Otto's Accent

Haven't seen Some Like it Hot, but I thought Anthony Quayle's accent was the funniest thing I've ever heard. He didn't seem to have a clue what he was doing and it seemed to change with every word. I was hysterical with laughter almost every time he opened his mouth. Didn't he know how ridiculous he sounded? In spite of it all, though, I absolutely loved his character.

It was (admittedly) about as convincing as James Coburn's Aussie accent in 'The Great Escape'. I would venture a guess that in both cases, the accent grinds on the ears of those to whom the accent is the mother tongue. That said, what is the alternative? I dare say it would have been worse had they made no attempt at all, and spoken with their own accent. The other option would be to find an actor who was South African, who would have had similar box office draw potential. Same deal with replacing Coburn. Just not likely to have happened.

I'd also make the case that a South African accent is about as difficult as it might get in terms of perfecting. I dare say that an English or American accent (if for no other reason that there are _so many_ varied accents across the UK and the USA that some leeway might be given, far more so than the accent *(and I do note there is variance in how people from different parts of SA talk, just not as much). All in all, a hard task, and I'd place a higher priority on conveying the emotion and context of any of the dialogue over a perfect accent. There'd be nothing more pointless than a perfect accent but robot like acting and depth.


In the end, it's a fantastic movie, that relied on a decent story and strong performances over any special effects or other stuff that serve merely to distract from a subpar script. Nope, it's a good yarn, and I'll happily allow a little lattitude as far as accents go in order to see such a good story told so well.

I haven't seen this film for a few years now and so I may be mistaken. Was not Otto revealed toward the end of the film as a German? If this were the case, his 'not quite perfect' accent could be just right. Prior to the days of saturated media coverage from across the globe, it is just possible that it was close enough to a perceived South African accent to be accepted.
Even at the time of the film's release, audiences were much less able to discern the range of accents that we take for granted and, indeed, mock when they are poorly done!
If Anthony Quayle's accent made you laugh, you really should try 'How Green was My Valley'. Great film, but those Welsh accents are something else!

Strange, I thought he did a pretty good job!

I was amazed by the Dutch accent, especially saying the word "tracks" properly..

Several times, yes! Him or Cary Grant, who of course was the person Curtis was impersonating.