Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Billy Wilder... Like A Fox



I love me a great Billy Wilder flick. The guy just gets cinema. Every film of his has a clear grasp of genre. Few directors or writers can say this. Few can boast that they have a career even halfway reflective of Billy Wilder's.

I bring this up because recently I've been sitting down and catching up on a few of his more obscure pictures, like the above featured One, Two, Three. Last week I saw Stalag 17 for the very first time, and while I enjoyed the film... I found that it retains an aftertaste that far overshadows the film its self. This is the magic of a Wilder film. You enjoy it in the theater, but once you've had a chance to sit on the idea... it doesn't just go away. No sir. It gets to you and makes you feel something about what has been said. That clip above feels classic. And though I am sure I've seen something like it before... I don't think I've ever seen it played with such sincerity and purity.
Wilder is a genius. Watch:
Some Like It Hot
The Seven-Year-Itch
Double Indemnity
Sunset Blvd.
Ninotchka
Ball Of Fire
Sabrina
The Spirit Of St. Louis
The Apartment
Irma La Douce


You'll be glad you did!

1 comment:

  1. Oh, how I adore Sabrina and Sunset Blvd. And Billy Wilder. His birthday was yesterday, too! To quote Poison Ivy, "That's no man...*that* is a *god*!"

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