Samuel Wilder (Yiddish:שמואל װילדער,romanized: Shmuel Vilder)[3] was born on June 22, 1906,[4] to aJewish family[5] inSucha,[6] a small town inGalicia, present-day Poland, then part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire. Years later in Hollywood, he would describe it as being "Half an hour from Vienna. By telegraph."[7] His parents were Eugenia (née Dittler), fromZakopane, and Max Wilder, fromStanislawczyk; they met inKraków where Billy spent his early years.[5] His mother described him as a "rambunctious kid"; inspired byBuffalo Bill'sWild West shows, which she saw while living briefly in New York, she nicknamed him "Billie", which he changed to "Billy" upon moving to America.[8]
Wilder's elder brother,W. Lee Wilder, was also a filmmaker. His parents had a successful cake shop in Sucha's train station that flourished into a chain of railroad cafes. Eugenia and Max Wilder did not persuade their son to join the family business. Max moved to Kraków to manage a hotel before moving to Vienna and dying when Billy was 22 years old.[8] After the family moved to Vienna, Wilder became a journalist instead of attending theUniversity of Vienna. In 1926, jazz band leaderPaul Whiteman was on tour in Vienna where he was interviewed by Wilder.[9] Whiteman liked young Wilder enough that he took him with the band toBerlin, where Wilder was able to make more connections in entertainment. Before achieving success as a writer, he was ataxi dancer in Berlin.[10][11]
After arriving in Hollywood in 1934, Wilder continued working as a screenwriter. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1939, having spent time in Mexico waiting for the government after his six-month card expired in 1934, an episode reflected in his 1941Hold Back the Dawn.[14] Wilder's first significant success wasNinotchka, a collaboration with fellow German immigrantErnst Lubitsch. Theromantic comedy starredGreta Garbo (generally known as atragic heroine in filmmelodramas), and was popularly and critically acclaimed. With the byline "Garbo Laughs!", it also took Garbo's career in a new direction. The film marked Wilder's first Academy Award nomination, which he shared with co-writerCharles Brackett (although their collaboration onBluebeard's Eighth Wife andMidnight had been well received). Wilder co-wrote many of his films with Brackett from 1938 to 1950. Brackett described their collaboration process: "The thing to do was suggest an idea, have it torn apart and despised. In a few days it would be apt to turn up, slightly changed, as Wilder's idea. Once I got adjusted to that way of working, our lives were simpler."[15]
Wilder's mother, stepfather, and grandmother were all victims of theHolocaust. For decades it was assumed that they had been killed atAuschwitz, but, while researching Polish and Israeli archives, his Austrian biographer Andreas Hutter discovered in 2011 that they were each murdered in different locations: his mother, Eugenia "Gitla" Siedlisker, in 1943 atPlaszów; his stepfather, Bernard "Berl" Siedlisker, in 1942 atBelzec; and his grandmother, Balbina Baldinger, died in 1943 in the ghetto inNowy Targ.[18]
Wilder's third Hollywood film as director, thefilm noirDouble Indemnity (1944), starringFred MacMurray,Barbara Stanwyck andEdward G. Robinson, was a major hit. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Actress; Wilder co-wrote it withRaymond Chandler. The film not only set conventions for the noir genre (such as "venetian blind" lighting and voice-over narration), but is a landmark in the battle against Hollywood censorship. Based onJames M. Cain's novel, it featured two love triangles and a murder plotted for insurance money. While the book was popular with the reading public, it had been considered unfilmable under theHays Code because adultery was central to the plot.
In 1945, thePsychological Warfare Department of the United States Department of War produced an American documentary film directed by Wilder. The film known asDeath Mills, orDie Todesmühlen, was intended for German audiences to educate them about the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. For the German version,Die Todesmühlen,Hanuš Burger is credited as the writer and director, while Wilder supervised the editing. Wilder is credited with the English-language version.
Also in 1945, Wilder adapted fromCharles R. Jackson's novelThe Lost Weekend intoa film of the same name. It was the first major American film with a serious examination of alcoholism, another difficult theme under theProduction Code. It follows an alcoholic writer (Ray Milland) opposing the protestations of his girlfriend (Jane Wyman). The film earned critical acclaim after it premiered at theCannes Film Festival and competed in the main competition, where it received the Festival's top prize, thePalme d'Or, and four Academy Awards including forBest Picture. Wilder earned the Oscars forBest Director andBest Screenplay and Milland wonBest Actor.[19] The film is one of four to win both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, alongsideMarty,Parasite andAnora.
Gloria Swanson with Wilder on the set ofSunset Boulevard
In 1950, Wilder co-wrote and directed the cynical noir filmSunset Boulevard. It follows a reclusive silent film actress (Gloria Swanson), who dreams of a comeback with delusions of her greatness from a bygone era. She accompanies an aspiring screenwriter (William Holden), who becomes hergigolo partner. This critically acclaimed film was the final film Wilder collaborated with Brackett. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards; together Wilder and Brackett won theAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay.[20]
In 1951, Wilder directedAce in the Hole (a.k.a.The Big Carnival) starringKirk Douglas in a tale of media exploitation of a caving accident. The idea had been pitched over the phone to Wilder's secretary byVictor Desny. Desny sued Wilder for breach of an implied contract in the California copyright caseWilder v Desny, ultimately receiving a settlement of $14,350.[21][22] Although a critical and commercial failure at the time, its reputation has grown over the years. The following year, Wilder announced plans to direct and produce a film version of theSophoclestragedyOedipus Rex, adapted for the screen byWalter Reisch. They planned to shoot the film on location inGreece inTechnicolor,[23] but it never went into production.
Subsequently, Wilder directed three adaptations of Broadway plays, war dramaStalag 17, for which William Holden won the Best Actor Academy Award, romantic comedySabrina, for whichAudrey Hepburn was nominated for Best Actress, and romantic comedyThe Seven Year Itch, which features the iconic image ofMarilyn Monroe standing on a subway grate as her white dress is blown upwards by a passing train. Wilder was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for the first two films and shared a nomination for Best Screenplay for the second. He was interested in doing a film with one of the classic slapstick comedy acts of the Hollywood Golden Age. He first considered, and rejected, a project to starLaurel and Hardy. He held discussions withGroucho Marx concerning a newMarx Brothers comedy, tentatively titledA Day at the U.N. The project was abandoned afterChico Marx died in 1961.[24]
In 1959, Wilder reunited with Monroe in the United Artists released Prohibition-era farce filmSome Like It Hot. It was released, however, without aProduction Code seal of approval, which was withheld due to the film's unabashed sexual comedy, including a central cross-dressing theme.Jack Lemmon andTony Curtis played musicians disguised as women to escape pursuit by a Chicago gang. Curtis's character courts a singer (Monroe), while Lemmon is wooed byJoe E. Brown – setting up the film's final joke in which Lemmon reveals that his character is a man and Brown blandly replies "Well, nobody's perfect". A box office success, the film was lightly regarded by film critics during its original release, although it did receive six Academy Award nominations, including for Best Director and Best Screenplay. But its critical reputation grew prodigiously; in 2000, theAmerican Film Institute selected it as the best American comedy ever made.[25] In 2012, theBritish Film Institute decennialSight and Sound poll of the world's film critics rated it as the 43rd best movie ever made, and the second-highest-ranking comedy.[26]
In 1960, Wilder directed the comedy romance filmThe Apartment. It follows an insurance clerk (Lemmon), who allows his coworkers to use his apartment to conduct extramarital affairs until he meets an elevator woman (Shirley MacLaine). The film was a critical success withThe New York Times film criticBosley Crowther, who called the film "gleeful, tender, and even sentimental" and Wilder's direction "ingenious".[27] The film received tenAcademy Awards nominations and won five awards, including three for Wilder: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.[28]
Wilder directed theCold War political farce filmOne, Two, Three (1961), starringJames Cagney, which won critical praise withVariety writing, "Billy Wilder'sOne, Two, Three is a fast-paced, high-pitched, hard-hitting, lighthearted farce crammed with topical gags and spiced with satirical overtones. Story is so furiously quick-witted that some of its wit gets snarled and smothered in overlap."[29] It was followed by the romantic comedyIrma la Douce (1963) starring Lemmon and MacLaine. The film was thefifth highest-grossing film of the year. Wilder received aWriters Guild of America Award nomination for his screenplay. Wilder then wrote and directed the sex comedy filmKiss Me, Stupid starringDean Martin,Kim Novak, andRay Walston, who was a last minute replacement for ailingPeter Sellers. The film was criticized by some critics for vulgarity, withBosley Crowther blaming the film for giving American movies the reputation of "deliberate and degenerate corruptors of public taste and morals".[30] A. H. Weiler of theNew York Times called the film "pitifully unfunny". Wilder gained his finalAcademy Award nomination and aWriters Guild of America Award nomination for the screenplay ofThe Fortune Cookie, which he co-produced through his independent film company, Phalanx Productions. It was the first film pairing Jack Lemmon withWalter Matthau. The film was titledMeet Whiplash Willie in the United Kingdom. In 1970, he directedThe Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, also made through Phalanx Productions, which was intended as a majorroadshow theatrical release, but to Wilder's dismay was heavily cut by the studio.[31][32]
He produced and directed the comedy filmAvanti!, again through Phalanx Productions, which follows a businessman (Lemmon) attempting to retrieve the body of his deceased father from Italy. Wilder received twoGolden Globe Award nominations forBest Director andBest Screenplay, and aWriters Guild of America Award nomination. Wilder directedThe Front Page based on theBroadway play of the same name. It was a significant financial success with low budget. His final films,Fedora andBuddy Buddy, failed to impress critics or the public, althoughFedora has since been re-evaluated and is now considered favorably.[33] Wilder had hoped to makeThomas Keneally'sSchindler's Ark as his final film, saying "I wanted to do it as a kind of memorial to my mother and my grandmother and my stepfather," who had all been murdered in theHolocaust.[34][35] He praisedSteven Spielberg's adaptation,Schindler's List. To those whodenied the Holocaust, Wilder wrote in a German newspaper, "If the concentration camps and the gas chambers were all imaginary, then please tell me—where is my mother?"[36]
Wilder's directorial choices reflected his belief in the primacy of writing. He avoided, especially in the second half of his career, the exuberant cinematography ofAlfred Hitchcock andOrson Welles because, in Wilder's opinion, shots that called attention to themselves would distract the audience from the story. Wilder's films have tight plotting and memorable dialogue. Despite his conservative directorial style, his subject matter often pushed the boundaries of mainstream entertainment. Once a subject was chosen, he would begin to visualize in terms of specific artists. His belief was that no matter how talented the actor, none were without limitations and the result would be better if you bent the script to their personality rather than force a performance beyond their limitations.[37] Wilder was skilled at working with actors, coaxingsilent era legendsGloria Swanson andErich von Stroheim out of retirement for roles inSunset Boulevard. Regarding Wilder's more comedic films,Roger Ebert wrote: "he took the characters seriously, or at least as seriously as the material allowed, and got a lot of the laughs by playing scenes straight."[38]
ForStalag 17, Wilder squeezed an Oscar-winning performance out of a reluctantWilliam Holden (Holden had wanted to make his character more likable; Wilder refused). At a casting meeting, Wilder reportedly said, "I'm tired of clichéd typecasting—the same people in every film."[39] An example of this is Wilder's casting ofFred MacMurray inDouble Indemnity andThe Apartment. MacMurray had become Hollywood's highest-paid actor portraying a decent, thoughtful character in light comedies, melodramas, and musicals; Wilder cast him as a womanizing schemer.Humphrey Bogart shed his tough-guy image to give one of his warmest performances inSabrina.James Cagney, not usually known for comedy, was memorable in a high-octane comic role for Wilder'sOne, Two, Three. Wilder coaxed a very effective performance out of Monroe inSome Like It Hot.
Wilder opposed theHouse Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). He co-created theCommittee for the First Amendment, of 500 Hollywood personalities and stars to "support those professionals called upon to testify before the HUAC who had classified themselves as hostile with regard to the interrogations and the interrogators". Some anti-Communists wanted those in the cinema industry to take oaths of allegiance. TheScreen Directors Guild had a vote by show of hands. OnlyJohn Huston and Wilder opposed. Huston said, "I am sure it was one of the bravest things that Billy, as a naturalized German, had ever done. There were 150 to 200 directors at this meeting, and here Billy and I sat alone with our hands raised in protest against the loyalty oath."[41]
Wilder was not affected by the Hollywood blacklist. Of the blacklisted 'Hollywood Ten' he said, "Of the ten, two had talent, and the rest were just unfriendly."[41] In general, Wilder disliked formula and genre films.[42] Wilder reveled in poking fun at those who took politics too seriously. InBall of Fire, hisburlesque queen 'Sugarpuss' points at her sore throat and complains "Pink? It's as red as theDaily Worker and just as sore." Later, she gives the overbearing and unsmiling housemaid the name "Franco".
Wilder received theAmerican Film Institute (AFI)Life Achievement Award in 1986. He received theIrving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1988, theKennedy Center Honors in 1990 and theNational Medal of Arts in 1993.[43] He has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame. Wilder became well known for owning one of the finest and most extensive art collections in Hollywood, mainly collecting modern art. As he described it in the mid-80s, "It's a sickness. I don't know how to stop myself. Call itbulimia if you want – or curiosity or passion. I have someImpressionists, somePicassos from every period, some mobiles byCalder. I also collect tiny Japanese trees, glass paperweights, and Chinese vases. Name an object and I collect it."[44][45] Wilder's artistic ambitions led him to create a series of works of his own. By the early '90s, Wilder had amassed many plastic-artistic constructions, many of which were made in collaboration with artist Bruce Houston. In 1993, art dealerLouis Stern, a longtime friend, helped organize an exhibition of Wilder's work at his Beverly Hills gallery. The exhibition was titledBilly Wilder's Marché aux Puces and theVariations on the Theme ofQueen Nefertete segment was notably popular. This series featured busts of the Egyptian queen wrappedà laChristo, or splatteredà laJackson Pollock, or sporting a Campbell's soup can in homage toAndy Warhol.[46]
Wilder married Judith Coppicus on December 22, 1936. The couple had twins, Victoria and Vincent (born 1939), but Vincent died shortly after birth. They divorced in 1946. Wilder metAudrey Young while filmingThe Lost Weekend. They were married on June 30, 1949.[47]
Seven of his films are preserved in the United StatesNational Film Registry of theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".[58]Anthony Lane writes thatDouble Indemnity,The Seven Year Itch,Sunset Boulevard andThe Apartment are "part of the lexicon of moviegoing" and thatSome Like It Hot is a "national treasure."[59]Roger Ebert asked, "Of all the great directors of Hollywood's golden age, has anybody made more films that are as fresh and entertaining to this day as Billy Wilder's?...And who else can field three contenders among the greatest closing lines of all time?", citing the closing lines ofSunset Boulevard,Some Like It Hot, andThe Apartment.[60]
WhenBelle Époque won the 1993Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Spanish filmmakerFernando Trueba said in his acceptance speech: "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so thank you, Mr. Wilder." According to Trueba, Wilder called him the day after and told him: "Fernando, it's God." French filmmakerMichel Hazanavicius thanked Billy Wilder in the 2012 Best PictureOscar acceptance speech forThe Artist: "I would like to thank the following three people, I would like to thank Billy Wilder, I would like to thank Billy Wilder, and I would like to thank Billy Wilder." Wilder's 12Academy Award nominations for screenwriting were a record until 1997 when Woody Allen received a 13th nomination forDeconstructing Harry. In 2017,Vulture.com named Wilder the greatest screenwriter of all time.[61] He directed fourteen actors in Oscar-nominated performances. Wilder's epitaph, a paraphrase of the last line ofSome Like It Hot, is "I'm a writer but then nobody's perfect."[62]
White, Michael (February 28, 2007)."My Oscar night with Cher".The Guardian.Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. RetrievedNovember 28, 2019.
^Philips, Gene D. (2010).Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder. University Press of Kentucky. p. 251.ISBN978-0-8131-2570-1.
Guilbert, Georges-Claude,Literary Readings of Billy Wilder (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007)
Gyurko, Lanin A.The Shattered Screen. Myth and Demythification in the Art of Carlos Fuentes and Billy Wilder (New Orleans: University Press of the South, 2009)
Hantke, Steffen. "Wïlder's Dietrich: 'Witness for the Prosecution' in the Context of the Cold War."German Studies Review (2011): 247–260.online
Henry, Nora (1997).Ethics and Social Criticism in the Hollywood Films of Erich Von Stroheim, Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder. University of Southern California.ISBN978-0-275-96450-4.
.jpg)
