by Ed Sikov
LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957). Allied Artists. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on the novel Ariane by Claude Anet; cinematographer: William C. Mellor; musical score: Franz Waxman; art director: Alexander Trauner; editor: Léonide Azar; associate producers: Doane Harrison and William Schorr; songs: Henri Betti, Matty Malneck, F. D. Marchetti, André Hornez, and Maurice De Feaurdy; sound: Jean De Bretagne; assistant director: Paul Feyder; second-unit director: Noel Howard. Cast: Gary Cooper (Frank Flannagan); Audrey Hepburn (Ariane Chavasse); Maurice Chevalier (Claude Chavasse); Van Doude (Michel); John McGiver (Monsieur X); Lise Bourdin (Madame X); Bonifas (commissioner of police); Claude Ariel (existentialist); Olivia Chevalier (child in garden); Alexander Trauner (artist); Audrey Wilder (brunette). 130 minutes.
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957). United Artists. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producers: Arthur Hornblow Jr. and Edward Small; screenplay: Billy Wilder and Harry Kurnitz, based on the play by Agatha Christie; cinematographer: Russell Harlan; art director: Alexander Trauner; musical score: Matty Malneck; costumes: Edith Head and Joe King; editor: Daniel Mandell; set decorator: Howard Bristol; assistant director: Emmett Emerson; associate producer: Doane Harrison; sound: Fred Lau; makeup: Gustaf Norin, Harry Ray, and Ray Sebastian. Cast: Tyrone Power (Leonard Vole); Marlene Dietrich (Christine Vole); Charles Laughton (Sir Wilfrid Robarts); Elsa Lanchester (Miss Plimsoll); John Williams (Brogan-Moore); Henry Daniell (Mayhew); Ian Wolfe (Carter); Torin Thatcher (Mr. Myers); Norma Varden (Mrs. French); Una O’Connor (Janet McKenzie); Francis Compton (judge); Philip Tonge (Inspector Hearne); Ruta Lee (Diana). 116 minutes.
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959). United Artists/Mirisch Company/Ashton Productions. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on the film Fanfaren des Liebe, written by M. Logan and Robert Thoeren; cinematographer: Charles Lang; musical score: Adolph Deutsch; art director: Ted Haworth; costumes: Orry-Kelly; editor: Arthur P. Schmidt; associate producers: I. A. L. Diamond and Doane Harrison; set decorator: Edward G. Boyle; makeup: Emile LaVigne; sound: Fred Lau; song supervisor: Matty Malneck; assistant director: Sam Nelson; special effects: Milt Rice. Cast: Marilyn Monroe (Sugar Kane); Tony Curtis (Joe); Jack Lemmon (Jerry); George Raft (Spats); Pat O’Brien (Mulligan); Joe E. Brown (Osgood Fielding); Nehemiah Persoff (Little Bonaparte); Joan Shawlee (Sweet Sue); Billy Gray (Sid Poliakoff); George E. Stone (Toothpick Charlie); Dave Barry (Beinstock); Mike Mazurki (henchman); Harry Wilson (henchman); Beverly Wills (Dolores); Barbara Drew (Nellie); Edward G. Robinson Jr. (Paradise). 119 minutes.
THE APARTMENT (1960). United Artists/Mirisch Company. Black and white. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond; cinematographer: Joseph LaShelle; art director: Alexander Trauner; musical score: Adolph Deutsch; editor: Daniel Mandell; producer: Billy Wilder; associate producers: I. A. L. Diamond and Doane Harrison; set decorator: Edward G. Boyle; sound: Gordon Sawyer and Fred Lau; assistant director: Hal W. Polaire; makeup: Harry Ray; special effects: Milt Rice; script supervisor: May Wale. Cast: Jack Lemmon (C. C. “Bud” Baxter); Shirley MacLaine (Fran Kubelik); Fred MacMurray (J. D. Sheldrake); Jack Kruschen (Dr. Dreyfuss); Ray Walston (Joe Dobisch); Frances Weintraub Lax (Mrs. Lieberman); Hope Holiday (Margie MacDougall); Johnny Seven (Karl Matuschka); Naomi Stevens (Mrs. Dreyfuss); Willard Waterman (Mr. Vanderhof); Joan Shawlee (Sylvia); Edie Adams (Miss Olsen); David Lewis (Mr. Kirkeby); David White (Mr. Eichelberger); Hal Smith (Santa Claus); Joyce Jameson (blonde). 125 minutes.
ONE, TWO, THREE (1961). United Artists/Mirisch Company/Pyramid Productions. Black and white. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on the play by Ferenc Molnár; cinematographer: Daniel L. Fapp; art director: Alexander Trauner; associate producers: I. A. L. Diamond and Doane Harrison; musical score: André Previn; editor: Daniel Mandell; sound: Basil Fenton-Smith; assistant director: Tom Pevsner; special effects: Milt Rice. Cast: James Cagney (MacNamara); Horst Buchholz (Otto Ludwig Piffl); Pamela Tiffin (Scarlett Hazeltine); Arlene Francis (Phyllis MacNamara); Howard St. John (Mr. Hazeltine); Hanns Lothar (Schlemmer); Leon Askin (Peripetchikoff); Ralf Wolter (Borodenko); Peter Capell (Mishkin); Karl Lieffen (Fritz); Hubert von Meyerinck (Count von Droste-Schattenburg); Lois Bolton (Mrs. Hazeltine); Til Kiwe (reporter); Henning Schlüter (Dr. Bauer); Lilo Pulver (Ingeborg); Christine Allen (Cindy MacNamara); John Allen (Tommy MacNamara); Ivan Arnold (M.P.); Klaus Becker (policeman); Max Buchsbaum (tailor); Werner Buttler (policeman); Red Buttons (M.P.); Paul Bos (Krause); Jacques Chevalier (Pierre); Ingrid DeToro (stewardess); Otto Friebel (interrogator); Werner Hessenland (shoe salesman); Jaspar von Oertzen (haberdasher). 115 minutes.
IRMA LA DOUCE (1963). United Artists. Technicolor. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on the musical by Alexandre Breffort and Marguerite Monnot; cinematographer: Joseph LaShelle; art director: Alexander Trauner; musical score: André Previn; costumes: Orry-Kelly; editor: Daniel Mandell; associate producers: I. A. L. Diamond and Doane Harrison; assistant director: Hal W. Polaire; special effects: Milton Rice. Cast: Jack Lemmon (Nestor Patou); Shirley MacLaine (Irma); Lou Jacobi (Moustache); Bruce Yarnell (Hippolyte); Herschel Bernardi (Inspector Lefevre); Hope Holiday (Lolita); Joan Shawlee (Amazon Annie); Grace Lee Whitney (Kiki the Cossack); Paul Dubov (Andre); Howard McNear (concierge); Cliff Osmond (Police Sergeant); Diki Lerner (Jojo); Herb Jones (Casablanca Charlie); Ruth Earl (one of the Zebra twins); Jane Earl (one of the zebra twins); Tura Satana (Suzette Wong); Lou Krugman (first customer); James Brown (Texan); Bill Bixby (tattooed sailor); Harriette Young (Mimi the MauMau); Sheryl Deauville (Carmen); James Caan (uncredited extra). 147 minutes.
KISS ME, STUPID (1964). Mirisch Company/Lopert Pictures. Black and white. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on the play L’Ora della Fantasia by Anna Bonacci; cinematographer: Joseph LaShelle; musical score: André Previn, George Gershwin, and Ira Gershwin; art director: Alexander Trauner; costumes: Wesley Jeffries; editor: Daniel Mandell; producer: Billy Wilder; associate producers: I. A. L. Diamond and Doane Harrison; set decorator: Edward G. Boyle; assistant director: Charles C. Coleman Jr.; makeup: Loren Cosand and Emile LaVigne; art director: Robert Luthardt; sound: Clem Portman; special effects: Milton Rice. Cast: Dean Martin (Dino); Kim Novak (Polly the Pistol); Ray Walston (Orville J. Spooner); Felicia Farr (Zelda Spooner); Cliff Osmond (Barney Milsap); Barbara Pepper (Big Bertha); James Ward (milkman); Doro Merande (Mrs. Pettibone); Howard McNear (Mr. Pettibone); Bobo Lewis (waitress); Tommy Nolan (Johnnie Mulligan); Alice Pearce (Mrs. Mulligan); John Fiedler (Rev. Carruthers); Arlen Stuart (Rosalie Schultz); Cliff Norton (Mack Gray); Mel Blanc (Dr. Sheldrake); Eileen O’Neal (showgirl); Susan Wedell (showgirl); Bernd Hoffmann (bartender); Henry Gibson (Smith); Alan Dexter (Wesson); Henry Beckman (truck driver). 124 minutes.
THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966). United Artists/Mirisch Company/Phalanx/Jalem. Black and white. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond; cinematographer: Joseph LaShelle; musical score: André Previn; costumes: Chuck Arrico and Paula Giokaris; editor: Daniel Mandell; associate producers: I. A. L. Diamond and Doane Harrison; special effects: Sass Bedig; set decorator Edward G. Boyle; makeup: Lauren Cosand; art director: Robert Luthardt; sound: Robert Martin; assistant director: Jack N. Reddish; makeup: Robert J. Schiffer. Cast: Jack Lemmon (Harry Hinkle); Walter Matthau (Willie Gingrich); Ron Rich (Luther “Boom Boom” Jackson); Judi West (Sandy); Cliff Osmond (Purkey); Lurene Tuttle (Mother Hinkle); Harry Holcombe (O’Brien); Les Tremayne (Thompson); Lauren Gilbert (Kincaid); Marge Redmond (Charlotte Gingrich); Noam Pitlik (Max); Harry Davis (Dr. Krugman); Ann Shoemaker (Sister Veronica); Maryesther Denver (nurse); Ned Glass (Doc Schindler); Sig Rumann (Prof. Winterhalter); Arc
hie Moore (Mr. Jackson); Howard McNear (Mr. Cimoli); William Christopher (intern); Don Reed (newscaster). 125 minutes.
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1970). United Artists/Mirisch Company. Color by DeLuxe. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle; cinematographer: Christopher Challis; musical score: Miklós Rózsa; art director: Alexander Trauner; costumes: Julie Harris; editor: Ernest Walter. Cast: Robert Stephens (Sherlock Holmes); Colin Blakely (Dr. John Watson); Genevive Page (Gabrielle Valladon); Christopher Lee (Mycroft Holmes); Tamara Toumanova (Patrova); Clive Revill (Rogozhin); Irene Handl (Mrs. Hudson); Mollie Maureen (Queen Victoria); Stanley Holloway (gravedigger); Catherine Lacey (old woman); Peter Madden (Von Tirpitz); Michael Balfour (cabbie); James Copeland (guide); George Benson (Inspector Lestrade); Michael Elwyn (Cassidy); Miklós Rózsa (conductor). 125 minutes.
AVANTI! (1972). Mirisch Corporation/Phalanx/Jalem. Color by DeLuxe. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, with contributions by Luciano Vincenzoni, based on the play by Samuel A. Taylor; cinematographer: Luigi Kuveiller; musical score: Carlo Rustichelli; art director: Ferdinando Scarfiotti; costumes: Lino Coletta; editor: Ralph E. Winters. Cast: Jack Lemmon (Wendell Armbruster); Juliet Mills (Pamela Piggott); Clive Revill (Carlo Carlucci); Edward Andrews (J. J. Blodgett); Gianfranco Barra (Bruno); Francesco Angrisano (Arnoldo Trotta); Pippo Franco (Mattarazzo); Franco Acampora (Armado Trotti); Giselda Castrini (Anna); Raffaele Mottola (passport officer); Lino Coletta (Cipriani); Harry Ray (Dr. Fleischmann); Guidarino Guidi (maître d’); Giacomo Rizzo (bartender); Antonino Di Bruno (concierge); Yanti Sommer (nurse); Janet Agren (nurse). 144 minutes.
THE FRONT PAGE (1974). Universal International. Technicolor. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; producers: Jennings Lang and Paul Monash; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur; cinematographer: Jordan Cronenweth; musical score: Billy May; costumes: Burton Miller; editor: Ralph E. Winters; art director: Henry Bumstead. Cast: Walter Matthau (Walter Burns); Jack Lemmon (Hildy Johnson); Susan Sarandon (Peggy Grant); David Wayne (Bensinger); Carol Burnett (Mollie Malloy); Austin Pendleton (Earl Williams); Vincent Gardenia (sheriff); Allen Garfield (Kruger); Herb Edelman (Schwartz); Charles Durning (Murphy); Martin Gabel (Dr. Eggelhofer); Harold Gould (mayor); Jon Korkes (Rudy Keppler); Dick O’Neill (McHugh); Cliff Osmond (Jacobi); Lou Frizzell (Endicott); Paul Benedict (Plunkett); Doro Merande (Jennie); Noam Pitlik (Wilson); Joshua Shelley (cabdriver); Allen Jenkins (telegrapher); John Furlong (Duffy); Biff Elliot (police dispatcher); Barbara Davis (Myrtle); Leonard Bremen (Butch). 105 minutes.
FEDORA (1978). Geria-Bavaria. Color. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on the story by Tom Tryon; cinematographer: Gerry Fisher; musical score: Miklós Rózsa; art director: Alexander Trauner; costumes: Charlotte Flemming; editors: Stefan Arsten and Fredric Steinkamp; associate producer: I. A. L. Diamond; assistant director: Jean-Patrick Constantini; production supervisor: Willy Egger; production coordinator: Harold Nebenzal; makeup: Tom Smith. Cast: William Holden (Barry “Dutch” Detweiler); Marthe Keller (Fedora); Hildegard Knef (Countess Sobryanski); Jose Ferrer (Dr. Vando); Frances Sternhagen (Miss Balfour); Mario Adorf (hotel manager); Stephen Collins (young Barry); Henry Fonda (president of the Academy); Michael York (himself); Hans Jaray (Count Sobryanski); Gottfried John (Kritos); Arlene Francis (newscaster); Jacques Maury (usher); Christine Mueller (young Antonia); Ellen Schwiers (nurse); Bob Cunningham (assistant director); Christoph Künzler (clerk); Mary Kelly (Gladys); Elma Karlowa (maid); Panos Papadopoulos (bartender); Rex McGee (photographer). 113 minutes.
BUDDY BUDDY (1981). MGM. Metrocolor. Panavision. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Jay Weston; screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, based on the film L’Emmerdeur, screenplay by Francis Veber; cinematographer: Harry Stradling Jr.; musical score: Lalo Schifrin; art director: Daniel A. Lomino; editor: Argyle Nelson; makeup: Stephen Abrums and Ron Snyder; costumes: John A. Anderson and Agnes G. Henry; executive producer: Alain Bernheim; associate producer: Charles Matthau; set decorator: Cloudia; assistant director: Gary Daigler; set design: William J. Durrell; special effects: Milt Rice; sound: Don Sharpless. Cast: Jack Lemmon (Victor Clooney); Walter Matthau (Trabucco); Paula Prentiss (Celia Clooney); Klaus Kinski (Dr. Zuckerbrot); Dana Elcar (Hubris); Miles Chapin (Eddie, the bellhop); Michael Ensign (assistant manager); Joan Shawlee (receptionist); Fil Formicola (Rudy “Disco” Gambola); C. J. Hunt (Kowalski); Bette Raya (maid); Ronnie Sperling (husband); Suzie Galler (wife); John Schubeck (newscaster); Ed Begley Jr. (policeman); Frank Farmer (policeman); Tom Kindle (patrolman); Biff Manard (patrolman); Charlotte Stewart (nurse). 96 minutes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Like filmmaking, the writing of a biography is a collaboration. Hundreds of people wrote this book with me, and to them I am inexpressibly grateful. The list of names that follows is a sorry attempt to reflect my thanks; its curtness embarrasses me, and I can only hope that everyone who finds his or her name on the roster knows how much their help and support really means to me. I thank my parents, Irving and Betty Sikov, for loving me no matter what. I have a very patient family. Christopher Bram, Mary Alexander, and Matthew Mirapaul waded through hundreds of thousands of words and told me, with affection and wisdom, which ones stank. I couldn’t ask for better friends. I’m particularly grateful to Patrick Merla, for performing the difficult task of pre-editing the book, checking facts, pointing out the boring parts, and convincing me to delete them. I didn’t know Dino Heicker at all when I asked him to wade through and translate a lot of German for me, and I’m indebted to him not only for his brilliant work but for his friendship as well. Adam Orman, Michael Wilson, Alex Volk, Michael Greenblatt, and Catherine Pagès researched and translated and held my hand, all at the same time, and they stayed friends with me even after they finished their tasks. Joe Smith and Tom Rhoads housed and fed me in Los Angeles and kept me from falling completely to pieces in a very strange city, and I’m grateful they still like me.
Of the many people who provided information and support, none were more unstinting than Andreas Hutter, whose diligent research is only surpassed by the generous spirit with which he shares it. He and Klaus Kamolz made my stay in Austria enormously productive and surprisingly comforting, and his master’s thesis on Wilder’s early life proved to be an invaluable source of information and criticism. The first five chapters of this book are indebted to him. Janet Malcolm steered me to Peter Swales, who steered me toward Klaus, who introduced me to Andreas; I thank them all. Howard Prouty, Sandra Archer, Sam Gill, Robert Cushman, Stacey Behlmer, Scott Curtis, Steve Garland, Sue Guldin, Jonathan Wahl, Norman Brennan, and the entire staff of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were inordinately kind to me as well as being supremely knowledgeable. Rosemarie van der Zee, Peter Latta, and Gerrit Thies at the Deutsche Stiftung Kinemathek were gracious and accommodating as well. Rebecca Collier at the National Archives could not have been more helpful; the time she spent sorting through old army records on my behalf was extraordinary. I’m also grateful to Wil Mahoney and David Pfeiffer, also at the Archives. Kenneth Geist, Donald Albrecht, and Molly Ornati and the New York Center for Visual History provided me with marvelous interview transcripts. Heartfelt thanks, too, to Howard and Ron Mandelbaum at Photofest. Charles Silver and Ron Magliozzi at the Museum of Modern Art; Ned Comstock and Stuart Ng at USC; Brigitte Keuppers at UCLA; and Gladys Irvis and her staff at the AFI—each of these heroic librarians responded to my persistent research requests with yeoman tact and expert care, and if I had any sense of honor I’d give them all a percentage of my royalties because they deserve it.
Particular thanks go to Don Albinson, Jerry Carlson, George W. Davis, Richard Deinler, Marta Eggerth Kiepura, Joan Fontaine, Joshua Harrison, Robert Lantz,
Juliet Mills, John and Marilyn Neuhart, Alfred Paddock Jr., the late Robert Parrish, Austin Pendleton, Susan Sarandon, Robert Staples, Jan Sterling, Don Taylor, Sally Rice Taylor, Annie Tresgot, and Ray Walston, all of whom agreed to share their thoughts and memories of Billy Wilder on the record. I am almost as grateful to those people who spoke with me on the condition that I keep their identities to myself. In addition, I drew inspiration, insight, and a life’s worth of raw data from a host of writers who profiled Billy Wilder and analyzed his films over the years. My deepest thanks go to Michel Ciment and the late Maurice Zolotow, but everyone named in this book’s bibliography should know that I am thoroughly indebted to them.
These friends, associates, colleagues, and correspondents provided help, support, and information in crucial and countless ways: Troy Alexander, Bevan Alexander, James Ireland Baker, Rudy Behlmer, Norma Bellino, John Belton, Martin Blumenson, Damien Bona, Ron Caldwell, Bill Condon, George Custen, Jay Derrah, Bruce Finlayson, Mort and Sue Frishberg, Joseph Haddon, Ira Hozinsky, Michael Kaniecki, Howard Karren, Peter Koplan, Michel Lerner, Bill Mann, Lauren Marino, Graham Morgan, Peter Pappas, Bill Paul, Sean Philips, Scott Savaiano, Draper Shreeve, Anthony Slide, Sean Smith, Melanie Wallace, Andrea Weiss, Walter Wohlfeiler, and Bill Woncheck.
