Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder

1906-06-22 Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary 94 Credits

Biography

Billy Wilder, born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906, 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 dramas and film noirs. Wilder is one of only five people who have won Academy Awards as producer, director, and writer for the same film (The Apartment). Wilder's career began in Germany, where he worked as a writer for comedy films from 1930...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Audrey

Audrey

2020

as Self - Filmmaker (voice) (archive footage)

7.2
Acting

An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).

Hollywood's Second World War

Hollywood's Second World War

2019

as Self (archive footage)

8.0
Acting

For the USA, World War 2 was an all-out war - to mobilize the masses, the US government launched a huge propaganda campaign and cinema, the medium of ...

La Garçonnière

La Garçonnière

2018

Original Story

5.4
Writing
Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder

Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder

2017

as Self (archive footage)

7.3
Acting

A funny walk through the life story of Billy Wilder (1906-2002), a cinematic genius; a portrait of a filmmaker who never was a boring man, a superb mi...

Billy Wilder: Nobody's Perfect

Billy Wilder: Nobody's Perfect

2016

as Self (archive footage)

8.0
Acting

Biography on the famous writer-director, Billy Wilder.

Night Will Fall

Night Will Fall

2014

as Self (archive footage)

7.6
Acting

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, reveali...

And the Oscar Goes To...

And the Oscar Goes To...

2014

as Self (archive footage)

7.0
Acting

The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy ...

Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood

Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood

2009

as Self (archive footage)

6.0
Acting

Eight hundred German filmmakers (cast and crew) fled the Nazis in the 1930s. The film uses voice-overs, archival footage, and film clips to examine Be...

Helmut by June

Helmut by June

2007

as Self (archive footage)

6.3
Acting

An intimate portrait of iconic photographer Helmut Newton shot by his wife and fellow photographer June Newton.

Shadows of Suspense

Shadows of Suspense

2006

as Self (archive footage)

Acting

A documentary featuring film historians, directors and authors discussing the making of Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity."

The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'

The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'

2006

as Self (archive footage)

8.5
Acting

A look back at the impact Billy Wilder's comedy classic "Some Like It Hot" has left since it's release in 1959.

The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'

The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'

2006

as Self (archive footage)

7.0
Acting

A look back at the making of Billy Wilder's 1959 comedy classic "Some Like It Hot."

The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'

The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'

2006

Thanks

8.5

A look back at the impact Billy Wilder's comedy classic "Some Like It Hot" has left since it's release in 1959.

The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'

The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'

2006

Thanks

7.0

A look back at the making of Billy Wilder's 1959 comedy classic "Some Like It Hot."

Billy Wilder Speaks

Billy Wilder Speaks

2006

as Self - Filmmaker

7.0
Acting

In 1988, German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff sat down with legendary director Billy Wilder (1906-2002) at his office in Beverly Hills, California, and...

Heart of the Festival

Heart of the Festival

2002

4.0
Acting

A short film containing some of the highlights of the Cannes Film Festival's storied history.

Nobody's Perfect - The Making of Some Like It Hot

Nobody's Perfect - The Making of Some Like It Hot

2001

as Self (archive footage)

6.0
Acting

Documentary discussing the casting and making of "Some Like It Hot", the film voted as the Best Comedy ever made by the American Film Institute.

Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor

2000

as Self (archive footage)

Acting

Klaus Kinski is one of the few German actors who has achieved international fame. He made headlines. And disappeared behind them. Kinski lived his par...

Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy

Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy

1998

as Self

6.0
Acting

A profile of writer-director Billy Wilder

Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough

Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough

1997

as Self

6.5
Acting

A profile of the life of actor Walter Matthau.

Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Door

Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Door

1996

as Self

Acting

Amiable and unassuming, Fred MacMurray went from small-town boy to one of Hollywood and television's most enduring stars.

Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman

Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman

1996

as Self

7.5
Acting

Jack Lemmon made over 60 films and received numerous awards, including eight Academy Award Nominations and two Oscars. Later in life, his achievement ...

Sabrina

Sabrina

1995

Original Film Writer

6.2
Writing

Sabrina Fairchild, a chauffeur's daughter, grew up at the Long Island estate of the wealthy Larrabee family enchanted with their sparkling world of pr...

Audrey Hepburn: Remembered

Audrey Hepburn: Remembered

1993

as Self

7.0
Acting

Audrey Hepburn was one of the movies' best-loved stars, blessed with beauty, talent, an elegant sophistication and an enduring aura of youthful innoce...

Billy, How Did You Do It?

Billy, How Did You Do It?

1992

as Self

7.0
Acting

An interview between Volker Schlöndorff and Billy Wilder.

The Exiles

The Exiles

1989

as Self

Acting

A chronicle of the rescue of oppressed intellectuals and artists from Europe before the outbreak of World War II. It studies the cultural and intellec...

Directed by William Wyler

Directed by William Wyler

1986

as Self

Acting

Documentary about the famed Hollywood director.

Witness for the Prosecution

Witness for the Prosecution

1982

Screenplay

6.4
Writing

Sir Wilfred Robarts, a famed barrister is released from the hospital, where he stayed for two months following his heart attack. Returning to the prac...

Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder

Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder

1982

as Self

6.7
Acting

French film critic Michel Ciment interviews Billy Wilder about his life and filmmaking.

Buddy Buddy

Buddy Buddy

1981

Director, Writer

6.2
Directing Writing

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 ...

Fedora

Fedora

1978

Director, Producer, Writer

6.7
Directing Producing Writing

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

1974

Screenplay, Director

7.3
Writing Directing

A journalist suffering from burn-out wants to finally say goodbye to his office – but his boss doesn’t like the idea one bit.

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity

1973

Screenplay

4.8
Writing

A scheming wife lures an insurance investigator into helping murder her husband and then declare it an accident. The investigator's boss, not knowing ...

Avanti!

Avanti!

1972

Director, Producer, Screenplay

7.0
Directing Producing Writing

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 stand...

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

1970

Producer, Writer, Director

6.8
Producing Writing Directing

Holmes and Dr. Watson take on the case of a beautiful woman whose husband has vanished. The investigation proves strange indeed, involving six missing...

The Fortune Cookie

The Fortune Cookie

1966

Screenplay, Producer, Director

7.2
Writing Producing Directing

A cameraman is knocked over during a football game. His brother-in-law, as the king of the ambulance-chasing lawyers, starts a suit while he's still k...

Kiss Me, Stupid

Kiss Me, Stupid

1964

Director, Producer, Screenplay

7.0
Directing Producing Writing

While traveling home from Vegas, an amorous lounge singer named Dino gets conned by a local mechanic/songwriter into staying in town for the night. Th...

Irma la Douce

Irma la Douce

1963

Producer, Director, Screenplay

7.4
Producing Directing Writing

When a naive policeman falls in love with a prostitute, he doesn’t want her seeing other men and creates an alter ego who’s to be her only customer.

One, Two, Three

One, Two, Three

1961

Director, Screenplay, Producer

7.5
Directing Writing Producing

C.R. MacNamara is a managing director for Coca Cola in West Berlin during the Cold War, just before the Wall is put up. When Scarlett, the rebellious ...

The Apartment

The Apartment

1960

Producer, Director, Screenplay

8.2
Producing Directing Writing

Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apart...

Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot

1959

Director, Producer, Screenplay

8.1
Directing Producing Writing

Two musicians witness a mob hit and struggle to find a way out of the city before they are found by the gangsters. Their only opportunity is to join a...

Witness for the Prosecution

Witness for the Prosecution

1957

Screenplay, Director

8.2
Writing Directing

An ailing barrister agrees to defend a man in a sensational murder trial where the unconvincing testimony of the defendant's wife becomes a subject of...

Love in the Afternoon

Love in the Afternoon

1957

Screenplay, Director, Producer

7.0
Writing Directing Producing

Lovestruck conservatory student Ariane pretends to be just as much a cosmopolitan lover as the worldly mature Frank Flannagan hoping that l’amour will...

The Spirit of St. Louis

The Spirit of St. Louis

1957

Director, Screenplay, Producer

6.7
Directing Writing Producing

Charles Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his 1927 New York to Paris flight the first solo trans-Atlantic crossing.

The Seven Year Itch

The Seven Year Itch

1955

Screenplay, Director, Producer

7.1
Writing Directing Producing

With his family away for their annual summer holiday, a publishing executive decides to live a bachelor's life. The beautiful but ditzy blonde from th...

Emil and the Detectives

Emil and the Detectives

1954

Screenplay

7.6
Writing

Emil goes to Berlin to see his grandmother with a large amount of money and is offered sweets by a strange man that make him sleep. He wakes up at his...

Sabrina

Sabrina

1954

Screenplay, Director, Producer

7.5
Writing Directing Producing

Linus and David Larrabee are the two sons of a very wealthy family. Linus is all work – busily running the family corporate empire, he has no time for...

Stalag 17

Stalag 17

1953

Producer, Writer, Director

7.7
Producing Writing Directing

It's a dreary Christmas 1944 for the American POWs in Stalag 17 and the men in Barracks 4, all sergeants, have to deal with a grave problem—there seem...

Ace in the Hole

Ace in the Hole

1951

Writer, Producer, Director

7.9
Writing Producing Directing

An arrogant reporter exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career.

Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard

1950

Screenplay, Director

8.3
Writing Directing

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

A Song Is Born

A Song Is Born

1948

Story

6.5
Writing

The story of seven scholars in search of an expert to teach them about swing music. They seem to have found the perfect candidate in winsome nightclub...

A Foreign Affair

A Foreign Affair

1948

Screenplay, Director

7.1
Writing Directing

In occupied Berlin, a US Army Captain is torn between an ex-Nazi cafe singer and the US Congresswoman investigating her.

The Emperor Waltz

The Emperor Waltz

1948

Director, Writer

5.9
Directing Writing

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, who...

The Bishop's Wife

The Bishop's Wife

1947

Additional Writing

7.0

An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily...

The Lost Weekend

The Lost Weekend

1945

Screenplay, Director

7.6
Writing Directing

Don Birnam, a long-time alcoholic, has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Eva...

Death Mills

Death Mills

1945

Editor, Director

6.5
Directing

Originally made with a German soundtrack for screening in occupied Germany and Austria, this film was the first documentary to show what the Allies fo...

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity

1944

Director, Screenplay

8.1
Directing Writing

A seductive housewife draws an insurance salesman into a plot of adultery and crime to collect on her husband's life insurance.

Five Graves to Cairo

Five Graves to Cairo

1943

Director, Screenplay

6.9
Directing Writing

The British Army, retreating ahead of victorious Rommel, leaves a lone survivor on the Egyptian border who finds refuge at a remote desert hotel. He a...

The Major and the Minor

The Major and the Minor

1942

Director, Writer

7.0
Directing Writing

Returning to her hometown from New York, Susan Applegate learns that she hasn't enough for the train fare and disguises herself as a twelve-year-old t...

Ball of Fire

Ball of Fire

1941

Original Story, Screenplay

7.4
Writing

A group of academics have spent years shut up in a house working on the definitive encyclopedia. When one of them discovers that his entry on slang is...

Hold Back the Dawn

Hold Back the Dawn

1941

Writer

6.7
Writing

Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota system, he decides to marry an American, then desert ...

Arise, My Love

Arise, My Love

1940

Screenplay

6.3
Writing

A dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.

Rhythm on the River

Rhythm on the River

1940

Story

6.0
Writing

Popular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics. When both writers me...

Ninotchka

Ninotchka

1939

Screenplay

7.5
Writing

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

What a Life

What a Life

1939

Screenplay

Writing

Jackie Cooper stars in this first film in the wholesome "Henry Aldrich" series of teen comedies.

Midnight

Midnight

1939

Screenplay

7.3
Writing

An unemployed American showgirl poses as Hungarian royalty to infiltrate Parisian high society.

That Certain Age

That Certain Age

1938

Writer

5.1
Writing

Dashing reporter Vincent Bullit has just returned from covering the Spanish Civil War. His boss, newspaper magnate Fullerton, has more plans to send h...

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife

1938

Screenplay

7.0
Writing

American multi-millionaire Michael Brandon marries his eighth wife, Nicole, the daughter of a broke French Marquis. But she doesn't want to be only a ...

Champagne Waltz

Champagne Waltz

1937

Story

Writing

In Vienna, a new jazz club featuring American trumpeter Buzzy Bellew threatens the existence of its neighbor, the Waltz Palace, run by Franz Strauss a...

First Offence

First Offence

1936

Original Story

Writing

After his father sells his car, an immature playboy steals it back, and gets involved with a gang of professional car thieves. British remake of "Mauv...

Emil and the Detectives

Emil and the Detectives

1935

Screenplay

5.0
Writing

Erich Kästner’s beloved novel has been adapted for film or television six times since its publication in 1929; this 1935 British version was the first...

The Lottery Lover

The Lottery Lover

1935

Screenplay

3.0
Writing

A crew of young military-school cadets are enjoying their first weekend in Paris. Frank Harrington, a girl-shy cadet, wins the lottery which "They" ha...

Music in the Air

Music in the Air

1934

Screenplay

4.8
Writing

A songwriter's young daughter (June Lang) begins to dream of stardom when she's offered the lead role in a new operetta.

One Exciting Adventure

One Exciting Adventure

1934

Story

Writing

One Exciting Adventure is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Ernst L. Frank. It is a remake of the 1933 German film What Women Dream.

Bad Seed

Bad Seed

1934

Director, Writer

5.6
Directing Writing

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

Adorable

Adorable

1933

Writer

3.2
Writing

Rebellious Princess Marie "Mitzi" Christine must try to marry the man she loves, instead of the stuffy old prince her parents want her to marry.

What Women Dream

What Women Dream

1933

Screenplay

8.4
Writing

In this pre-WWII German mystery-comedy, a lovely kleptomaniac with a taste for fine jewelry is unable to resist temptation. Strangely, every time she ...

Madame Wants No Children

Madame Wants No Children

1933

Screenplay

4.0
Writing
The Blue from the Sky

The Blue from the Sky

1932

Screenplay

5.0
Writing

Out of unlikely circumstances an underground ticket vending girl and a mail pilot fall in love.

Where Is This Lady?

Where Is This Lady?

1932

Story

Writing

A British musical film directed by Victor Hanbury and Ladislao Vajda

Scampolo, ein Kind der Straße

Scampolo, ein Kind der Straße

1932

Writer

6.0
Writing

The street urchin Scampolo (which means, "A Nothing"), who sleeps at night in a telephone booth and earns a little money running errands for a laundr...

A Blonde Dream

A Blonde Dream

1932

Writer

5.5
Writing

Rival window cleaners Willy I and Willy 2 befriend Jou-Jou, an aspiring dancer, who has been tricked out of money by a con-man posing as an American m...

Happy Ever After

1932

Writer

Writing

Two window cleaners help a girl who is trying to get to Hollywood.

Once There Was a Waltz

Once There Was a Waltz

1932

Writer

7.0
Writing

Banker Rudi Moebius and his counselor arrive in Wien for an arranged marriage which should solve their financial problems. Only they don't know, but L...

The Winner

The Winner

1932

Writer

Writing
Emil and the Detectives

Emil and the Detectives

1931

Screenplay

6.8
Writing

When a suspicious man bribes Emil with chocolate in return for a bundle of cash, the young lad thinks of a plan to catch him.

Princess, At Your Orders!

Princess, At Your Orders!

1931

Writer

Writing

Simultaneously made French version of "Ihre Hoheit Befiehlt": An officer, posing as a deli clerk, and a princess, posing as a manicurist, meet at a ba...

The Wrong Husband

The Wrong Husband

1931

Writer

Writing
Infidelities

Infidelities

1931

Story

Writing

When both husband and wife find romance outside their marriage, it's a shock to everyone. Robert and Annemarie break up to elope with their respective...

Her Grace Commands

Her Grace Commands

1931

Writer

5.0
Writing

An emancipated Princess, who has just returned home to her court in the Balkans from England, goes in disguise to a servants’ bal and falls in love wi...

The Man in Search of His Murderer

The Man in Search of His Murderer

1931

Screenplay

6.5
Writing

A man in bad sorts hires a burglar to later kill him, then changes his mind when his fortunes turn and must find the contracted murderer before it is ...

The fight with the dragon or: The tragedy of the lodger

1930

Writer

Writing

A meek clerk can no longer abide the nastiness of his boarding house proprietress and takes drastic action.

People on Sunday

People on Sunday

1930

Screenplay

7.2
Writing

A semi-documentary experimental 1930 German silent film created by amateurs with a small budget. With authentic scenes of the metropolis city of Berli...

Der Teufelsreporter

Der Teufelsreporter

1929

Writer

Writing

Thirteen wealthy American daughters visiting Europe are secretly abducted in Berlin by a dubious guide and governess. Stenographer Eddie, who missed t...