My Billy Wilder Top 11

Billy Wilder, one of the most influential and acclaimed movie directors in the history of the medium. Probably my favorite director of all time. Wilder’s work spans so many genres and styles that he becomes impossible to pin down, definable only by the skill inherent even in his weakest efforts and by a somewhat skeptical worldview. The biggest thread through Wilder’s career is his clarity when it comes to his characters’ motives. There may be no studio-era director whose work holds up as well, because few studio-era directors were as forthright about what really drove their characters. Winning an astonishing 6 Oscars in total, This is my Top 11.

1. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Desperate for cash, screenwriter Joe Gillis has a chance meeting with a faded silent film star. Norma Desmond lives in her crumbling Sunset Boulevard mansion with only her butler to keep her company. She has become a sad demented recluse convinced that the outside world is clamoring for her dramatic return. Enticing him with the prospect of script work, she puts him up in her mansion and he becomes ever more involved and entangled in her life. My favorite film of all time. Winning 3 Oscars.

2. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

When Leonard Vole is arrested for the sensational murder of a rich, middle-aged widow, the famous Sir Wilfrid Robarts agrees to appear on his behalf. Sir Wilfrid, recovering from a near-fatal heart attack, is *supposed* to be on a diet of bland, civil suits. But the lure of the criminal courts is too much for him, especially when the case is so difficult: Vole's only alibi witness is his wife, the calm and coldly calculating Christine Vole. Sir Wilfrid's task becomes even more impossible when Christine agrees to be a witness not for the defense but for the prosecution. This movie keeps you guessing throughout. Charles Laughton is at his best.

3. The Lost Weekend (1945)

Don Birnam, long-time alcoholic, has been "on the wagon" for ten days and seems to be over the worst; but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother Wick and girlfriend Helen, he begins a four-day bender. In flashbacks we see past events, all gone wrong because of the bottle. But this bout looks to be his last...one way or the other. Picking up a total of 4 Oscars, including best picture and Ray Midland for best actor.

4. Stalag 17 (1953)

One night in 1944 in a German POW camp housing American airmen, two prisoners try to escape the compound and are quickly discovered and shot dead. Among the remaining men, suspicion grows that one of their own is a spy for the Germans. All eyes fall on Sgt. Sefton who everybody knows frequently makes exchanges with German guards for small luxuries. To protect himself from a mob of his enraged fellow inmates, Sgt. Sefton resolves to find the true traitor within their midst. Under Otto Preminger's direction, William Holden, one hell of a brilliant actor wins the oscar for best actor.

5.Some Like It Hot (1959)

After witnessing a Mafia murder, slick saxophone player Joe and his long-suffering buddy, Jerry, improvise a quick plan to escape from Chicago with their lives. Disguising themselves as women, they join an all-female jazz band and hop a train bound for sunny Florida. While Joe pretends to be a millionaire to win the band's sexy singer, Sugar, Jerry finds himself pursued by a real millionaire as things heat up and the mobsters close in. One of the funniest movies out there, starring, Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe and comedy legend Jack Lemmon.

6. The Apartment (1960)

Insurance worker, C.C. Baxter lends his Upper West Side apartment to company bosses to use for extramarital affairs. When his manager Mr. Sheldrake begins using Baxter's apartment in exchange for promoting him, Baxter is disappointed to learn that Sheldrake's mistress is Fran Kubelik, the elevator girl at work whom Baxter is interested in himself. Soon Baxter must decide between the girl he loves and the advancement of his career. Yet again starring Lemmon and picking up an impressive 5 Oscar wins.

7. Double Indemnity (1944)

Smooth-talking insurance salesman Walter Neff meets attractive Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) when he calls to renew her husband's automobile policy. The couple are immediately drawn to each other and an affair begins. They cook up a scheme to murder Mr. Dietrichson for life insurance money with a double indemnity clause. Unfortunately, all does not go to plan...

8. Sabrina (1954)

Chauffeur's daughter, Sabrina returns home from two years in Paris to a beautiful young woman, and immediately catches the attention of David, the playboy son of her father's rich employers. David woos and wins Sabrina, who has always been in love with him, however their romance is threatened by David's serious older brother, Linus, who runs the family business and is relying on David to marry a heiress in order for a crucial merger to take place. Stars 3 Hollywood giants, Audrey Hepburn, Holden and Bogart.

9. Ace in the Hole (1951)

Starring the iconic Kirk Douglas as Charles Tatum, a down-on-his-luck reporter, he takes a job with a small New Mexico newspaper. The job is pretty boring until he finds a man trapped in an old Indian dwelling. He jumps at the chance to make a name for himself by taking over and prolonging the rescue effort, and feeding stories to major newspapers. He creates a national media sensation and milks it for all it is worth - until things go terribly wrong.

10. One, Two, Three (1961)

MacNamara, played by Jimmy Cagney, is a managing director for Coca Cola in West Berlin in 1961, just before the Wall is put up. When Scarlett, the daughter of his boss, comes to West Berlin, MacNamara has to look after her, but this turns out to be a difficult task. After MacNamara has found out that Scarlett is seeing an East German communist named Otto, he goes to extreme lengths trying to conceal this from the girl's father in order to save his job.

11. The Seven Year Itch (1955)

When his family goes away for the summer, a so far faithful husband is tempted by a beautiful neighbor, played by Marilyn Monroe.