Billy Wilder Summary

Wilder, Billy (1906—) Born Samuel Wilder in an Austrian village, this six-time Academy Award winning director, screenwriter, and producer was dubbed Billy after Buffalo Bill of the 1880s travel... Read more

Billy Wilder (born 1906) has been honored repeatedly as one of Hollywood's finest directors, writers, and producers. He created more than 50 films, encompassing such well-known comedies as The Apartme... Read more

Critical Essay by John Gillett [The technical problems of The Spirit of St. Louis are] managed with all the professionalism and flair that Hollywood can muster for such occasions. The presentation... Read more

Critical Essay by Henry Hart [One, Two, Three] is 1961's best comedy. Which is a rather sad fact, for Wilder comedy is socially disintegrative. It amuses, but it devitalizes, and we are less, ... Read more

Critical Essay by John Simon Billy Wilder's films are belt-and-suspender films: they combine the jaunty, sportif appearance of the belt-wearer with the comfortable, homespun look of the suspen... Read more

Critical Essay by Joseph Mcbride and Michael Wilmington Wilder's forte is the great American congame. In practically all of his movies (original stories and adaptations alike) the plot revolve... Read more

Critical Essay by Joseph Mcbride In his new movie, Avanti!, Billy Wilder is still trying hard to become Ernst Lubitsch. The strain shows, some of the romanticism is forced and mechanical, but there i... Read more

Critical Essay by Andrew Sarris From the first strains of Miklos Rozsa's vintage '40s score [in Fedora] we are transported to a timeless realm in which nothing has really changed. The c... Read more

Critical Essay by Penelope Houston In Sunset Boulevard the Brackett-Wilder team took an outsize, legendary character, examined her coldly and ironically—but did not destroy her legendary quali... Read more