Billy Wilder (1906 – 2002) is one on the many Jewish German/Austrian directors who, fleeing Hitler’s rise to power, brought their talents to Hollywood in the 1930’s to help to create the style of Classic Hollywood Cinema. Born of Polish-Jewish parents in a small Polish town in what was then the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (half an hour from Vienna by way of telegraph, he quipped), Wilder began his writing career as a journalist in Vienna, but soon after moving to Berlin began writing screenplays. He wrote or co-wrote and produced twelve films in Germany before first fleeing to Paris to escape rising Nazism. He arrived in Hollywood in 1933 and continued his screenwriting, partnering with Charles Brackett, to write many hit films, most notably, Ninotchka, directed by fellow German immigrant, Ernst Lubitsch.  Wilder began his Hollywood directorial career in 1942 with The Major and the Minor and went on to direct over two dozen films in many Classic Hollywood genres, most notably comedy and film noir. In addition to several Academy Awards. Wilder’s legacy can be seen in several of his films being listed in the American Film Institute’s 100 series, five in their funniest films list from 2000 and four in their greatest films list first created in 1998 on the 100th anniversary of cinema and updated in 2007.  Students will watch films on their own and classes will consist of a brief lecture on the film watched, its cultural context and contribution to the development of American cinema, and discussion to learn about and develop a deeper appreciation of the great American cultural tradition of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

Films in order of watching:  Double Indemnity, 1944, Sunset Boulevard, 1950, Ace in the Whole, 1951, Witness for the Prosecution, 1957, and Some Like It Hot, 1959. The films are available on various streaming platforms, and also may be found as DVDs in the library and on Hoopla and Kanopy, which are library-based free services.  Preparation time will be the running length of the film being discussed.