skirt.”
One flat clause exposes a double standard without raising its voice.
Informal
You girls seen a brown bag with a white stripe and my initials? - A what? - My suitcase with all my resort clothes. - No, we haven't. - Can't understand it. First my glasses disappear, then one of my suitcases. - Where's my ukulele? - Now a ukulele. There must be a sneak thief around here.
Up next · 12for a larkThe scene: Sugar Meets the Man in GlassesHe is tired of being a woman. After being groped in the elevator he decides the disguise is humiliating and wants to find a male band, even though Joe argues it is too dangerous.
Partly because they are broke, and partly because Spats Colombo's men are searching every male band for the witnesses to the garage killing. With no money and no safe place to hide, staying in the all-girl band is the only option.
Jerry thinks so. He says he saw the two of them 'all lovey-dovey' and borrowing lipstick, and he accuses Joe of wanting to stay because of her, though Joe insists they are 'just like sisters.'
It is old slang for "what's your problem?" or "what are you complaining about?" Joe uses it when Jerry keeps grumbling about their situation.
