A Wilder Ride

Most of us know the films we love through their characters and the actors who portrayed them.  I would bet that the vast majority of film aficionados, when asked to name a favorite movie, visualize a scene featuring the star or their favorite character.  But the truth is, while actors are essential (or have been up to this point; keep your eye on the evolution of digitized entertainment… someday soon you won’t be able to tell if you are watching Matthew McConaughey or a CGI representation… hell, you might not be able tell if you are you or a CGI representation, but I digress) cinema belongs to the screenwriters and directors.  If there is no story to tell or no plan for translating the screenplay into a movie, well you’d have a bunch of restaurant employees standing around wondering what to do with their lives.

But fortunately for us, the third leg that keeps the movie industry stool from toppling over, the audience, the history of American cinema is rife with talented directors and screenwriters.  And in this week’s missive I am going to introduce you to one of the best; Billy Wilder.

I don’t want to bore you with a biography.  If you are interested in minutia you can look him up yourself.  Wilder is one of the most important filmmakers of the Golden Age of Hollywood and beyond.  He was the first person to win Oscars for producing (best motion picture), directing and screenwriting for the same film (The Apartment: United Artists-1960). Although some critics downplay his career because it was heavily weighted with screw ball comedy and film noir, perusing his filmography is like reading a list of my favorite movies.  Wilder’s American career, which ran began in 1933 and ran for more than fifty years, boasts twenty-one Academy Award nominations (8-directing, 12-screenwriting, 1-producing) resulting in six wins.

If you have any self respect as a movie fan, you will have seen these films:

Double Indemnity (1944-Paramount Pictures):  Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson, this gem is considered by many film commentators to be the first in which all the elements that came to be identified with film noir were present.  Double Indemnity’s pedigree is further enhanced by a co-writing partnership between Wilder and Raymond Chandler (creator of the Phillip Marlowe novels).  It is the story of an otherwise noble man being seduced into a murder conspiracy by the femme fatale, realizing too late that her plaints of abuse at the hands of her husband were false and motivated purely by greed.  While a familiar theme, this is a truly superior presentation.

Sunset Blvd (Paramount Pictures-1951): I remember seeing this movie on late-night TV when I was a kid; maybe ten-years old.  I didn’t get it.  Then I saw it again as an adult and not only did I get it, but understood why in my youth I didn’t (and was thankful). Children should be protected from the dark nature of this film.  And when I say children, I mean anyone under the age of thirty.  William Holden plays a down-on-his-luck Hollywood screenwriter (go figure) who, attempting to elude skip tracers trying to repossess his car ends up hiding in what he supposes is an abandoned mansion from the glory days of silent films.  He discovers to his surprise that he has stumbled into the cloister of famous star of yesteryear, Nora Desmond (played by silent-era star Gloria Swanson, coaxed out of retirement by Wilder) and her resident manservant, Max.  Let us just say that a relationship of convenience evolves; I leave you to enjoy the unfolding of this sordid tale on your own.  Wilder won an Oscar for screenwriting.

Some Like It Hot (United Artists-1959): This seems to be everybody’s favorite comedy.  In 2000, it ranked number one on AFI’s list: “100 years…100 laughs”.  For 1959 there were some rather progressive themes represented here.  The story is of two union musicians (Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon) trying to eke out a living in winter-time Chicago when they are hapless witnesses to the St. Valentine’s Day massacre.  They affect their escape by disguising themselves as women to travel by train to Florida as members of an all-girl band.  Marilyn Monroe delivers the best performance of her career as the boozy, ukulele playing Sugar Kane Kowalczyk.  The film was shot at the Hotel Del Coronado (California).  This is screw ball at its best.  And of course, Tony Curtis sheds his female persona to romance Sugar Kane adopting the mannerisms of Cary Grant.  In proper tribute to the importance of this movie, the final line, “Nobody’s Perfect” is inscribed as the epitaph on Billy Wilder’s headstone.

But then, being a true lover of cinema, you know these movies well.  My purpose today is to introduce you to a few of my favorite Billy Wilder works that are not as famous but every bit as entertaining.

Ninotchka (MGM-1939) screenwriting credit:  This was the breakthrough effort for Wilder (Oscar nomination for writing-screenplay) who had been actively writing in America since 1933. Ernest Lubitsch directed.  It is a screw ball romantic comedy starring Greta Garbo in the title role as a Russian attaché sent to Paris to investigate the delay by three comrades charged with securing jewels smuggled out of Russia by a fleeing Grand Duchess.  While pursuing her duties, she is seduced by the proletariat lifestyle and the Duchess’ retainer, Count Leon (Melvyn Douglas).  If you wish to understand Hollywood’s pre-WWII image of Russians and Communism, this movie will let you laugh as you learn.

Stalag 17 (Paramount Pictures-1953):  If you can imagine such a salad, this movie is a gritty-noir-satire-war-mystery telling of day-to-day life experienced by American Airmen in a German prison camp during WWII.  Although it is more of an ensemble cast, William Holden (at his grittiest) becomes the focal point as Sgt. J.J. Sefton (for which he was awarded a best actor-leading role Oscar).  As there is a bit of a who-dun-it element to the film, I will not go into plot details.  Watch for the Oscar nominated performance (best actor-supporting role) by Robert Strauss (Animal) and the tongue-in-cheek portrayal of Commandant Oberst Von Scherbach by famed director Otto Preminger.  

Sabrina (Paramount Pictures-1954):  This is a lighthearted romantic comedy pairing Audrey Hepburn with Humphrey Bogart.  “What?”  Yeah, that’s right, Rick from Casablanca and Holly Golightly from Tiffany’s.  Sabrina (Hepburn) returns home from a failed attempt at cooking school in Paris to rejoin her father, chauffer to the wealthy industrialist Larrabee family.  Once home, Sabrina finds she has lost none of the little-girl crush on her father’s retainers’ young playboy sibling David Larrabee (William Holden).  Meanwhile, older brother and business maven Linus (Bogart) is busy arranging a strategic marriage for younger brother David.  But Sabrina has caught David’s eye which threatens the union.  To head off economic catastrophe, Linus launches a plan to romance Sabrina away from David.  Holden is Adonis like.  Hepburn is at her most vulnerable.  But Bogart handles this departure from type with surprising deftness.  By the way; pairing Hepburn with and older leading man was very common:  Roman Holiday (Gregory Peck-1953); Love in the Afternoon (Gary Cooper-1957); Charade (Cary Grant-1963).  Warning: Do not make the mistake of picking up the 1995 remake of the same name starring Harrison Ford… you’ll never get the taste out of your mouth.

The Apartment (United Artists-1960):  You will not like any of the characters of this movie.  But you won’t be able to avoid routing for C.C. Baxter and Fran Kubelik to get together in the end.  This is a dark satire on modern sexual mores.  Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a bachelor, ambitious corporate accountant who, eager to advance his career, allows his office superiors to use his city apartment for clandestine rendezvous with their mistresses.  News of this opportunity comes to the attention of the company’s Personnel Director, Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) who offers Baxter a junior executive position to secure the use his love nest.  Unbeknownst to Baxter, Sheldrake’s mistress is elevator operator Fran (Shirley MacClaine) who has just caught Baxter’s romantic eye.  There are not many laughs in this movie, but Fred MacMurray (look up “My Three Sons”, 1960s CBS sitcom… yeah, that Fred MacMurray) will leave you haunted by his portrayal of the seedy philandering executive.  This movie was the hat trick for Wilder as he was awarded Oscars for writing, directing and producing (best picture); the first time this occurred in the history of the Academy Awards.

The Fortune Cookie (United Artists-1966): If for no other reason, this movie deserves notice as the first pairing of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.  If that doesn’t mean anything to you, well you are just too young!  This is another great example of Wilder’s uncanny ability to blend noir and screw ball.  Harry Hinkle (Lemmon) is injured in the pursuit of his job as a TV sports cameraman while working a football game, rendering him unconscious.  When he awakens he is in the hospital, attended by his sleazy, ambulance chasing, attorney brother-in-law Willie Gingrich (Matthau).  Willie pursues a campaign to get Harry to feign serious disability which the latter’s honest nature resists… until Willie mentions that Harry’s ex-wife had called check on his condition.  Harry is hopelessly in love with his ex and sees this as an opportunity to rekindle their romance.  You guessed it; her interest in Harry runs no deeper than the chance for quick riches.  Wilder deftly blends punch lines and pathos in a movie that will make you laugh while recoiling from the darker realities of human nature.  As you would expect, Wilder was nominated for the Oscar for his screenplay.

These are some of my favorite movies.  In all, Wilder generated seventy-eight writing credits, twenty-seven directing credits and fourteen producing credits.  His prodigious creative output whose consistent high quality, validated by his award nominations and wins, place him among the greatest of American movie makers.  If you want to see how it should be done, watch a Billy Wilder movie.