Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder’s directorial debut. Pierre Mingand plays a spendthrift Parisian socialite cut off by his father. Angry and desperate, he falls in with a loveable gang of car thieves, crosses their cutthroat boss, and falls for the group’s decoy, played by Danielle Darrieux. Wilder made the film in France en route to Hollywood after fleeing Germany. While not as polished as his later efforts, it’s well-produced with engaging car chases and night-shots superior to most Hollywood fare.

Garbo plays a Russian official sent to Paris to negotiate the sale of some jewels, only to find herself falling for Douglas, a lawyer representing an exiled Duchess contesting Russia’s ownership of the jewels.

A woman (Ginger Rogers) posing as a twelve-year-old in order to ride half-fare on a train back home, finds herself traveling with an Army Major (Ray Milland) who’s unaware of her real age.

A woman (Barbara Stanwyck) entices an insurance agent (Fred MacMurray) to help her murder her husband.

An alcoholic writer hits bottom over the course of a booze-filled weekend.

A Bishop (David Niven) struggling professionally and personally prays for guidance and receives it in the form of an angel named Dudley (Cary Grant).

A singer (Virginia Mayo) hides out with an academic (Danny Kaye) who’s unaware of her mob connections.

A deranged and forgotten silent film star (Gloria Swanson) plans her comeback with the help of a hack screenwriter (William Holden).

An ambitious, unscrupulous reporter (Kirk Douglas) manipulates the rescue of a man trapped in a cave in order to milk the story for his own gain, and in the process, creates a media circus.

Stalag 17 is a somewhat uneven mix of comedy and drama that hits more often than it misses.

A businessman (Humphrey Bogart) becomes alarmed when his younger brother’s (William Holden) romance with the chauffeur’s daughter (Audrey Hepburn) threatens a multi-million dollar deal.

With his wife and son away for the summer, a man (Tom Ewell) finds himself tempted by his upstairs neighbor (Marilyn Monroe).

The Spirit of St. Louis is the rare bio-pic/true story film that really works. At least for me.

An ailing barrister (Charles Laughton) defends a man accused of murder.

After witnessing a mob hit, two Chicago musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) disguise themselves as women and join an all-girl band bound for Miami.

A young man (Jack Lemmon) climbs the corporate ladder by loaning out his apartment to company executives for extramarital affairs.

Frank Sinatra reunites his old Army unit, including Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., to pull off a New Year’s Eve robbery of five Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.

Coca-Cola’s company man (James Cagney) in West Berlin finds himself in hot water when his American boss’s daughter falls for a Communist.

After four consecutive perfect—or near-perfect—films (Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and One, Two, Three), writer-director Billy Wilder finally stumbles with Irma la Douce, an overlong and cartoonish comedy drama.

A songwriter (Ray Walston) hires a floozy (Kim Novak) to pose as his wife in order to entertain a famous lush entertainer (Dean Martin).

Jack Lemmon plays a TV cameraman knocked unconscious while filming a Cleveland Browns game. He’s unhurt, but his shyster brother-in-law, played by Walter Matthau, sues everyone involved.

An older James Bond comes out of retirement to defeat SMERSH.

Director Billy Wilder’s humanized portrait of Holmes and Watson as they help a mysterious woman find her missing husband.

Avanti shouldn’t work.

The Front Page is yet another adaptation of the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, the most famous of which was probably Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday. This Billy Wilder-directed adaptation features Walter Matthau in the Cary Grant role and Jack Lemmon in the Rosalind Russell role.