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Sneak Preview SNEAK PREVIEW For more information on adopting this title for your course, please contact us at: [email protected] or 800-200-3908 WATCHING WILDER A Critical Guide to Director Billy Wilder’s Films By Sherry Lowell-Lewis WATCHING WILDER A Critical Guide to Director Billy Wilder’s Films First Edition Sherry Lowell-Lewis University of Texas—El Paso Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher John Remington, Acquisitions Editor Gem Rabanera, Project Editor Christian Berk, Production Editor Emely Villavicencio, Senior Graphic Designer Trey Soto, Licensing Coordinator Natalie Piccotti, Director of Marketing Kassie Graves, Vice President of Editorial Jamie Giganti, Director of Academic Publishing Copyright © 2020 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc. For inquiries regard- ing permissions, translations, foreign rights, audio rights, and any other forms of reproduction, please contact the Cognella Licensing Department at [email protected]. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Printed in the United States of America. CONTENTS Acknowledgments ................................................................................vii Foreword ..................................................................................................ix Introduction .............................................................................................xi The Wilder Films, with Plot and Commentary and You Are the Critic 1. The Major and the Minor (1942) ............................................................................... 1 2. Five Graves to Cairo (1943) ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4 3. Double Indemnity (1944)............................................................................................. 8 4. The Lost Weekend (1945) �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������11 5. A Foreign Affair (1948) ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������16 6. The Emperor Waltz (1948) ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������20 7. Sunset Blvd (1950).....................................................................................................23 8. Ace in the Hole (1951)...............................................................................................27 9. Stalag 17 (1953)..........................................................................................................32 10. Sabrina (1954) ..........................................................................................................36 11. The Seven Year Itch (1955) ....................................................................................39 12. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������44 13. Love in the Afternoon (1957)..................................................................................47 14. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) ......................................................................50 15. Some Like It Hot (1959) �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������53 16. The Apartment (1960) ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������56 17. One, Two, Three (1961) �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������60 18. Irma la Douce (1963) �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������64 19. Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������68 20. The Fortune Cookie (1966) .....................................................................................72 21. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) ........................................................77 22. Avanti! (1972) ...........................................................................................................80 23. The Front Page (1974) ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������83 24. Fedora (1978)............................................................................................................87 25. Buddy, Buddy (1981) �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������91 v vi | Watching Wilder: A Critical Guide to Director Billy Wilder’s Films Appendices .............................................................................................97 A. Suggested Playlist....................................................................................................98 B. Wilder’s Tips ........................................................................................................... 100 C. Wilder and the Noir Connection ......................................................................... 101 D. Wilderisms.............................................................................................................. 103 E. Accolades ............................................................................................................... 105 F. Wilder Wonders ...................................................................................................... 111 G. Lemmon on Wilder ................................................................................................ 113 H. Other Works ........................................................................................................... 114 I. Death Mills (1945) ................................................................................................... 115 J. Wilder on Wilder .................................................................................................... 116 K. Annotated Film Critique Sheet ............................................................................ 119 Sources................................................................................................. 124 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS t is important that I take a moment to thank the people who helped make Watching Wilder possible. It started as a collection of lecture notes for a I course in Cinematic Auteurs at the University of Texas at El Paso in 2016. My student, Larry Powers, kept after me to turn my loose-leaf folder full of lecture notes into a real book; without his relentless encouragement, I would have given up. My sons, Ben and Colin, have been sounding boards and cheerleaders throughout. My precious grandchildren, Logan, Landrew, Keara and Skylar, encouraged me proudly and sweetly. They keep me grounded. Dr. Stacey Sowards at the University of Texas, El Paso provided me with support that went far beyond my expectations, which gave me substantive courage. The staff at Cognella have all been very supportive and helpful in fine tuning my work into a readable, workable text. I especially want to thank Executive Editor John Remington, who accepted the book. Also, Project Editor Gem Rabanera and Associate Production Editor Berenice Quirino were immensely constructive. Finally, I am most appreciative of my reader, Susana Christie, who offered suggestions for design and clarity. Ultimately, this book belongs to Billy Wilder. I am grateful to them all. Sherry Lowell-Lewis 2019 vii FOREWORD hen I think of the vast collection of films directed and conceived “behind the lens” by Billy Wilder, my attention is focused on W the intense complex female characters who are all larger than life. Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard,” Phyllis Dietrichson, in “Double Indemnity,” Sugar Kane in “Some Like It Hot,” and even Fran Kubelik in “The Apartment.” Woman who are tough, sultry, and yet a man always seems to change the course of their destiny. Who is the protagonist? The antagonist? Is Norma Desmond crazy and bad, or is young Joe Gillis the method behind the madness? Same with Phyllis Dietrichson, and Walter Neff. The scene in the Los Angeles Grocery Store in 1944 is one of the most powerful scenes in cinematic history. Billy Wilder makes us wonder who actually is running the show here, and one questions who indeed orchestrated the murder behind the “double indemnity clause.” In Billy Wilder films, it takes two people to make a murder, to make a silent film star insane, a naive woman like Fran Kubelik find clarity in the stable CC Baxter, and for Sugar Kane, it truly is another “saxophone player,” who steals her heart. There is always the character who is “grounded,” in Billy Wilder films. That one person who helps to tell the story and keep all of the pieces of the puzzle together in a neat pile. “Max,” in “Sunset Boulevard,” is not just the Butler; he was Norma’s first husband who made her the star of the silent era. He is there for her, to guide her, and to insure her ultimate safety and happiness, even in the form of her servant. In “Double Indemnity”, the insurance investigator, Barton Keyes, again, puts all of the pieces of the puzzle together to insure that he understands the crime, but understands what motivates Walter, someone
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