Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002)
Billy Wilder was probably the greatest of the directors who graduated
from writing in the early Forties, others included John Huston and
Preston Sturges. Wilder's wisecracking dialogue in his comedies recalls
Sturges but he made some great serious films too.
A Jew Wilder fled to Paris when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. In
the US he joined with Charles Brackett to co-script Ninotchka (1939)
one of his idol Ernst Lubitsch's greatest films. The team for to stay
together when Wilder started directing films with the light comedy The
Major and the Minor (1942) with Ginger Rogers. This was followed by the
war melodrama Five Graves to Cairo (1943) which unusual for the time
included a reasonably human portrayal of Rommel by Erich Von Stroheim.
The success of these films meant the team had considerable control over
future projects.
The brilliant Double Indemnity (1944) was next, the epitome of film
noir. The Lost Weekend (1945) a harsh account of alcoholism frowned on
by the front office won four Academy Awards : Best Picture, Director,
Screenplay and Actor (Ray Milland). The rest of the Forties was perhaps
inevitably a bit disappointing but Wilder was back in form with the
devastating portrait of Hollywood which is Sunset Boulevard (1950).
Sadly though this movie ended the partnership between Wilder and
Brackett. From 1957 he worked with I.AL. Diamond on the scenarios.
Wilder's 1950s movies included some reasonable though not outstanding
comedies Sabrina (1954) and The Seven Year Itch (1956). His dramatic
movies from this period like Stalag 17 (1953) and Witness for the
Prosecution (1957) are probably better. Some Like It Hot (1959) though
provided Wilder with one of his biggest successes and probably his best
comedy, coaxing a fine performance from Marilyn Monroe. Another stand
out in the film was Jack Lemmon who became a Wilder favourite in his
comedies of the Sixties beginning with The Apartment (1960), an
excellent film it won the Best Picture Oscar and was Billy Wilder's
last major popular and critical success. The best of his later films is
probably The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970).
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
Copyright © The Fedora Chronicles
Billy Wilder image from
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