Cross dressing was fairly common in films before "Some Like It Hot".
I have a Wheeler and Woosley comedy on laserdisk from the early 30's
called "Peach O Reno" that has one of the duo in drag for most of the
film.  You can also point to several Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, and
even Keaton silent comedies.  You might also want to look at "The
Devil Doll", an early 30's thriller with Lionel Barrymore, who plays
a wrongly accused murderer that seeks revenge and hides his identity
by cross dressing as an old doll maker for most of the film.  Of
course, there's the bit with Cary Grant in "Bringing Up Baby" and,
more significantly, "I Was A Male War Bride".
 
In short, cross dressing was a fairly common gag in film and
vaudeville long before Patrick Swayze and company did it in "To Wong
Foo" or even 1959's "Some Like It Hot".  Remember that Ed Wood was
actually a cross-dresser and "Glen or Glenda" was his attempt (if
that's the right word) to treat the subject seriously.  (In all
respects, "Glen or Glenda" is in a much different league than any of
these other films).
 
You can look at Vito Russo's "Celluloid Closet" book for many more
examples; however, I don't recommend his book for any insights on the
films he covers or even completeness on his part, unfortunately.
 
It's much more difficult to find films of women cross-dressing as
men, even for comedy purposes.
 
Randy
 
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Randy A. Riddle, Winston-Salem, NC
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