8.5
8.5
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006
as Self (archive footage)
Billy Wilder
Also known as: Samuel Wilder
Directing
Born:June 22, 1906
Died:March 27, 2002(aged 95)
Birthplace:Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary
Nationality:United States
Education:University of Vienna
N/A
CommunityBiography
Billy Wilder, born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906, was an Austrian-born director, screenwriter and producer who is regarded as one of the most successful filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Today he is best known for his comedies, although he also directed dramas and film noirs. Wilder is one of only five people who have won Academy Awards as producer, director, and writer for the same film (The Apartment). Wilder's career began in Germany, where he worked as a writer for comedy films from 1930. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, he emigrated to the United States, where he continued to write screenplays, including Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939) and Howard Hawks' Ball of Fire (1941). From the early 1940s, Wilder was allowed to film his own screenplays and thus made a name for himself as a director. Initially, his greatest successes included predominantly dramatic film noirs such as Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Ace in the Hole (1951). It was only then that he increasingly turned to comedy, including Stalag 17 (1953), Sabrina (1954) and The Seven Year Itch (1955), although he made a small detour to courtroom drama with Witness for the Prosecution (1957). With Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960) he made his most famous and probably most successful comedy films, the latter even receiving five Oscars. In One, Two, Three (1961), Wilder dealt with the conditions of the time in his former adopted country, Germany, and made the successful romantic comedy Irma la Douce (1963). In the two decades that followed, Wilder made seven more films, which were less well received by critics and audiences, although the German-French drama Fedora (1978) is viewed somewhat more favorably today by predominantly pretentious film experts. Some time later, Wilder was under discussion as director for Schindler's List, which he had wanted as the end of his long career, but ultimately had to turn it down due to his advanced age.
Notable Works
Double IndemnitySunset BoulevardAce in the HoleStalag 17SabrinaThe Seven Year ItchWitness for the ProsecutionSome Like It HotThe ApartmentThe Fortune Cookie
Filmography (74 movies)
8.4
8.4
What Women Dream
1933
Screenplay
8.3
8.3
Sunset Boulevard
1950
Director
8.2
8.2
Witness for the Prosecution
1957
Screenplay
8.2
8.2
The Apartment
1960
Director
8.1
8.1
Double Indemnity
1944
Screenplay
8.1
8.1
Some Like It Hot
1959
Director
8.0
8.0
Hollywood's Second World War
2019
as Self (archive footage)
8.0
8.0
Billy Wilder: Nobody's Perfect
2016
as Self (archive footage)
7.9
7.9
Ace in the Hole
1951
Director
7.7
7.7
Stalag 17
1953
Writer
7.6
7.6
The Lost Weekend
1945
Screenplay
7.6
7.6
Emil and the Detectives
1954
Screenplay
7.5
7.5
Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman
1996
as Self
7.5
7.5
Sabrina
1954
Director
7.5
7.5
Ninotchka
1939
Screenplay
7.5
7.5
One, Two, Three
1961
Producer
7.4
7.4
Irma la Douce
1963
Director
7.3
7.3
Ball of Fire
1941
Screenplay
7.3
7.3
Midnight
1939
Screenplay
7.3
7.3
Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder
2017
as Self (archive footage)
7.3
7.3
The Front Page
1974
Screenplay
7.2
7.2
People on Sunday
1930
Screenplay
7.1
7.1
The Fortune Cookie
1966
Director
7.1
7.1
A Foreign Affair
1948
Director
7.1
7.1
The Seven Year Itch
1955
Producer
7.1
7.1
The Major and the Minor
1942
Director
7.0
7.0
Love in the Afternoon
1957
Screenplay
7.0
7.0
Billy Wilder Speaks
2006
as Self - Filmmaker
7.0
7.0
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006
as Self (archive footage)
7.0
7.0
Billy, How Did You Do It?
1992
as Self
7.0
7.0
Once There Was a Waltz
1932
Writer
7.0
7.0
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
1938
Screenplay
7.0
7.0
Kiss Me, Stupid
1964
Screenplay
6.9
6.9
Five Graves to Cairo
1943
Screenplay
6.9
6.9
Avanti!
1972
Screenplay
6.8
6.8
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
1970
Director
6.8
6.8
Emil and the Detectives
1931
Screenplay
6.7
6.7
Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder
1982
as Self
6.7
6.7
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
1966
6.7
6.7
Hold Back the Dawn
1941
Writer
6.7
6.7
Fedora
1978
Producer
6.6
6.6
The Man in Search of His Murderer
1931
Screenplay
6.6
6.6
The Spirit of St. Louis
1957
Producer
6.5
6.5
Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough
1997
as Self
6.5
6.5
Death Mills
1945
Director
6.3
6.3
Arise, My Love
1940
Screenplay
6.3
6.3
Witness for the Prosecution
1982
Screenplay
6.1
6.1
Buddy Buddy
1981
Writer
6.0
6.0
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
1998
as Self
6.0
6.0
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
2001
as Self (archive footage)
6.0
6.0
The Emperor Waltz
1948
Director
6.0
6.0
Scampolo, ein Kind der Straße
1932
Writer
5.6
5.6
Bad Seed
1934
Writer
5.1
5.1
That Certain Age
1938
Writer
5.0
5.0
Emil and the Detectives
1935
Screenplay
5.0
5.0
The Blue from the Sky
1932
Screenplay
5.0
5.0
Her Grace Commands
1931
Writer
4.9
4.9
A Blonde Dream
1932
Writer
4.8
4.8
Music in the Air
1934
Screenplay
4.5
4.5
Double Indemnity
1973
Screenplay
4.0
4.0
Madame Wants No Children
1933
Screenplay
3.2
3.2
Adorable
1933
Writer
3.0
3.0
The Lottery Lover
1935
Screenplay
Directed by William Wyler
1986
as Self
Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Door
1996
as Self
Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor
2000
as Self (archive footage)
Der Teufelsreporter
1929
Writer
Happy Ever After
1932
Writer
What a Life
1939
Screenplay
Princess, At Your Orders!
1931
Writer
The Wrong Husband
1931
Writer
The Winner
1932
Writer
The fight with the dragon or: The tragedy of the lodger
1930
Writer
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