Billy Wilder Speaks (2006)

In 1988, Oscar-winning German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff ("The Tin Drum") sat down with legendary director Billy Wilder at his office in Beverly Hills, California and turned on his camera for a series of filmed interviews. The conversation went on for two weeks. The results were aired on German TV in 1992 and debuted on U.S. television when it was shown on Turner Classic Movies in 2006. We are presented with a generous smattering of film clips, rare photographs and artwork, but mostly Wilder just sits in his office and talks with the off screen Schlondorff, moving easily between English and German. Clips shown include: "Double Indemnity," "The Lost Weekend," "A Foreign Affair," "Sunset Blvd.," "Ace in the Hole." "Stalag 17," "Sabrina," "Witness for the Prosecution," "Some Like It Hot," and "The Apartment." Wilder discusses all these films, and the actors in them as well. Mostly, Wilder offers his philosophy of movie making from one of its undisputed masters. As one might expect from Wilder, he peppers his conversations with hilarious anecdotes, keen insights into the craft of movie making and frank advice about the art of survival in Hollywood.