New to Billy Wilder? Watch These Four Films by Jill Blake
Billy Wilder is, without a doubt, one of the greatest filmmakers of all-time. Born in Austria, Wilder got his start as a reporter, then later as a screenwriter after a move to Berlin. Unfortunately, Germany was in a period of great political uncertainty as the Nazi party and its leader, Adolf Hitler, were ascending into power. Being of Jewish descent, Wilder fled to Paris, eventually emigrating to the United States. Wilder worked as a screenwriter, forming a partnership with fellow writer Charles Brackett. The two worked on several films together, including BLUEBEARD’S EIGHTH WIFE (’38) and NINOTCHKA (’39), both directed by Ernst Lubitsch; Howard Hawks’s BALL OF FIRE (’41); and THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (’42), which was Wilder’s directorial debut. Over the next 40 years, Wilder wrote and directed 25 feature-length films, including DOUBLE INDEMNITY (’44), SUNSET BOULEVARD (’50), THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (’55), SOME LIKE IT HOT (’59) and THE APARTMENT (’60). FilmStruck has programmed an eclectic and comprehensive collection of Wilder’s directorial efforts from some of his most popular, critically-acclaimed works to his lesser-known and more controversial output, as well as the excellent documentary BILLY WILDER SPEAKS (2006).
Are you new to Billy Wilder’s filmography and unsure exactly where to begin? Here’s my Wilder Watchlist (my #FilmStruck4: Billy Wilder Edition, if you will) to help you get started:
SOME LIKE IT HOT (’59)—Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon
SOME LIKE IT HOT is one of my go-to films for not only introducing Wilder, but classic film in general. Considered by many to be the funniest movie of all-time, SOME LIKE IT HOT has it all: witty, subversive comedy; sex appeal; incredible costuming; and a delightful story. Everything works perfectly in this film, from Jack Lemmon’s tango with Joe E. Brown to Tony Curtis’s exaggerated impersonation of Cary Grant to Marilyn Monroe’s irresistible performance of “I Wanna Be Loved by You” while wearing a dress that leaves very little to the imagination. SOME LIKE IT HOT is a comedy masterpiece.
SUNSET BOULEVARD (’50)—Starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden
SUNSET BOULEVARD is quite possibly the greatest film ever made about Hollywood. Wilder was not only a master of comedy, but he also explored the dark and cynical side of human nature. In this film, he juxtaposes that dark side with the cutthroat Hollywood studio system. Wilder carefully treads the line with his criticism of Hollywood and its fickle, unforgiving expectations of its stars; it’s equal parts love letter and ruthless condemnation. For the film’s lead, Wilder cast silent film star Gloria Swanson as the faded and reclusive starlet Norma Desmond in what was a major comeback for the actress. Wilder also featured cameos from other aging Hollywood actors past their prime, including Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson.
ACE IN THE HOLE (‘51)—Starring Kirk Douglas and Jan Sterling
Much like Elia Kazan’s A FACE IN THE CROWD (’57), ACE IN THE HOLE was far ahead of its time and is one of those films that has only become more relevant in recent years. Wilder takes full aim at the deplorable tactics of those who value ratings, wealth and power over journalistic integrity and basic human decency. In our current era of 24-hour news cycles and the fight for limited attention spans, ACE IN THE HOLE plays like a real-life story. And it’s absolutely terrifying. This film is Wilder at his most critical and subversive. And that’s saying something.
AVANTI! (’72)—Starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills
So, you’ve watched the three previous, critically-acclaimed films and would like to see one of Wilder’s deeper cuts. Look no further than AVANTI! Now, this isn’t considered one of Wilder’s best films and I’m likely in the minority in my unabashed love for it. But AVANTI! is truly special. It features Wilder’s trademark cynicism and unconventional romance, but on a more mature level. It’s funny and weird and deliberate in its storytelling. Its runtime is long, which is one of the main criticisms a lot of folks have about the film. But to me, no time is wasted. Wilder asks the audience to immerse themselves in the story, with all its quirky twists and turns, and in return we’re given a most satisfying and beautiful ending. AVANTI! is romantic, funny and bittersweet and an underrated gem in Wilder’s long and impressive career.
do you ever just want to gently place your hands on someones cheeks and hold their head there in your hands and looking into their eyes and then violently jerk their head on a right angle and snap their neck
I went to high school with a kid who would only drink out of a baby bottle. He brought a large baby bottle to school every day. At first, we thought that he was using it to sneak alcohol or something, but he wasn’t. He would bring it filled with chocolate milk and then fill it up with Coca-Cola and Sprite during lunch. He’d buy a can of each and mix them together. Like I said, it was a large bottle.
I didn’t know the kid that well and I didn’t have any classes with him so I never really talked to him that much. I knew his name. His name was Kevin. Sometimes I’d see him at parties on the weekends. He still had his baby bottle. He would fill it with beer and rum.
He dated my sister’s friend, Emily, for a little while. I had known Emily for a long time. She had been a friend of my sister’s since they were five or six. They were really good friends. She spent a lot of time at our house for sleepovers and stuff. Sometimes she would pee the bed, but I never made fun of her for it. I think most older brothers would have loved the opportunity to make fun of their sister’s friend for peeing the bed and I think she really appreciated that I never mentioned it even though I definitely knew about it because after the sixth or seventh time, my parents started paying me to clean everything up instead of having to do it themselves.
I asked Emily why Kevin only ever drank out of a baby bottle and she said that she didn’t know. They had only been dating for a very short time at that point and she didn’t want to bring it up and offend him or anything. I asked her to tell me if she ever found out. They broke up right after that and I kind of forgot about it because Kevin stopped going to school. I don’t know if he transferred or dropped out, but I never saw him at lunch or any parties after that.
I hadn’t thought about him in a long time, but Emily happened to mention him while she was over at our house recently and I immediately remembered the baby bottle thing.
“Did you ever find out why he drank out of that bottle?” I asked.
“Oh yeah, he told me why,” Emily said. “He used it because he heard that babies that drink out of bottles for too long or drink sweet drinks out of them get really bad teeth problems. He wanted all of his teeth to go bad so that they would fall out and he would be able to fit a softball in his mouth. He said that he wanted to have the world record for being the first person to be able to put a whole softball in his mouth and he wouldn’t be able to do that with all of those teeth in the way.”
A group of rough looking boys walked past me today and all I heard of their conversation was “he’s got that anxiety disorder bro so I went with him so he’d be more comfortable” and it made me realise the world isn’t all that bad
The pet store I worked at had a pen with rabbits near the front door. On every side of the pen were huge signs saying “You can pet me, but don’t pick me up!” One day two absolutely huge guys came in and one immediately reaches into the pen to grab a rabbit. Before i could say anything his friend grabbed his arm and asked him “did you see the sign?” He said “yeah! it says that you can pick them up but don’t pet them!” Then he went quiet for a moment and softly said “I didn’t read it right did I?” And his friend just puts his arm on his shoulder and said “its ok, i know you’ve got that thing where words get mixed up. Let just pet these cute lil shits” And I still haven’t gotten over that interaction.
I was walking my dog through Boston bc he likes the likes car rides. He’s a little thing tbh we call him short and long. So this huge scary man with a full beard approaches me like “hey can my buddy and I pet your dog? He gets nervous around dogs but your’s is so small I think it’s a good place to start.” Ofc I was like “yes he’s very friendly!” So this guy brings his equally big friend over and they sit on the floor while this man looks terrified of my tiny dog so big man number one asks “can I pick him up?” And i say yes so he picks him up and puts him on man number two’s lap and man number two is abt to freak out and his friend straight up just goes “hey man, it’s okay just relax I’d never let anything hurt you. He’s a good boy.” I’ll never forget it ever bc I know that man looked at me (5'3 , glasses, probably wearing a sweater vest) and my dog (kinda goofy looking little thing) and was like ‘ah yes the two least intimidating living things I’ve seen in Boston all day he’ll feel relaxed around them’ and went out of his way to help his friend. It makes me so happy
