Films of Billy Wilder in Brief Quiz

Answer: Sunset Boulevard

From 1950, William Holden and Gloria Swanson combine in a macabre dance of two unhappy souls trying to find some comfort in each other's pain. Swanson is the former Hollywood star who can't realize her day is past. Holden stumbles into her life by accident as he tries to revive his flagging career as a screenwriter. With a confused mix of boredom, pity, love and curiosity, he tries to help her.

The results are disastrous, as she sinks into delusion. The movie is an excellent character study, and not as depressing as that synopsis sounds! "Sunset Boulevard" received eleven Oscar nominations and won three, including Best Screenplay for Wilder.

Answer: Double Indemnity

Barbara Stanwyck sizzles with sinister power as her character ruthlessly manipulates that of Fred MacMurray in this classic, which helped to define "film noir." The title refers to a clause in some insurance policies whereby the beneficiary receives double the stated amount if the insured suffers an accidental death. Edward G. Robinson also stars as the claims adjuster who starts to investigate when the "little man" in his stomach tells him something isn't quite right.

The 1944 film was based on a 1943 novella by James M. Cain, which in turn was based on a real life murder case which made headlines in 1927 in New York City.

The screenplay was a collaboration between Wilder and Raymond Chandler, known for his hard-bitten detective novels featuring the oft portrayed Philip Marlowe, which helped define that genre.

Answer: Some Like it Hot

Two musicians, played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, witness a gang murder in 1929 Chicago. To get away, they dress in drag and join up with an all girls band which is traveling to Florida. Hilarious high jinks ensue as both men secretly pursue Sugar, the luscious female lead singer, portrayed by Marilyn Monroe.

The boys barely manage to conceal their true gender in a series of more and more comically absurd situations as they compete for Sugar's attention. The 1959 film consistently ranks at the top of comedy "best" lists and was named top all-time comedy on The American Film Institute's "100 years...100 laughs" list from 2000.

Answer: The Lost Weekend

Ray Milland stars in this dark 1945 reality check about a struggling alcoholic writer who goes on a four day binge. The movie was arguably well ahead of its time. It's a stark, brutally accurate depiction of the nature of alcohol addiction, at a time when the stigma of this heart breaking, family-devastating condition was even greater than today, and the disease concept was not widely accepted. Milland gives a thoroughly convincing portrayal of the drunk, who consistently disappoints and deceives those who care about him, in order get the next drink.

Initial audience response to the film was not good. Perhaps expecting a comedy, patrons often laughed at the lead character's misfortune and bumbling, and others found it disgusting or boring. Director Wilder claims one review card said that the movie was great but "all that stuff about drinking and alcoholism should have been left out." The movie has appreciated in the eyes of film critics over time.

Answer: The Apartment

Wilder coaxes another fine performance out of Fred MacMurray, who, as he was in "Double Indemnity", is cast against type. In this instance, he's an unsavory boss who's looking for a convenient place to cheat on his wife. Jack Lemon is his underling who initially lends out his in town apartment for the trysts, then has second thoughts when he sees the effect on one particular woman (played by Shirley MacClaine) who is being used.

As with other Wilder screenplays, he uses his deft directing touch to find the comedy, while still treating a sensitive subject seriously and with tenderness. Total trivia: C.C. Baxter, Lemmon's character, is a mid-level accountant in the firm, but his apartment in the film contains two original Tiffany lamps which in 2017 would probably fetch more than $40,000 dollars each on eBay.

When the movie was made in 1960, they might have been put in the trash if they broke.

Answer: Ninotchka

It's the drab and rigid Russian state versus the bright freedom of Paris in this Greta Garbo light comedy with a subtle political message. The film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, was a hit in 1939, and marked the peak of of her worldwide popularity. Wilder received a screenwriting credit. Garbo positively commands the screen as a Russian agent tasked with ensuring the sale of the jewels of an aristocrat (the Grand Duchess), confiscated for "the good of the Party." The previous state representatives have been distracted by the good life and a fancy hotel suite in Paris, and failed in their mission to complete the jewel sale.

A poignant, fragile romance develops between Ninotchka and Count Leon (Melvyn Douglas), who is looking out for the interests of the Grand Duchess. Can his charms melt the ice princess, or will the symbol of Soviet rectitude resist his bourgeois but undeniable charms? In 1954, Greta Garbo was voted "the most beautiful woman who ever lived" by "The Guinness Book of World Records".

Answer: The Spirit of Saint Louis

Jimmy Stewart stars as Charles Lindbergh, the All American aviator who made the historic first trans-Atlantic flight on May 20th-21st, 1927. Charles Lederer, Wendell Mayes and Wilder co-wrote the screenplay, which they adapted from Lindbergh's 1953 autobiography.

The film, from 1957, includes Lindbergh's introduction to flying, and goes into detail about his preparation for the famous trip across the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to the fictional depiction of his hero's landing and welcome in Paris, the movie ends with real news footage of Lindbergh's ticker tape parade upon returning to New York.

Answer: Sabrina

The star power is dazzling as Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn headline in another of Billy Wilder's finest romantic comedies, "Sabrina" from 1954. Sabrina (Hepburn) at first pines for rakish younger brother David (Holden). But he's "to the manor born" and she's the scrawny chauffeur's daughter he doesn't even see.

Her father is able to send her to finishing school in Paris, and she comes back a woman with style and looks, which immediately attracts David's attention. Things get interesting when older brother Linus (Bogart) also starts noticing her, and she develops feelings for him as well. Bogart reportedly groused through much of the filming, thought Hepburn wasn't up to the task, and didn't particularly like Holden. Adding to his displeasure was his belief that his main squeeze Lauren Bacall should have gotten the Sabrina part.

Despite or perhaps because of all this, and a brief, not-so-secret, very torrid romance between Hepburn and Holden, Wilder was able to use the tension, get the principals to deliver, and produce a compelling film.

Answer: Stalag 17

To go with with his impeccable comedy credentials, Wilder also delivered several more serious gems, including "Stalag 17", the taut drama set in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II. The 1953 film earned him a Best Director nomination, and gave star William Holden a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of J.J. Sefton, the camp scavenger and black market trafficker who becomes a suspected informant when two escaping prisoners walk into a trap set by the Germans.

Here, Wilder uses his keen ear for dialogue and sense of timing to create a chillingly realistic sense of doubt and paranoia among the men in their dire situation.

Answer: The Fortune Cookie

Jack Lemmon, one of Billy Wilder's favorite actors, teams up with Walter Matthau for their first of many collaborations in this 1966 comedy with a cynical edge. Lemmon is the sideline cameraman who gets injured while photographing a football game. Matthau plays his brother-in-law, an unscrupulous lawyer who convinces him to fake a back injury for the insurance money. Matthau and Lemmon went on to make nine more films together, including "The Odd Couple" (1968), "The Front Page" (1974), and "Grumpy Old Men" (1993). Matthau won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film, and Wilder was again nominated for his screenplay, an honor he received ten times!