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Billy Wilder
Director 1906 - 2002

Billy Wilder

Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary

Billy Wilder, born Samuel Wilder; (22 June 1906 - 27 March 2002) was an Austrian-born director, screenwriter and producer who is regarded as one of the most successful filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Today he is best known for his comedies, although he also directed... Read full bio →

Directed Films

Every film this person directed

26 titles
Buddy Buddy

Buddy Buddy

Billy Wilder 1981 1h 36m 6.0

During a high profile Mafia testimony case, a contract killer checks-in a hotel room near the courthouse while his next door depressed neighbor wants to commit suicide due to marital problems.

Fedora

Fedora

Billy Wilder 1978 1h 49m 7.2

An ambitious Hollywood hustler becomes involved with a reclusive female star whom he tries to lure out of retirement.

The Front Page

The Front Page

Billy Wilder 1974 1h 45m 6.4

The Front Page is a comedy from director Billy Wilder from 1974 starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Susan Sarandon. A journalist named Johnson is suffering from a burn-out-syndrom and wants to finally say goodbye to his office except for the fact that his boss doesn’t like the idea one bit.

Avanti!

Avanti!

Billy Wilder 1972 2h 18m 6.6

A successful businessman goes to Italy to arrange for the return of his tycoon-father's body only to discover dad died with his mistress of long standing.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Billy Wilder 1970 2h 5m 8.0

When a bored Sherlock eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon following an attempt on her life, the search for her missing husband leads to Loch Ness and the legendary monster.

The Fortune Cookie

The Fortune Cookie

Billy Wilder 1966 2h 5m 7.6

A crooked lawyer persuades his brother-in-law to feign a serious injury in order to collect a big insurance payout.

Kiss Me, Stupid

Kiss Me, Stupid

Billy Wilder 1964 2h 5m 7.7

A jealous piano teacher Orville Spooner sends his beautiful wife, Zelda, away for the night while he tries to sell a song to a famous nightclub singer Dino, who is stranded in town

Irma la Douce

Irma la Douce

Billy Wilder 1963 2h 27m 7.8

When a recently fired policeman falls in love with a French prostitute, he doesn't want her to be with other men, so he creates an alter-ego in order to become her only customer.

One, Two, Three

One, Two, Three

Billy Wilder 1961 1h 49m 8.0

One, Two, Three – A scorching business comedy that plays during the Cold War in Berlin, Germany. With it’s political satire director Billy Wilder depicts the fight between capitalism and communism with panic, scrutiny and surprises, filmed during the building of the Berlin Wall.

The Apartment

The Apartment

Billy Wilder 1960 2h 6m 8.6

The Apartment came out shortly after the success of ‘Some Like it Hot’ from director Billy Wilder and thus making it the most successful films of the year. Full of trivialities this comedy is a harsh critic of coporate world and the American way of life.

Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot

Billy Wilder 1959 2h 3m 8.8

PLEASE DELETE, EXISTS ALREADY!

Witness for the Prosecution

Witness for the Prosecution

Billy Wilder 1957 1h 56m 8.7

Witness for the Prosecution was to be a work from Hitchcock yet Billy Wilder got to film it in the end. The film with Marlene Dietrich as Femme Fatale is a thrilling and amusing classic drama.

The Spirit of St. Louis

The Spirit of St. Louis

Billy Wilder 1957 2h 15m 6.5

Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.

Love in the Afternoon

Love in the Afternoon

Billy Wilder 1957 2h 10m 8.1

A middle-aged playboy becomes fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client.

The Seven Year Itch

The Seven Year Itch

Billy Wilder 1955 1h 45m 7.1

A voluptuous woman (Marilyn Monroe) moves in above a man while his wife and child are away on summer vacation.

Sabrina

Sabrina

Billy Wilder 1954 1h 54m 7.8

After her return from school in Paris, a playboy finally takes notice of his family's chauffeur's daughter, who's long had a crush on him, but he questions his more serious brother's motives when he warns against getting involved with her.

Stalag 17

Stalag 17

Billy Wilder 1953 2h 7.8

Stalag 17 is a war time film from director Billy Wilder set in a German prison camp. The story follows a group of Americans that want to break out.

Ace in the Hole

Ace in the Hole

Billy Wilder 1951 1h 52m 8.6

One of the most scathing indictments of American culture ever produced by a Hollywood filmmaker. Kirk Douglas gives the fiercest performance of his career as Chuck Tatum, an amoral newspaper reporter caught in dead-end Albuquerque who happens upon the story of a lifetime and will do anything to ensure he gets the scoop.

Sunset Blvd.

Sunset Blvd.

Billy Wilder 1950 1h 50m 9.0

Director Billy Wilder is ice cold in his captivating Hollywood drama Sunset Blvd. A screenwriter begins an affair with a silent film actress who thinks she’s at the top of her field...

The Emperor Waltz

The Emperor Waltz

Billy Wilder 1948 1h 46m 6.0

At the turn of the 20th century, travelling salesman Virgil Smith journeys to Vienna in the hope he can sell a gramophone to Emperor Franz Joseph, whose purchase of the recent American invention could spur its popularity in Austria.

A Foreign Affair

A Foreign Affair

Billy Wilder 1948 1h 56m 7.6

In occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi cafe singer and the U.S. congresswoman investigating her

The Lost Weekend

The Lost Weekend

Billy Wilder 1945 1h 41m 8.3

Longtime alcoholic Don Birnam has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last – one way or another.

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity

Billy Wilder 1944 1h 47m 8.5

Double Indemnity is a film noir thriller from directory Billy Wilder from 1944 in which the protagonist sets up an insurance fraud.

Five Graves to Cairo

Five Graves to Cairo

Billy Wilder 1943 1h 36m 7.0

During the 1942 North African campaign, a British straggler passes as a waiter at the hotel commandeered as Erwin Rommel's headquarters. He has thoughts of assassinating Rommel but his cover may provide an even better use.

The Major and the Minor

The Major and the Minor

Billy Wilder 1942 1h 40m 7.0

A frustrated city girl disguises herself as a youngster in order to get a cheaper train ticket home. But little "Sue Sue" finds herself in a whole heap of grown-up trouble when she hides out in a compartment with a handsome Major.

Mauvaise graine

Mauvaise graine

Billy Wilder, Alexander Esway 1934 1h 17m

A young man-about-Paris, cut off from his father's money, falls in with a picaresque gang of car thieves.

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