‘Sunset Boulevard’: Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett’s Sobering Exposure of the Dark Side of Hollywood
You will not find in my pictures any phony camera moves or fancy setups to prove that I am a moving-picture director. My characters…
Billy Wilder
‘Billy, How Did You Do It?’: A Unique and Rewarding Window into the Mind of One of Hollywood’s Greatest
The Austrian-born filmmaker who would become one of the most important figures of American cinema, Billy Wilder could have been proud of a rich career…
‘Double Indemnity’: A Mesmerizing Film Noir Conceived Out of a Troubled Relationship of Two Greats
Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity was made in 1944 and in the last seventy years it has stood on the pedestal as one of the best…
‘The Lost Weekend’ and the Maverick Decision to Tackle Alcoholism in a Mainstream Picture
They thought of things I wish I had thought of first—they were that good, commented Charles Jackson on Billy Wilder’s screen adaptation of his novel…
‘Love in the Afternoon’: Wilder’s Ode to Lubitsch in an Exquisite Romantic Comedy
The first of twelve screenplays written together by the great Billy Wilder and his dearest collaborator, screenwriter I. A. L. Diamond, the 1957 romantic comedy…
“The two most important words in movies today are ‘Billy Wilder’!”
Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity came out in 1944, the same year David O. Selznick released Since You Went Away. Part of the campaign for the…
Billy Wilder’s ‘The Apartment’ continues to hold a special place in our hearts and minds
It’s not a walk in the park to make a truly wonderful film and then do an equally entrancing follow-up. The pressure is sometimes hard…
Billy Wilder About Film Noir
Billy Wilder’s career stretches back to the late 1920s, when he collaborated on the scripts for several films made in Germany, including the classic semi-documentary…
Time never lies, and ‘Ace in the Hole’ is by no means a blank in Billy Wilder’s admirable arsenal
As it often goes with films ahead of their time, it took a while for Ace in the Hole to garner the respect it deserved….
“I wanted to do a comedy about Hollywood. God forgive me, look what became of that idea!”
The team of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett was one of the most successful pairings in Hollywood history: “Brackett and I used to share two…