Some Like It Wilder Read online

  Wood, Ean. Dietrich: A Biography. London: Sanctuary, 2002.

  Wood, Tom. The Bright Side of Billy Wilder, Primarily. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.

  Wright, Edmund, ed. Oxford Desk Encyclopedia of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

  “The Write Stuff: The 25 Best Screenplays of All Time.” Premiere, May 2006, 82–87.

  Young, Desmond. Rommel, the Desert Fox. New York: Harper, 1950.

  Zolotow, Maurice. Billy Wilder in Hollywood. Rev. ed. New York: Limelight, 1987.

  Index

  Academy Awards (Oscars), 28, 35, 127, 134, 135, 263

  The Apartment and, 244–45

  Avanti! and, 321

  cinematography, 190

  Crosby (Bing) and, 90

  Double Indemnity and, 70, 85

  editing, 119, 206, 311, 327

  The Fortune Cookie and, 290

  Hepburn (Audrey) and, 325

  Irma la Douce and, 267

  The Lost Weekend, 80, 84–85

  musical scores, 223, 251

  production design, 311

  Sabrina and, 163

  Some Like It Hot and, 216

  Stalag 17 and, 151

  Sunset Boulevard and, 125–26

  supporting actor, 213

  Wilder’s six awards, 2

  Witness for the Prosecution and, 208–9

  Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 140, 343

  Acampora, Franco, 363

  Ace in the Hole (Wilder film), 127, 129–30, 185, 216, 258, 352–53

  The Big Carnival as alternate title, 140, 286, 352, 382n37

  budget, 147

  cast, 132–33, 353

  characters and plot, 135–38, 353

  critical reception, 138–41

  “The Human Interest Story” as tentative title, 130

  musical score/songs, 134, 135, 353

  other Wilder films compared with, 271, 283, 309

  photography, 133–35, 353

  production crew, 133, 157, 353

  screenplay/shooting script, 131–32, 353

  set design, 133, 353

  true-life story based on, 130–31, 134

  actors, Wilder’s relationships with, 78, 175, 238, 298–99

  Arthur (Jean), 103–4

  Bogart, 158–59, 160, 161, 164, 170

  Cagney, 256–57

  Crosby, 93

  Dietrich, 102–3, 202, 203, 335, 336

  Holden, 160

  Kinski, 335–36

  Lemmon, 227–28, 230

  MacLaine, 237–38

  Monroe (Marilyn), 170, 174, 217, 218–22

  Stephens (Robert), 299–300

  Stroheim, 117

  Actors Studio (New York), 170, 174, 213, 219

  Adams, Edie, 359

  Adorf, Mario, 365

  “Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, The” (Conan Doyle), 294

  Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The (film), 141

  Affairs of Anatol, The (film), 114–15

  African Queen, The (film), 163, 196

  Agee, James, 84, 96, 111, 125

  agents, 14, 35, 164, 180, 218, 238

  Agnini, Armando, 349

  Agren, Janet, 363

  Aguirre der Zorn Gottes [Aguirre, the Wrath of God] (film), 334

  alcoholism, 56, 72–73, 77, 151

  delirium tremens (d.t.’s), 79, 80, 82

  Holden’s death and, 332

  on set of Sabrina, 158, 159–60

  Alfredo, Alfredo (film), 319

  Allen, Christine, 359

  Allen, John, 359

  Allied Artists, 186, 188, 191, 195, 356

  Allied Liquor Industries, 83

  All Quiet on the Western Front (film), 308

  Alpert, Hollis, 243

  Ameche, Don, 24, 25, 26

  American Cinema, The (Sarris), 104

  American Film Institute (AFI), 126, 141, 209, 229, 246, 343

  American Graffiti (film), 314

  Anatomy of a Murder (film), 183

  Anderson, Judith, 201

  Anderson, Roland, 347

  Andrews, Edward, 317, 363

  Anet, Claude, 186, 188, 356

  Angrisano, Francesco, 363

  Anna Karenina (film), 325, 329, 331

  Ansen, David, 338–39

  Apartment, The (Wilder film), 308, 316, 341, 358–59

  Academy Awards and, 244–45

  Buddy Buddy compared with, 337

  budget, 232

  cast, 233–34, 240, 273, 358–59

  characters and plot, 232, 239–42, 358–59

  critical reception, 242, 243–44

  The Crowd quoted in, 234–35

  Legion of Decency and, 264, 275

  musical score, 234, 239, 358

  in National Film Registry, 343

  other Wilder films compared with, 255, 289

  photography, 236–38, 358

  popularity with audiences, 268

  production crew, 234, 239, 358

  realism in production of, 236

  reputation, 246

  screenplay/shooting script, 231–32, 235, 240, 245, 345, 358

  set design, 234–35, 298, 358

  sneak previews, 243

  Ariane (Anet novel), 186, 356

  Ariane/The Loves of Ariane (film), 187

  Arise, My Love (film), 36

  Armstrong, Richard, 37, 132, 215, 315

  Arsten, Stefan, 327, 365

  art house circuit, 9, 276, 279

  Arthur, Jean, 24, 100, 103–4, 107, 351

  Arthur, Robert, 138, 353

  Asimov, Michael, 208

  Askin, Leon, 249, 359

  Astaire, Fred, 38

  Astor, Mary, 24, 25

  Atkins, Irene, 209

  Aubrey, James, 333–34

  Auschwitz death camp, 21, 139, 152

  Austria/Austro-Hungarian Empire, 2, 13, 21, 44, 142–43, 344

  Avanti! (Taylor play), 315–16

  Avanti! (Wilder film)

  Academy Awards and, 321

  budget, 321

  cast, 317, 363

  characters and plot, 316–17, 319–20, 363

  critical reception, 320–21, 323, 324

  production crew, 318, 327, 363

  screenplay/shooting script, 316–18, 363

  Taylor play as source, 315–16, 363

  Axelrod, George

  return to Broadway, 175, 179

  Sabrina and, 164, 165–67, 169, 174

  The Seven Year Itch and, 354

  Azar, Leonid, 191, 356

  Azzini, Nedo, 363

  Baby Doll (play and film), 275

  Bacall, Lauren, 156, 164

  Bach, Steven, 102, 200, 202, 207

  Bachelin, Franz, 147–48, 350, 353

  Background to Danger (film), 61

  Baker, Roy, 362

  Balaban, Barney, 72, 83, 96, 157, 309–10

  Baldwin, Peter, 353

  Balfour, Michael, 363

  Ball, Lucille, 323

  Ball of Fire (film), 29–31, 62, 90, 189, 308

  Barefoot Contessa, The (film), 159

  Bernardi, Herschel, 360

  Barnathan, Maurice, 360

  Barnes, George, 91, 92, 350

  Barr, Byron, 349

  Barr, Stanley, 83, 84

  Barra, Gianfranco, 363

  Barrymore, John, 24, 25, 26, 293–94

  Barson, Michael, 195

  Barton, Charles, 16

  Basinger, Jeanine, 208

  Bass, Saul, 171–72, 355

  Battle Circus (film), 159

  Bavaria Film Studios (Munich)

  Fedora and, 237, 326, 328–29, 364

  One, Two, Three and, 252, 253, 254, 257

  Baxter, Anne, 43, 348

  Beckman, Henry, 361

  Bedig, Sass, 361

  Begelman, David, 334

  Begley, Ed, Jr., 365

  Bell, Joseph, 293

  Bells of St. Mary’s, The (film), 85

  Benchley, Robert, 3
5, 36, 348

  Benedict, Paul, 364

  Benedict, Richard, 133, 353

  Benet, Stephen Vincent, 201

  Ben Hur (film), 311

  Bennett, Compton, 125

  Bennett, Guy, 351

  Bennett, Joan, 232, 308

  Bennett, Marjorie, 354

  Benny, Jack, 212, 227

  Bergman, Ingrid, 189

  Bergman, Paul, 208

  Bergner, Elisabeth, 187

  Berlin, 1, 4, 25, 27

  arrival of sound movies in, 8–9

  Berlin Wall, 252–53, 258, 259

  Billy Wilder Plaza, 344

  cold war and, 247–48, 249, 252–53, 255, 258

  decadence of 1920s, 53, 334

  East Berlin, 222

  A Foreign Affair shot in, 87, 97, 101–2

  Romanisches Café, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10

  Berlin International Film Festival, 258–59, 344

  Bernard, Butch, 355

  Bertrandrias, Maj.-Gen. Victor, 356

  Best Years of Our Lives, The (film), 135, 206

  Bevan, Donald, 142, 144, 145, 154, 353

  Beyond the Rocks (film), 117

  Big Carnival, The. See Ace in the Hole (Wilder film)

  Big Sleep, The (Chandler), 55

  “Billy Wilder, Closet Romanticist” (Sarris), 104

  Binder, Maurice, 362

  Bing, Herman, 91

  Biró, Lajos, 41, 42, 47, 247, 348

  Bixby, Bill, 360

  Blair, David, 362

  Blake, Larry J., 352

  Blakely, Colin, 295, 298–99, 301, 362

  Blanc, Mel, 361

  Block, Bruce, 240

  Blue Angel, The [Der blaue Engel] (film), 100

  Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (film), 17, 19, 25, 91, 189

  Avanti! compared with, 320

  Love in the Afternoon compared with, 192

  Blum, Edwin, 141–42, 145, 146–47, 155, 199

  Blume, Mary, 328

  Bobby Deerfield (film), 326, 327

  Bogart, Humphrey, 60, 152, 156–61, 163–64, 190, 354

  Bogdanovich, Peter, 156

  Bogie (Schickel), 157

  Bolton, Lois, 359

  Bonacci, Anna, 269, 360

  Bond, Raymond, 352

  Bonifas, 356

  Bononova, Fortunio, 348, 349

  Borchert, Brigette, 7, 8

  Borger, Hanus, 86

  Bourdin, Lise, 356

  Bowker, Aldrich, 348

  Boyer, Charles, 27, 28, 29, 180

  Boyle, Edward G., 358, 360, 361

  Brackett, Charles, 16–17, 19, 35, 96, 146, 187, 343

  Academy Awards and, 84, 125

  alcoholism in family of, 73

  Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife and, 17, 19

  career after Wilder collaboration, 127

  casting for Sunset Boulevard and, 112, 113–14

  as civilizing influence on Wilder, 89

  defense of Wilder, 140, 141

  Double Indemnity and, 51, 54, 61

  The Emperor Waltz and, 350

  A Foreign Affair and, 351

  The Lost Weekend and, 349

  The Major and the Minor and, 347

  Midnight and, 25

  at New Yorker magazine, 36, 114

  as producer, 41, 100

  on Wilder’s “exuberant vulgarity,” 244

  See also Wilder-Brackett script collaboration

  Bradshaw, John, 323

  Brand, Harry, 168

  Brand, Neville, 353

  Breen, Joseph, 34, 98, 166, 274, 401n4

  Ace in the Hole and, 132

  Double Indemnity and, 54, 90

  The Emperor Waltz and, 90–91

  A Foreign Affair and, 102

  The Lost Weekend and, 73, 74, 90–91

  Stalag 17 and, 145

  Sunset Boulevard and, 111

  Breen, Richard, 98, 127

  Breffort, Alexandre, 259, 360

  Brel, Jacques, 333

  Bremen, Leonard, 364

  Bressart, Felix, 22

  Bretagne, Jo de, 356

  Bride of Frankenstein, The (film), 199

  Bridge on the River Kwai, The (film), 149

  Brief Encounter (film), 194, 231, 297, 316

  Briskin, Sam, 13–14

  Bristol, Howard, 357

  British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 344

  British Film Institute, 345

  Broadway theater, 75, 142, 157, 175, 316

  Avanti!, 315

  Connie Goes Home, 33

  The Front Page, 307, 314

  Irma la Douce, 259

  Sabrina Fair, 152, 153, 154

  The Seven Year Itch, 164

  Sherlock Holmes, 294

  Witness for the Prosecution, 197

  Brode, Douglas, 168, 223–24, 241–42, 249

  Brodnitz, Hanns, 8

  Broidy, Steve, 188

  Brooks, Jack, 200, 357

  Brooks, Richard, 159

  Brother Rat (film), 75

  Brown, Hugh, 350, 351, 360

  Brown, Joe E., 215, 358

  Brown, Lew, 364

  Brownlow, Kevin, 9, 193, 195, 234

  Bru, Myriam, 257

  Brucker, Roger, 130

  Buchholz, Horst, 251, 252, 254, 256, 257, 359

  Buddy Buddy (Wilder film), 333–34, 365

  cast, 333, 334, 365

  characters and plot, 334, 336–38, 365

  critical reception, 338–39

  male friendship theme, 333

  musical score/songs, 336, 365

  photography, 335–36, 365

  screenplay/shooting script, 334, 365

  Weber play as source, 333, 365

  as Wilder’s swan song, 339, 342

  Bullet for Joey, A (film), 215

  Bumstead, Henry, 311, 364

  Bunsch, Inga, 328

  Burke, Johnny, 350

  Burks, Robert, 355

  burlesque, 265, 274

  Burnett, Carol, 311, 364

  Burroughs, Dan, 353

  Burschenlied aus Heidelberg, Ein [A Student Song from Heidelberg] (film), 9

  Burt, Bennie, 359

  Burton, Robert, 356

  Bush, George H. W., 343

  Bushman, Francis X., 162, 354

  Bus Stop (film), 213

  Butterfield 8 (film), 245

  Butterworth, Charlie, 35

  Buttons, Red, 250, 359

  Caan, James, 360

  Cactus Flower (film), 316

  Cady, Frank, 353

  Caged (film), 133

  Cagney, James, 226, 282, 309

  in One, Two, Three, 248, 250, 254–57, 258, 359

  in Public Enemy, 193, 215, 250

  Cahuzac, Georges, 347

  Cain, James M., 51, 53–54, 55, 58, 349

  on Double Indemnity film, 66, 67, 69, 84

  The Postman Always Rings Twice, 62

  Calihan, William, 359

  Callow, Simon, 204

  Cameron, James, 127

  Canby, Vincent, 304, 331, 338

  Cannes Film Festival, 84, 155, 329

  Canterville Ghost, The (film), 141

  Capell, Peter, 249, 359

  capitalism, 245, 248, 249, 257

  Capone, Al, 225

  Caps, John, 120

  Captain from Castile (film), 201

  Career Achievement Award, 343

  Carey, Nick, 364

  Carleton, George M., 352

  Carné, Marcel, 190

  Carpenter, Edward Childs, 33, 347

  Carpetbaggers, The (novel and film), 274, 287

  Casablanca (film), 264

  Casper, Drew, 231, 233

  Castle, Alison, 220

  Castrini, Giselda, 363

  Catholic Church, Roman, 171, 266, 269, 291

  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (play and film), 224

  Cawdron, Robert, 363

  censorship code, 34, 193

  The Apartment and, 243

  Double Indemnity and, 54, 70

  The Empe
ror Waltz and, 90–91

  A Foreign Affair and, 102

  illegal drugs as film subject, 294

  Irma la Douce and, 260, 263–64, 276

  Kiss Me, Stupid and, 273–74

  The Lost Weekend and, 73–74, 79, 81

  The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and, 302

  revisions of, 291, 312

  The Seven Year Itch and, 165, 166, 169, 171

  Some Like It Hot and, 223

  Stalag 17 and, 152

  Challis, Christopher, 298, 304, 362

  Champion (film), 133

  Chandler, Raymond, 55, 199, 336, 349

  alcoholism of, 56, 72

  cameo in Double Indemnity, 58

  Double Indemnity script and, 55–58, 59, 62, 65, 68

  on original screenplays, 345

  vow to not work with Wilder again, 146

  Chaney, Lon, Sr., 310

  Chapin, Miles, 365

  Chaplin, Charlie, 2, 118, 196

  Chapman, Marguerite, 355

  Charley’s Aunt (film), 212, 215, 223, 227

  Chevalier, Maurice, 189–90, 192, 356

  Christie, Agatha, 196, 197, 198, 199, 207, 293

  Murder, She Said, 298

  Murder Most Foul, 298

  on Witness for the Prosecution film, 209

  Witness for the Prosecution play and novel, 357

  Christopher, William, 362

  Churchwell, Sarah, 173, 213, 219, 221

  Ciment, Michel, 318

  CinemaScope, 167, 174, 355

  cinematographers (at first mention)

  Challis, 298

  Fapp, 251

  Fisher, 327

  Harlan, 201

  Krasner, 167

  Lang, 24

  LaShelle, 237

  Laszlo, 36

  Mellor, 190

  Schüfftan, 7

  Seitz, 43

  Stradling, 335

  Toland, 29

  Tover, 36

  Citizen Kane (film), 29

  City across the River (film), 133

  civil rights movement, 288

  Claire, Ina, 22

  Clark, Al, 56

  Clark, Fred, 352

  Clarke, Mae, 250

  Clift, Montgomery, 113–14

  Clinton, Bill, 343

  Clyde, Vander (“Barbette”), 217

  Cocks, Jay, 321

  Code and Rating Administration (CARA), 291, 302, 312

  Cody, Iron Eyes, 353

  Cohan, George M., 250

  Cohn, Harry, 13

  Colbert, Claudette, 19, 24, 25, 26, 39

  cold war, 60, 248, 258

  Coleman, Charles, Jr.

  Ace in the Hole and, 353

  Double Indemnity and, 349

  The Emperor Waltz and, 350

  Five Graves to Cairo and, 43, 348

  A Foreign Affair and, 351

  Kiss Me, Stupid and, 360

  The Major and the Minor and, 37, 347

  Sabrina and, 354

  The Spirit of St. Louis and, 37, 355

  Stalag 17 and, 353

  Sunset Boulevard and, 352

  Coletta, Lino, 363

  Collier, Marian, 358

  Collins, Floyd, 130–31, 134

  Collins, Stephen, 365

  color films

  first films in color, 91