Category Archives: Billy Wilder

1945 Films, Best Film of the Year, Billy Wilder, Drama, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Ray Milland

The Lost Weekend-1945

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The Lost Weekend-1945

Director Billy Wilder

Starring Ray Milland, Jane Wyman

Scott’s Review #856

Reviewed January 10, 2019

Grade: A

Billy Wilder, considered one of the most influential directors to emerge from the Hollywood Golden Age of cinema (the 1940s), creates a masterpiece tackling a social issues storyline until this time never explored before.

The Lost Weekend (1945) tells a tale of alcoholism and the desperation and degradation of an addict. Wilder bravely goes where no film had dared to go with astounding results.

The film was awarded several Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor.

Don Birnam (Ray Milland) plays a New York writer left alone for the weekend one hot summer. His brother Wick (Philip Terry) and girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman) are aware of Don’s drinking problem but leave for the weekend anyway when Don goes on a bender.

He spends each subsequent day desperate for liquor and in need of cash to purchase it. He resorts to theft and selling personal items out of desperation and the need for booze.

The story features flashbacks of past events when he first met Helen and an embarrassing attempt to meet her parents for lunch.

The film is adapted from the novel of the same name written by Charles R. Jackson in 1944. Assuredly a dark story that can be categorized as a downer the film does not paint a glamorous picture of the pains an alcoholic will go through or the lengths he will take out of desperation.

Before, The Lost Weekend was made drunkard characters in the film were largely portrayed as either bumbling or as comic relief, so this character study is a welcome departure from tradition.

Milland is perfectly cast and effectively relays the troubled and desperate Don. Handsome, well-dressed, and professional, he is not the stereotypical image of a drunk. Dressed in a suit and tie by all measures he does not fit the bill of a desperate man, but slowly begins his descent and spirals out of control.

This makes Wilder’s message more powerful as he shows that alcoholism can afflict anyone even professional, intelligent men. Milland, who resembles actor Jimmy Stewart is supposed to be liked by the audience eliciting a rooting factor even when he treats Helen badly. We want him to face his problems and recover.

Many glimpses of Manhattan are shown, and exterior shots are used plentifully. Wilder shoots the scenes as largely bleak and lonely which aligns with the overall feel of the film.

Third Avenue looks desolate and isolated as we watch a desperate Don wander around and attempt to sell his typewriter for booze money. He is grief-stricken when he realizes it is Yom Kippur weekend and therefore the pawnshops are closed.

The camera remains firmly fixed on Milland showcasing a range of powerful emotions throughout the film.

The Lost Weekend (1945) was a groundbreaking film at the time of release with a serious and detailed tale of the life and times of an alcoholic. With a wonderful acting performance by Milland, Wilder can portray the world of an addict darkly and frighteningly.

Decades later the film is still mentioned as inspirational to other filmmakers creating works about alcohol abuse.

Oscar Nominations: 3 wins– Best Motion Picture, Best Director-Billy Wilder (won), Best Actor-Ray Milland (won), Best Screenplay (won), Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Film Editing

1944 Films, Barbara Stanwyck, Billy Wilder, Crime Drama, Drama, Edward G. Robinson, Film noir, Fred MacMurray

Double Indemnity-1944

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Double Indemnity-1944

Director Billy Wilder

Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck

Scott’s Review #847

Reviewed December 26, 2018

Grade: A

Double Indemnity (1944) epitomizes the classic film noir genre perfectly. All the necessary elements exist, from intrigue, suspense, and unpredictable thrills, to schemes and dastardly deeds by the major players.

The on-screen chemistry between leads MacMurray and Stanwyck provides enough romantic flair and provocative moments to entertain all as developments progress when a smitten man meets a femme fatale and a devious plot is hatched.

Director Billy Wilder was one of the most influential directors of his day with this picture being his first effort resulting in fabulous critical acclaim.

The accolades put him firmly on the map for years to come culminating in an Oscar win in 1950 for The Apartment. Wilder uses a clever insurance “double indemnity” clause as its title making it one of the best and most influential crime dramas of the 1940s staking ground for other similarly themed films.

The story is told via flashbacks as a wounded Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) scrambles to record a confession to his colleague and best friend, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson).

The action rewinds to an average, ordinary day when Neff makes a routine stop to sell insurance and meets flirtatious Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). She brazenly inquires how she ought to go about taking out an insurance policy on her husband’s life without his knowledge.

When Neff deduces Phyllis’s intention to kill her husband he declines any further help but cannot forget the ravishing beauty and her charms. He ultimately succumbs to her whims and aids her in a wicked crime.

The adventure the audience is taking on is the most fun aspect of the film. We already deduce that Neff is involved in shenanigans but most of the fun occurs after the murder has been committed and Phyllis and Neff’s scheme begins to unravel.

The added component of Neff’s colleague and close friend, Keyes, being in the mix as he starts to suspect foul play is equally compelling.

Will he finally figure out that Neff is involved in the plot? Will Keyes cover for Neff if discovered? Will Phyllis’s history catch up with her and twist events?

These questions make the film a great picture.

A debate among viewers can ensue whether Neff is sympathetic as this point continues to cross my mind with each viewing. One can safely say that he is seduced by the charms of an eager and aggressive woman, but if he is to blame for the crimes is she not even more to blame?

As events unfold sides can be drawn and characters can be more focused, particularly after Double Indemnity’s startling conclusion.

Neff is not a strong, heroic character but is rather weak, easily manipulated by the cagey Phyllis. It is interesting how little time it takes to succumb to her plot and willingly do the crime for her.

In the final act, Neff does show some needed muscle, but this is only because his “goose is cooked” and he finally realizes the dire nature of Phyllis’s character, but shouldn’t he have discovered this sooner?

MacMurray and Stanwyck have smoldering chemistry and is a major success of the film keeping the audience invested in the plot. The added measure of the murder victim being rather unknown to the audience adds a macabre rooting value to the pair.

Wilder never presents the plot as a romantic triangle or Neff and Phyllis having any other romantic entanglements, and the only roadblock is the insurance company and their suspicions surrounding Phyllis.

Wilder adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain’s novella of the same name and spins a potent film noir from these pages. Double Indemnity (1944) is intelligent, sexy, and mysterious mixing in as much sultry poise as witty dialogue.

Thanks to the allure of fine actors and a stunning adventure on a train, the film is a measured success and a highly influential cinematic story.

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture, Best Director-Billy Wilder, Best Actress-Barbara Stanwyck, Best Screenplay, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Sound Recording, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

1959 Films, Billy Wilder, Comedy, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis

Some Like It Hot-1959

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Some Like It Hot-1959

Director Billy Wilder

Starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis

Scott’s Review #388

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Reviewed March 26, 2016

Grade: A

Considered to be one of the best comedies ever made, Some Like It Hot is a funny, outlandish, yet controlled film, that never teeters too over the top or dives into outrageous camp, but rather is well written, well-acted, and contains great chemistry between the stars.

In a nutshell, it is a film where all of the elements simply come together just right. In film comedy, this is a very rare event to happen. Rather, typically we are treated to formulas or retreads of past successes.

Some Like It Hot feels refreshing and brilliant.

The film was also monumental in paving the way to the eventual elimination of the hated Hays Code, which put many restrictions on American films from 1930-1968.

Some Like It Hot pushed the envelope in important ways, leading to a spike in creativity and art within the film industry that lasted mainly throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

For that, it is a masterpiece.

Down on their luck, broke, and needing work, Jerry and Joe (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) are struggling jazz musicians who seek out a meager existence in snowy Chicago. Having witnessed the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, they go on the run from the assailants, who have seen them, and pose as Josephine and Daphne, dressed in drag.

This leads to one humorous situation after another as they take the bus from Chicago to Miami with an all-girl musical band, a slumber party of sorts, led by boozy starlet Sugar Kane (played by Marilyn Monroe), who serves as the band’s vocalist and ukulele player.

Once arrived in sunny Miami “the girls” both find romantic entanglements, with Sugar and rich millionaire, Osgood Fielding III, with obvious comic antics ensuing. Josephine poses as a male Shell Oil Junior in an attempt to woo Sugar with his assumed riches in the oil business.

What makes Some Like It Hot work so well, for starters, is that it does not go too far over the edge to make it seem campy, nor does it play it too straight if you will. The balance is perfect and that makes the film rich with natural, fresh comedy.

Director Billy Wilder chose wisely to film in black and white, thereby avoiding Lemmon and Curtis looking ridiculous with colorful, bright makeup. This was toned down and muted so that it allowed for more believability.

Additionally, the subtle edginess of the film impresses me with each passing watch.  Some Like It Hot got away with a lot in 1959, keeping in mind the restrictions of the day,  and that knowledge gives it a groundbreaking quality.

There is an air of homosexuality throughout and the final line of the film is my favorite allowing for a thought-provoking interpretation.

When Daphne reaches her breaking point with Osgood’s romancing and yanks off his wig professing in a state of exasperation, “I am a man!!” only to hear Osgood’s startling reply of “Well, nobody’s perfect”, is clever dialogue.

Did Osgood know all along that Daphne was male? Will he marry ‘her’ anyway?

Who wouldn’t have blushed gazing at Monroe’s skin-colored and quite revealing outfit? It gave the impression that she was nude, and how funny is the physical comic timing of Lemmon and Curtis together.

Bumbling around in stockings, heels, and dresses, attempting to be feminine, but never really succeeding, but somehow making all of the other characters think that they truly were women is great.

Curtis was reportedly quite uncomfortable in drag and it shows on camera, but this works out well as it gives Josephine a natural awkwardness.

Lemmon went all out in his costumes and his energy comes across.

In my opinion not looking her best, slightly plump and tired looking, Marilyn Monroe still gives the film added life and charm, and who is not mesmerized viewing her on stage singing “I Wanna Be Loved By You”?

To think that Monroe died only three short years later is sad and an appreciation of her career in the final stages.

A risqué, laugh-out-loud, funny treat, Some Like It Hot resonates with me and did so with audiences upon release in 1959.

Comical, smart, and highly influential, the film is a must-see for fans of film comedy done honestly and free of standard cliché.

A blueprint for all smart comedies to follow.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Director-Billy Wilder, Best Actor-Jack Lemmon, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (won)

1950 Films, Best Film of the Year, Billy Wilder, Buster Keaton, Cecil B. Demille, Drama, Erich von Stroheim, Film noir, Gloria Swanson, Hedda Hopper, Jack Warden, Jack Webb, Nancy Olson, Scott's Top 100 Films, Sidney Skolsky, William Holden

Sunset Boulevard-1950

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Sunset Boulevard-1950

Director Billy Wilder

Starring Gloria Swanson, William Holden

Top 100 Films #42

Scott’s Review #330

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Reviewed January 8, 2016

Grade: A

I adore films about Hollywood (good ones), and Sunset Boulevard (1950) is an absolute treasure.

Directed by classic film director, Billy Wilder, the film is a film noir about a legendary silent film star, Norma Desmond, unable to cope with modern films involving sound, and living a life of instability and mental illness, as her career has long ended.

Handsome Joe innocently stumbles upon her mansion and the two form an eerie relationship ending in tragedy.

Sunset Blvd. is a famous street that runs through Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, California and is immediately featured in the film as Joe Gillis, played by William Holden, drives down the street, an unsuccessful screenwriter, whose car is about to be repossessed.

Joe narrates the film and we see a man lying dead in a vast swimming pool. Ironically, this is the film’s ending, and Wilder interestingly works backward so the audience knows tragedy will eventually ensue.

To avoid men chasing him, Joe pulls into a driveway and hides his car in a garage near a vast yet run-down mansion. He is mistaken for a coffin salesman and meets the infamous and creepy Norma and her servant, Max.

The coffin is for Norma’s pet chimpanzee, who has died. Intrigued, and broke, Joe hatches a plot to re-write Norma’s terrible screenplay- and make some money from the aging Hollywood star.

Norma needs companionship. The two, with Max, embark on a weird relationship based on jealousy, passion, and rage.

The black-and-white style works extremely well in the film. The lighting gives off a mystique of intrigue and film noir.

Sunset Boulevard combines the noir with a rich character study of Norma and we feel her pain and isolation at being cast aside because of the times.

I love how Wilder focuses both on the gloomy nature of Norma’s vast mansion- especially when she throws a New Year’s Eve party- isolated with just she and Joe and a hired band- interspersed with a lively party in Hollywood- filled with young, energetic, up and coming talents.

The scenes mix perfectly and show the two different worlds and perspectives.

Sunset Boulevard is a brilliant depiction of old Hollywood at its best (and worst). A study in ambition, struggle, high hopes (Joe), and faded success and dreams shattered in reality, where delusion is the only defense (Norma).

Oscar Nominations: 3 wins-Best Motion Picture, Best Director-Billy Wilder, Best Actor-William Holden, Best Actress-Gloria Swanson, Best Supporting Actor-Erich von Stroheim, Best Supporting Actress-Nancy Olson, Best Story and Screenplay (won), Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (won), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White (won), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Film Editing

1955 Films, Billy Wilder, Comedy, Marilyn Monroe

The Seven Year Itch-1955

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The Seven Year Itch-1955

Director Billy Wilder

Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell

Scott’s Review #302

60004542

Reviewed December 18, 2015

Grade: B

Following a string of successful hits by director Billy Wilder (mostly famous for films in the 1940s and 1950s), The Seven Year Itch features Marilyn Monroe in her prime and at her finest.

It is a cute film made charming by the likable legend. While certainly not high art, it is a fun experience in classic romantic comedy cinema and it has an innocence certainly lost in today’s genre.

Playing a familiar character to what she was known for (sexy, flirty, sweet blondes), it is arguably Monroe’s best role (though Some Like it Hot still wins out for me as her best film role).

Richard Sherman, a successful New York publisher, finds himself alone for the summer when his wife and son leave for a vacation in the country. Middle-aged and bored, he immediately is enamored with his gorgeous new upstairs neighbor, simply known as The Girl, played by Marilyn Monroe.

The Girl is a commercial actress and former model and is quite friendly and bubbly. She is conveniently staying in New York City while filming a new television ad for toothpaste. Richard finds himself awkwardly tempted by the curvaceous Girl in one situation after another.

The Seven Year Itch is pure innocence and fantasy. The Girl has no designs on Richard, whatsoever, and his flirtation with her is harmless and juvenile. Richard is nerdy and socially awkward, not to mention fearful of his wife’s stern nature, should she find out that he is even spending a moment with The Girl.

Much of the film includes scenes where Richard imagines conversations with his wife or imagines her with another man, justifying his attraction for The Girl. These scenes are done hilariously as he imagines conversations with his wife and much of his thoughts are exaggerated.

Humorous scenes transpire such as the “champagne scene” in which The Girl and Richard attempt to open a champagne bottle while cooling off with Richard’s new state-of-the-art air conditioner.  The Girl keeps her underpants in a freezer to cool off.

The Girl appearing in her toothpaste commercial, comically, is also a treat. And who can forget Marilyn Monroe’s famous scene in which she appears standing over a subway grate, clad in a sexy white dress and high heels, the wind from the subway blowing her dress in the air is one of the most memorable in film history and priceless.

Some would argue that The Seven Year Itch is nothing but fluff and they in large part are correct, but in an age of crude and obnoxious films disguised as romantic comedies, with cheesy jokes and canned humor, it is refreshing to revel back to 1950’s culture, largely an innocent era, and enjoy a fun film romp with one of cinema’s forever stars.

1960 Films, Best Picture Oscar Winners, Billy Wilder, Comedy, Jack Lemmon, Romantic Comedy, Shirley MacLaine

The Apartment-1960

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The Apartment-1960

Director Billy Wilder

Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine

Scott’s Review #7

60011007

Reviewed June 17, 2014

Grade: A-

The Apartment (1960) is another gem by Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, The Lost Weekend), this one is set in 1959 New York City, a setting and period I just adore.

The black and white are highly effective as they portray the loneliness and bleakness of the characters who are all friendless, sad, and starved for love.

It questions social morality and getting ahead in the corporate world, but goes from drama to romantic comedy, but with no sappiness. Quite the contrary, as the film has dark moments of despair and angst.

The film had a direct influence on the television series “Mad Men”. As with most Billy Wilder films, there is a darkness of humanity, which is fascinating to watch.

Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are terrific but knocked down a notch as I didn’t exactly see the chemistry between them, but is an excellent film.

The Apartment (1960) won the Best Picture Oscar.

Oscar Nominations: 5 wins-Best Motion Picture (won), Best Director-Billy Wilder (won), Best Actor-Jack Lemmon, Best Actress-Shirley MacLaine, Best Supporting Actor-Jack Kruschen, Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (won), Best Sound, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White (won), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Film Editing (won)

1953 Films, Billy Wilder, War, William Holden

Stalag 17-1953

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Stalag 17-1953

Director Billy Wilder

Starring William Holden, Don Taylor

Scott’s Review #5

994592

Reviewed June 16, 2014

Grade: B

Stalag 17 (1953), a film by famed director Billy Wilder, tackles the theme of POWs during World War II.

This film reminds me a bit of the acclaimed television show M*A*S*H in that the comedy elements are similar (men in drag, a light subplot of one soldier’s obsession with Betty Grable).

However, this film is heavy on the drama side too and a deep cynicism that network television shows cannot match.

A group of American soldiers is held in a POW camp by Germans. Somehow any escape plan is realized by the Germans. A whodunit ensues to find out who exactly the mole is and what his motivations are. Liberties are taken- I doubt the real German soldiers would be as nice as they are depicted in the film.

William Holden stars as the cynic of the camp and the likely suspect, but is he the culprit?

This film is a hybrid of other Wilder films- the cross-dressing theme in Some Like it Hot (1959) is depicted and shades of the darkness of Sunset Boulevard (1950) (also starring Holden) appear.

The black and white are effective in eliciting the confinement of the camp.

Good film though a predictable “seen this all before” element nagged throughout.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Director-Billy Wilder, Best Actor-William Holden (won), Best Supporting Actor-Robert Strauss