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Happy Birthday, Billy Wilder, Director of “Some Like It Hot” and “Sunset Boulevard”
June 22, 2009
Billy Wilder arrived in Hollywood in 1934 with $11 in his pocket, making his rise to fame as a producer, director and screenwriter of Hollywood’s golden age all the more like a fairy tale. In films like “Some Like It Hot” and “Sunset Boulevard,” he turned the camera lens on the vanity, temptation and zaniness of American life.
Early Days
Born in 1906, Wilder grew up in Vienna watching Hollywood adventures, westerns and comedies, but left Austria for the thriving Berlin film scene in 1927. There he honed his writing skills by working as a newspaper reporter and script ghostwriter, nudging his way into the Berlin film community. To escape the Nazis, Wilder made a quick exit from Berlin to Paris in 1933; less than a year later, he boarded a boat bound for New York. Before long, he was in Hollywood, living at the famous hotel, Chateau Marmont.
While in Paris, Wilder got his first shot at directing with “Mauvaise Graine” (Bad Seed), which told of the deteriorating morals of a rich young man. At the same time, Wilder was sending his scripts and film ideas to Hollywood, hoping for a break. In 1934, he finally got an invitation to adapt one of his stories, prompting his boat trip across the Atlantic.
While in Paris, Wilder got his first shot at directing with “Mauvaise Graine” (Bad Seed), which told of the deteriorating morals of a rich young man. At the same time, Wilder was sending his scripts and film ideas to Hollywood, hoping for a break. In 1934, he finally got an invitation to adapt one of his stories, prompting his boat trip across the Atlantic.
Notable Accomplishments
“Double Indemnity” was Wilder's first major success, and served as a prototype for film noirs to come. Adapted from James M. Cain's novella of the same title, the film concerns a plot by a married woman (Barbara Stanwyck) to murder her husband, with the help of her lover (Fred MacMurray), in order to pick up a lucrative insurance return. John Seitz's cinematography captures a stark mise en scène of light and shadow, suggesting an interweaving of the moral and immoral: “The hero is not a criminal,” writes critic Roger Ebert of the film, “but a weak man who is tempted and succumbs.”
Wilder's “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) is a sharp, sinister portrait of Hollywood in decay. Gloria Swanson plays the infamous Norma Desmond—the faded film star—with disillusioned narcissism. Luckless screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) agrees to work with Desmond on the script that will spark her “comeback,” but the gig quickly descends into a Faustian pact. Watch the film's famous final scene, courtesy of YouTube. “Sunset Boulevard” was also made into a musical on Broadway and in London, illustrating the boundless adaptability of Wilder’s work.
When “Some Like It Hot” was released, A.H. Weiler wrote in The New York Times that “[a] viewer might question the taste of a few of the lines, situations and the prolonged masquerade, but Mr. Wilder and his associates generally make their points with explosive effect.” The 1959 film is, at its core, about competing desires: two musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) disguise themselves as women while on the run from mobsters, but the charade evolves into an agonizing form of deceit when the two become infatuated with the voluptuous Suger (Marilyn Monroe). “Some Like It Hot” is widely regarded as one of the greatest film comedies.
Over the course of his career, Wilder won seven Academy Awards: three for screenwriting, two for directing, a Best Picture award, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. “The Apartment,” cowritten and produced by Wilder, earned three Academy awards in 1960.
Wilder's “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) is a sharp, sinister portrait of Hollywood in decay. Gloria Swanson plays the infamous Norma Desmond—the faded film star—with disillusioned narcissism. Luckless screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) agrees to work with Desmond on the script that will spark her “comeback,” but the gig quickly descends into a Faustian pact. Watch the film's famous final scene, courtesy of YouTube. “Sunset Boulevard” was also made into a musical on Broadway and in London, illustrating the boundless adaptability of Wilder’s work.
When “Some Like It Hot” was released, A.H. Weiler wrote in The New York Times that “[a] viewer might question the taste of a few of the lines, situations and the prolonged masquerade, but Mr. Wilder and his associates generally make their points with explosive effect.” The 1959 film is, at its core, about competing desires: two musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) disguise themselves as women while on the run from mobsters, but the charade evolves into an agonizing form of deceit when the two become infatuated with the voluptuous Suger (Marilyn Monroe). “Some Like It Hot” is widely regarded as one of the greatest film comedies.
Over the course of his career, Wilder won seven Academy Awards: three for screenwriting, two for directing, a Best Picture award, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. “The Apartment,” cowritten and produced by Wilder, earned three Academy awards in 1960.
The Rest of the Story
Wilder won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute (AFI) in 1986. The AFI called his films “daringly varied.”
He died on March 28, 2002, at the age of 95.
Over the course of his six-decade career, Wilder directed, produced or wrote 69 films. One of the outspoken Wilder’s more memorable quotations relayed his 10 commandments of filmmaking: “The first nine are, thou shalt not bore. The tenth is, thou shalt have the right of final cut.”
He died on March 28, 2002, at the age of 95.
Over the course of his six-decade career, Wilder directed, produced or wrote 69 films. One of the outspoken Wilder’s more memorable quotations relayed his 10 commandments of filmmaking: “The first nine are, thou shalt not bore. The tenth is, thou shalt have the right of final cut.”
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
