A look at billy wilders the apartment, officewise once. But that list would include the two wilder masterpieces some like it hot and the apartment and the fortune cookie is very very underrated. Here, exclusively for the guardian, he explains how he got the inside track on the apartment, his favourite of them all wilder s celebrated collaborator i. Dear every screenwriterfilmmaker, read billy wilder and i. From 1938 to 1950, he collaborated with screenwriter and producer charles brackett. The apartment 1960 by billy wilder dakota smith arth 334 understanding movies professor ivana.
Charles and ray eamess steelandglass concept for the director. Sheldrake fred macmurray begins using baxters apartment in exchange for promoting him, baxter is disappointed to learn that sheldrakes mistress is fran kubelik shirley maclaine, the elevator girl at work whom baxter is interested. Ninotchka undated shooting draft written by melchior lengyel,charles brackett,billy wilder,walter reisch. This shot is quoted from king vidors silent film the. Jack lemmon scores in billy wilder film by bosley crowther. The apartment is a 1960 american romantic comedydrama film produced and directed by billy wilder from a screenplay he cowrote with i. Inside the hearse, there are four somber men in black and. Baxter, who finds himself in a variety of increasingly frantic situations. Cameron crowe, director of jerry maguire, loves billy wilder s films so much hes written a book about them. In one scene macmurray was supposed to tip a shoeshine man and the script called for him to flip him a quarter. Wilder has an average commute time of about 25 minutes. The apartment faber classic screenplay, billy wilder the apartment is a 1960 romantic comedydrama film produced and directed by billy wilder from a screenplay he cowrote with i. The apartment won three oscars for billy wilder as producer, director, and coscreenwriter. The perfect discords of billy wilders comedy films sfu.
The effervescent comic charm of jack lemmon and quirky beauty of shirley maclaine give the film a palatable sweetness while she would be given more glamorous treatment in later films, maclaine was never more adorable than she was here, but. Billy wilder was an austrianborn american filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist and journalist, whose career spanned more than fifty years and sixty films. It is hard to recall a film so honored that is also so cynical spoiler alert. The apartment is a 1960 film with a script written by billy wilder to be later directed by him also.
The apartment is a fantastic wilder film brought to life with his trademark cynicism, humour, tender romance and. Many residents 53% commute to work by car, while public transit is not extensively used. As per usual wilder continues his magic on paper and screen in this film. The aim of this article, which concentrates on the directors comedy films including. Bud baxters tragicomic journey up and down the corporate ladder. Sunset boulevard preliminary draft with original opening scenes and montgomery clift listed on cast sheet, 1948. Billy wilders the apartment, a caustic critique spiced with enough ingratiating notes to become a box office hit and academy award juggernaut, the. Here, exclusively for the guardian, he explains how he got the inside track on the apartment, his. Diamond for educational and research purposes only. As realized by jack lemmon, baxter emerges as the supreme conformist. City at night a hearse of late twenties vintage is proceeding at a dignified pace along a halfdeserted wintry street. Acquisition information acquired by the library, 2008 biography billy wilder was an austrianborn director, screenwriter, and producer most active in film from the 1930s through 1970s. With the apartment, wilder became the first person to win academy awards as.
Louis, some like it hot, the seven year itch, double indemnity, and ace in the hole, among many others. The apartment is a romantic comedy and whilst not the first it did set something of a standard for the genre, which many films have oft tried to reach but few have ever done so. Apartment, the undated draft written by billy wilder,i. Yes, you can definitely make a list of the four top billy wilder movies and it would not match what is in this set. Baxter, one of the 31,259 employees of the consolidated life of new york insurance company. A fascinating early script draft for sunset boulevard, billy wilders classic 1950 film noir with gloria swanson and william holden. Diamond once aptly described wilders style as a blend of the sweet and the sour. The apartment screenplay pdf by billy wilder and i. The screenwriting journal hi, im halil and this is my personal journal where i. On every level writing, direction, acting double indemnity 1944 is a triumph and stands as one of the greatest achievements in billy wilders career. Over the course of billy wilders nearly 60year career as a director, he made a number of films that are now regarded as classics, including the spirit of st. After beginning his film career in germany, he came to the u.
What i learned reading billy wilders the apartment screenplay. One of the opening shots in the movie shows baxter as one of a vast horde of wage slaves, working in a room where the desks line up in parallel rows almost to the vanishing point. Diamond, starring jack lemmon and shirley maclaine, alongside fred macmurray, ray walston, jack kruschen, david lewis, willard waterman, david white, hope holiday and edie adams the story follows c. Diamond, starring jack lemmon and shirley maclaine.
Diamond wilder and diamond are one of hollywoods legendary writing partnerships. With jack lemmon, shirley maclaine, fred macmurray, ray walston. A look at billy wilders the apartment, officewise on november 1st, 1959, the population of new york city is 8,042,783. The apartment is a fantastic wilder film brought to life with his trademark cynicism, humour, tender romance and great performances from shirley maclaine and jack lemmon. Billy wilder gift set the apartment the fortune cookie. Billy wilders the apartment, a caustic critique spiced with enough ingratiating notes to become a box office hit and academy award juggernaut, the apartment chronicles c. A consummate screenwriter, who eventually evolved into one of the leading directors and producers, wilder has made film classics that have endured into our collective consciousness. Diamond the apartment tells the touching story of down on his luck clerk c. Billy wilder papers, margaret herrick library, academy of motion picture arts and sciences. Cameron crowe, director of jerry maguire, loves billy wilders films so much hes written a book about them. The jerry maguire director loves billy wilders films so much hes written a book about them.
When billy wilder made the apartment in 1960, the organization man was still a current term. Billy wilder s the apartment, a caustic critique spiced with enough ingratiating notes to become a box office hit and academy award juggernaut, the apartment chronicles c. A simply typed warning from wilder and screenwriter charles brackett graces the cover page. Bud baxter is a minor clerk in a huge new york insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. Very few researchers have dealt with diegetic music in billy wilders cinema. Diamond once aptly described wilder s style as a blend of the sweet and the sour.
However, one film in particular seemed to be tailormade for his off center yet still amicable approach to filmmaking while. As billy wilder has repeatedly acknowledged, the opening sequence of. When macmurray couldnt get it right during shooting, wilder suggested using a bigger fifty cent piece. Billy wilder claimed that fred macmurray was a very stingy man in real life and liked to relate an amusing incident from the filming of the picture. The museum of modern art film library will present sixteen billy wilder films from. Locating billy wilders cinematic austria in the apartment, the private life of sherlock holmes, and fedora. Download the 20 screenplays you can learn most from. Wilder had wanted to film the story detailed in the apartment at least since the mid 1940s, when a viewing of david leans a brief encounter 1945 caused his mind to wander from the couple engaged in an extramarital affair onscreen to the unseen character who rented out his apartment out to the protagonists for their illicit meetings 1. Following some like it hot they would go on to oscar success with the apartment and write the screenplays for a string of 60s comedies from one, two, three to the fortune cookie. A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue. Billy wilders the apartment continues to hold a special place in our.
Baxter jack lemmon lends his upper west side apartment to company bosses to use for extramarital affairs. Diamond the apartment a desk computer a mans hand is punching out a series of figures on the keyboard. Billy wilder was an austrianborn director, screenwriter, and producer most active in film from the 1930s through 1970s. Billy wilder, austrianborn american motionpicture director and producer known for films that humorously treat subjects of controversy and offer biting indictments of hypocrisy in american life. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of the hollywood golden age of cinema. Billy wilders the apartment 1960 the directors series. Cain novel by director wilder and novelist raymond chandler, it tells the story of an insurance salesman, played by fred macmurray, who is lured into a murderforinsurance plot by barbara. Here, exclusively for the guardian, he explains how he got the inside track on the apartment, his favourite of them all wilders celebrated collaborator i. Among his most notable films are double indemnity, the lost weekend, sunset boulevard, the apartment, and some like it hot.
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