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Billy Wilder (1906-2002) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer, regarded as one of the greatest and most versatile filmmakers of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
He was born as Samuel Wilder 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 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, The Major and the Minor, in 1942, and followed it with a string of critical and commercial hits until the '60s. Wilder equally excelled in dark, cynical noir dramas and satires or light romantic comedies. He co-wrote all of his films, and won six Academy Awards, two for Best Director, three for Best Writing, and one for Best Picture.
As writer:[]
- Ninotchka (1939) — Romantic comedy about a love affair between a Soviet diplomat (Greta Garbo) and a French aristocrat; one of the first American films to portray the Soviet Union. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
- Ball of Fire (1941) — Screwball comedy about a mobster's girlfriend hiding from the law with an Oblivious to Love English professor. Directed by Howard Hawks.
As director:[]
- Double Indemnity (1944) — The quintessential Film Noir, starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. Co-written with Raymond Chandler.
- The Lost Weekend (1945) — The first Hollywood movie that portrayed alcoholism dramatically, starring Ray Milland. Won Best Picture.
- Sunset Boulevard (1950) — A dark, cynical take on the film industry and fame, starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson.
- Ace in the Hole (aka The Big Carnival) (1951) — A brutally cynical movie about journalism, starring Kirk Douglas.
- Stalag 17 (1953) — A comedy-drama about POWs in World War II, starring William Holden.
- Sabrina (1954) — A light romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart.
- The Seven Year Itch (1955) — A romantic comedy with Marilyn Monroe, source of the iconic image.
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957) - A courtroom drama starring Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich, based on Agatha Christie's play, famous for its Twist Ending.
- Love in The Afternoon (1957) — A romantic comedy with Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper in a May-December Romance.
- Some Like It Hot (1959) — A classic comedy, again starring Marilyn Monroe, with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.
- The Apartment (1960) — A comedy-drama with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, about the then-scandalous subject of adultery. Won Best Picture.
- One, Two, Three (1961) — A comedy set in West Berlin, satirizing both communism and capitalism, starring James Cagney.
- The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) — A combination Affectionate Parody and Deconstruction of the Sherlock Holmes character.
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