Why this 27-day study of Billy Wilder?
I’ll give you 27 reasons:
1934……………………Mauvaise Graine (also known as Bad Seed)
1942……………………The Major and the Minor
1943……………………Five Graves to Cairo
1944……………………Double Indemnity
1945……………………The Lost Weekend
1945……………………Death Mills
1948……………………The Emperor Waltz
1948……………………A Foreign Affair
1950……………………Sunset Boulevard
1951……………………Ace in the Hole
1953……………………Stalag 17
1954……………………Sabrina
1955……………………The Seven Year Itch
1957……………………The Spirit of St. Louis
1957……………………Love in the Afternoon
1957……………………Witness for the Prosecution
1959……………………Some Like It Hot
1960……………………The Apartment
1961……………………One, Two, Three
1963……………………Irma la Douce
1964……………………Kiss Me, Stupid
1966……………………The Fortune Cookie
1970……………………The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
1972……………………Avanti!
1974……………………The Front Page
1978……………………Fedora
1981……………………Buddy Buddy
A few of those movies — say, Double Indemnity or The Lost Weekend or Sunset Boulevard or Some Like it Hot or The Apartment — are reason enough, alone, to study Billy Wilder. They are classics of American cinema.
But all of those movies, taken together, represents an oeuvre that boggles my mind. No self-respecting person who desires to be a screenwriter or director can ignore Billy Wilder.
And that’s where I fit in. Not as a director. As a screenwriter. That’s my goal — to be a superb screenwriter with the combined talent of Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and I.A.L. Diamond.
Wish me luck.
You can call me Billy. But don't expect me to answer to that.