Billy Wilder
Biography: Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-born director, screenwriter and producer who is regarded as one of the most excellent 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.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: June 22, 1906
Deathday: March 27, 2002
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Known For
Billy Wilder: Nobody's Perfect
2016-12-29
Billy Wilder: Nobody's Perfect
Overview: Biography on the famous writer-director, Billy Wilder.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2016-12-29
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Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder
1982-05-21
Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder
Overview: French film critic Michel Ciment interviews Billy Wilder about his life and filmmaking.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1982-05-21
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The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006-06-25
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
Overview: A look back at the impact Billy Wilder's comedy classic "Some Like It Hot" has left since it's release in 1959.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2006-06-25
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The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
2006-06-25
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
Overview: A look back at the making of Billy Wilder's 1959 comedy classic "Some Like It Hot."
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2006-06-25
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Hollywood's Second World War
2019-09-03
Hollywood's Second World War
Overview: For the USA, World War 2 was an all-out war - to mobilize the masses, the US government launched a huge propaganda campaign and cinema, the medium of the masses, was quite simply their most important weapon. Government authorities monitored the production of feature films and the military itself produced documentaries aimed at rallying the American people to support the troops. This film tells the story of four Hollywood directors of European origin, who returned to the "Old World" during the Second World War to make propaganda documentaries for the US Army at the front: William Wyler from Alsace, Frank Capra from Italy, Anatole Litvak from Ukraine and - in post-war Germany - Billy Wilder from Austria.
Genres: Documentary War History TV Movie
Original Language: de
Release Date: 2019-09-03
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Billy, How Did You Do It?
1992-01-25
Billy, How Did You Do It?
Overview: An interview between Volker Schlöndorff and Billy Wilder.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1992-01-25
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Night Will Fall
2014-06-07
Night Will Fall
Overview: When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2014-06-07
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Audrey
2020-11-30
Audrey
Overview: An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
Genres: Documentary History TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2020-11-30
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Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor
2000-05-21
Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor
Overview: Klaus Kinski is one of the few German actors who has achieved international fame. He made headlines. And disappeared behind them. Kinski lived his parts 24/7. This film tells the story of a man who no longer could understand the difference or distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: de
Release Date: 2000-05-21
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Audrey Hepburn: Remembered
1993-08-11
Audrey Hepburn: Remembered
Overview: Audrey Hepburn was one of the movies' best-loved stars, blessed with beauty, talent, an elegant sophistication and an enduring aura of youthful innocence. As Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, she spoke for the world's suffering children and families, earning an affection and admiration that only increased with news of her untimely death. From the star herself we learn of her career and the family and friendships that were her priority.
Genres: TV Movie Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1993-08-11
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Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Door
1996-12-17
Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Door
Overview: Amiable and unassuming, Fred MacMurray went from small-town boy to one of Hollywood and television's most enduring stars.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1996-12-17
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Helmut by June
2007-04-30
Helmut by June
Overview: An intimate portrait of iconic photographer Helmut Newton shot by his wife and fellow photographer June Newton.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2007-04-30
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Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
1998-02-04
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
Overview: A profile of writer-director Billy Wilder
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1998-02-04
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Billy Wilder Speaks
2006-06-22
Billy Wilder Speaks
Overview: In 1988, German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff sat down with legendary director Billy Wilder (1906-2002) at his office in Beverly Hills, California, and turned on his camera for a series of filmed interviews. (A recut of the 1992 TV miniseries Billy, How Did You Do It?)
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2006-06-22
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Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood
2009-01-01
Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood
Overview: Eight hundred German filmmakers (cast and crew) fled the Nazis in the 1930s. The film uses voice-overs, archival footage, and film clips to examine Berlin's vital filmmaking in the 1920s; then it follows a producer, directors, composers, editors, writers, and actors to Hollywood: some succeeded and many found no work. Among those profiled are Erich Pommer, Joseph May, Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, and Peter Lorre. Once in Hollywood, these exiles helped each other, housed new arrivals, and raised money so others could escape. Some worked on anti-Nazi films, like Casablanca. The themes and lighting of German Expressionism gave rise in Hollywood to film noir.
Genres: TV Movie Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2009-01-01
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Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder
2017-10-28
Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder
Overview: A funny walk through the life story of Billy Wilder (1906-2002), a cinematic genius; a portrait of a filmmaker who never was a boring man, a superb mind who had ten commandments, of which the first nine were: “Thou shalt not bore.”
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: de
Release Date: 2017-10-28
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Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman
1996-11-25
Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman
Overview: Jack Lemmon made over 60 films and received numerous awards, including eight Academy Award Nominations and two Oscars. Later in life, his achievement was enriched by new challenges in which he exposed the vulnerability and emotion of the later years as few had dared. He reveled in his ongoing screen partnerships with directors like Billy Wilder and stars like Walter Matthau. Narrated on-camera by Jack Lemmon, this documentary includes interviews with Lemmon's son, the actor Chris Lemmon. Also appearing are such legends as Jack's life-long friend, the writer and director Billy Wilder, writer-director Garson Kanin, drama teacher Uta Hagen and actor Gregory Peck.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1996-11-25
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And the Oscar Goes To...
2014-02-01
And the Oscar Goes To...
Overview: The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2014-02-01
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The Exiles
1989-09-24
The Exiles
Overview: A chronicle of the rescue of oppressed intellectuals and artists from Europe before the outbreak of World War II. It studies the cultural and intellectual impact of this emigre population on American life.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1989-09-24
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Directed by William Wyler
1986-05-01
Directed by William Wyler
Overview: Documentary about the famed Hollywood director.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1986-05-01
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Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough
1997-01-01
Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough
Overview: A profile of the life of actor Walter Matthau.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1997-01-01
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Shadows of Suspense
2006-08-22
Shadows of Suspense
Overview: A documentary featuring film historians, directors and authors discussing the making of Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity."
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2006-08-22
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Nobody's Perfect - The Making of Some Like It Hot
2001-12-31
Nobody's Perfect - The Making of Some Like It Hot
Overview: Documentary discussing the casting and making of "Some Like It Hot", the film voted as the Best Comedy ever made by the American Film Institute.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2001-12-31
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