Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder (1906-2002) was American cinema's greatest import. Hailing from Austria, Wilder arrived in Hollywood in 1935 and, with his skilled eye and sharp wit, took the town by storm. Exploring nearly all of the silver screen's genres (slapstick comedy, eerie suspense, film noir, courtroom drama, romantic comedy...) and sometimes creating unheard-of genre cocktails (comedy and war in a Nazi prison camp in Stalag 17) he graced every film he directed with the inimitable and magical Wilder touch. That films like Sunset Boulevard, Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, and Love in the Afternoon all hall from the same director/co-writer is a remarkable thing. With 26 films to his name, Billy Wilder was not only one of the greatest and most prolific filmmakers of all time but also the most versatile.