Line #5 Creator/BillyWilder


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/billy_wilder.jpeg]]
2
3	->''"I'm a writer but then nobody's perfect."''
4	-->-- '''Billy Wilder's epitaph''', referencing ''Film/SomeLikeItHot''
5
6	Samuel "Billy" Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, and producer, regarded as one of the greatest and most versatile filmmakers of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.
7
8	He was born in Sucha, Galicia, now part of Poland, but at that time, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the early '30s, he worked as a screenwriter for German films under the name "Billie Wilder", but after [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] came to power, he emigrated to the United States because of his Jewish ancestry. He continued his career as a screenwriter there, further changing his name to "Billy Wilder". He directed his first American movie, ''Film/TheMajorAndTheMinor,'' in 1942, and followed it with a string of critical and commercial hits until the '60s. Wilder equally excelled in dark, cynical [[FilmNoir noir]] dramas and [[{{Satire}} satirical]] or lightly [[RomanticComedy romantic]] comedies. Always identifying as a writer first, he co-wrote all of his films and won six UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s: two for Best Director, three for Best Writing, and one for Best Picture.
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10	----
11	!Billy Wilder's More Important Films Include:
12
13	!!As writer only:
14
15	* ''Film/{{Midnight\|1939}}'' (1939) -- A ScrewballComedy retelling of Cinderella, with Creator/ClaudetteColbert, Don Ameche, Creator/JohnBarrymore, and Mary Astor. Directed by Creator/MitchellLeisen.
16	* ''Film/{{Ninotchka}}'' (1939) -- Romantic comedy about a love affair between a Soviet diplomat (Creator/GretaGarbo) and a French aristocrat; one of the first American films to portray the Soviet Union. Directed by Creator/ErnstLubitsch.
17	* ''Film/BallOfFire'' (1941) -- Screwball comedy about a mobster's girlfriend hiding from the law with an ObliviousToLove English professor. Directed by Creator/HowardHawks.
18	* ''Film/HoldBackTheDawn'' (1941) -- Romance about a CitizenshipMarriage. Directed by Creator/MitchellLeisen.
19
20	!!As writer/director:
21	[[index]]
22	* ''Film/BadSeed'' (1934) -- aka ''Mauvaise Graine''. A French film co-directed by Wilder, and his first directing credit. Made during Wilder's brief stay in France after fleeing the Nazis and before emigrating to America.
23	* ''Film/TheMajorAndTheMinor'' (1942) -- As noted, his directorial debut in America. Stars Creator/GingerRogers and Creator/RayMilland.
24	* ''Film/FiveGravesToCairo'' (1943) -- WWII spy thriller with a heavy dose of propaganda.
25	* ''Film/DoubleIndemnity'' (1944) -- The quintessential FilmNoir, starring Creator/FredMacMurray and Creator/BarbaraStanwyck. Co-written with Creator/RaymondChandler.
26	* ''Film/TheLostWeekend'' (1945) -- The first Hollywood movie that portrayed alcoholism dramatically, starring Creator/RayMilland. Won Best Picture.
27	* ''Film/AForeignAffair'' (1948) -- A RomanticComedy set in post-WWII Berlin, starring Creator/JeanArthur, and Creator/MarleneDietrich.
28	* ''Film/SunsetBoulevard'' (1950) -- A dark, cynical take on the film industry and fame, starring Creator/WilliamHolden and Creator/GloriaSwanson.
29	* ''Film/AceInTheHole1951'' (aka ''The Big Carnival'') -- A brutally cynical movie about journalism, starring Creator/KirkDouglas.
30	* ''Film/{{Stalag 17}}'' (1953) -- A comedy-drama about [=POW=]s in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, starring Creator/WilliamHolden.
31	* ''Film/{{Sabrina\|1954}}'' (1954) -- A light romantic comedy starring Creator/AudreyHepburn and Creator/HumphreyBogart.
32	* ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' (1955) -- A romantic comedy with Creator/MarilynMonroe, source of the [[MarilynManeuver iconic image]].
33	* ''Film/WitnessForTheProsecution'' (1957) - A courtroom drama starring Creator/CharlesLaughton and Creator/MarleneDietrich, based on Creator/AgathaChristie's play, famous for its TwistEnding.
34	* ''Film/LoveInTheAfternoon'' (1957) -- A romantic comedy with Creator/AudreyHepburn and Creator/GaryCooper. Wilder's first of eleven collaborations with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond.
35	* ''Film/SomeLikeItHot'' (1959) -- A classic comedy, again starring Creator/MarilynMonroe, with Creator/TonyCurtis and Creator/JackLemmon.
36	* ''Film/TheApartment'' (1960) -- A comedy-drama with Creator/JackLemmon and Creator/ShirleyMacLaine, about the then-scandalous subject of adultery. Won Best Picture.
37	* ''Film/OneTwoThree'' (1961) -- A comedy set in West Berlin, satirizing both communism and capitalism, starring Creator/JamesCagney.
38	* ''Film/IrmaLaDouce'' (1963) -- A romantic comedy set in France, featuring a classic "boy meets girl" scenario, except the girl (Creator/ShirleyMacLaine) is a prostitute, and the boy (Creator/JackLemmon) creates an alter ego to stop her from continuing prostituting herself, and gets arrested when he "kills off" the alter ego.
39	* ''Film/KissMeStupid'' (1964) -- A daring SexComedy starring Music/DeanMartin, who [[AdamWesting Adam Wests]] himself as a lecherous singer who gets stranded in a small town and tangles with a pair of amateur songwriters.
40	* ''Film/TheFortuneCookie'' (1966) -- A legal satire with Creator/JackLemmon as a somewhat reluctant fraud and Creator/WalterMatthau (AA Best Supporting Actor) as his opportunistic lawyer.
41	* ''Film/ThePrivateLifeOfSherlockHolmes'' (1970) -- A combination AffectionateParody and {{deconstruction}} of the Franchise/SherlockHolmes character.
42	* ''Film/{{Avanti}}'' (1972)
43	* ''Film/TheFrontPage'' (1974) -- TheRemake of the 1931 ScrewballComedy about newspaper reporters.
44	[[/index]]
45	----
46
47	!!Tropes associated with Billy Wilder's work include:
48	* CreatorInJoke: For some reason he liked the name Sheldrake, using it as the surname for the producer in ''Film/SunsetBoulevard'' (played by Fred Clark), the boss in ''Film/TheApartment'' (played by Creator/FredMacMurray), and the small-town dentist in ''Film/KissMeStupid'' (played by Creator/MelBlanc).
49	* DeadpanSnarker: He wrote these to perfection.
50	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Preferred shooting in black-and-white and continued to do so long after color became available, and then fashionable. The last black-and-white Best Picture winner before ''Film/SchindlersList'' was his own ''Film/TheApartment'', and his last black-and-white movie was released in 1966.
51	* GenreRoulette: Billy could go from light, breezy comedy to cold, cynical drama in an instant.
52	* TheMentor: Creator/ErnstLubitsch was this to him, giving him his first jobs and Wilder had a sign in his office, "What Would Lubitsch Do?", for when he had writer's block. Later in life, he was this to many filmmakers, most notably Creator/CameronCrowe, who published a whole book of his conversations with Wilder.
53	* MoodWhiplash: Used primarily in his comedy-dramas.
54	* PlayingAgainstType: He had a knack for casting actors in roles different from usual and succeeding, with family-friendly Creator/FredMacMurray playing [[Film/DoubleIndemnity hard-boiled, morally questionable salesmen]] and [[Film/TheApartment philanderers]], tough guy Creator/HumphreyBogart playing opposite Creator/AudreyHepburn in a [[{{Film/Sabrina1954}} romantic comedy]], and the often dramatic Creator/JamesCagney as the lead of [[Film/OneTwoThree a silly Cold War farce]].
55	* ProductionPosse: He had a regular stable of actors and crew members at his aid, including:
56	** Creator/JackLemmon (''Some Like it Hot'', ''The Apartment'', ''Irma la Douce,'' ''The Fortune Cookie'', ''Avanti!'', ''The Front Page'', ''Buddy Buddy'')
57	** Creator/WalterMatthau (''The Fortune Cookie'', ''The Front Page'', ''Buddy Buddy'')
58	** Creator/MarilynMonroe (''The Seven Year Itch'', ''Some Like It Hot'')
59	** Creator/AudreyHepburn (''Sabrina'', ''Love in the Afternoon'')
60	** Creator/WilliamHolden (''Sunset Boulevard'', ''Stalag 17'', ''Sabrina'', ''Fedora'')
61	** Creator/MarleneDietrich (''A Foreign Affair'', ''Witness for the Prosecution'')
62	** Creator/FredMacMurray (''Double Indemnity'', ''The Apartment'')
63	** Creator/ShirleyMacLaine (''The Apartment'', ''Irma la Douce'')
64	** When it came to screenwriting, he went with Charles Brackett and I. A. L. Diamond, winning Oscars with both.
65	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Usually a cold-hearted cynic but definitely had some shades of optimism.
66	* ScrewballComedy: One of the latter-day masters of the genre.

Context Creator / BillyWilder