Billy WIlder

(I originally wrote this for my DJ blog. It still stands.)

Samuel Wilder was born on June 22, 1906, in Sucha, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother, who had lived in America for a while, called him Billy after one of her heroes, Buffalo Bill. He started out as a journalist, then began working in the movies. In 1934 he arrived in Hollywood to get away from the Nazis. Possessing both little money and little English, he went on to have one of the most successful writing/directing careers ever.

The thing about Wilder's movies is that so many of them have iconic scenes; Marilyn Monroe's dress in The Seven Year Itch may be the most famous minute in the movies (and one Monroe's then husband Joe DiMaggio wasn't terribly happy about). But so many others stand out too. For instance, the ending of Some Like It Hot: if Marilyn standing over the subway grate is the most famous minute in a movie, Jack Lemmon's Daphne and Joe E. Brown are in the most famous ending. (Check it out on YouTube: link.)

And maybe the most memorable walk down the flight of stairs was taken by Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard:



Still, for someone who learned English along the way, Wilder (and his various writing partners) had a way with words. This exchange between Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck is unforgettable, especially that last line. Raymond Chandler gets a screenwriting credit along with Wilder for this one:



"I wonder if you wonder..." And just because we can, here's one that Howard Hawks directed, written by Wilder and longtime partner Charles Brackett. Call it the Yum Yum scene (and be prepared to fall in love with either Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, or both);



With scenes like that, any wonder why we like plundering YouTube?

Happy birthday, Billy Wilder. The man passed away in 2002, but his movies are still alive and well.

[Some of this I pulled from PBS's About Billy Wilder ]
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