Billy Wilder's Masterpice?

I watched several of his movies as of late, and his masterpiece is almost is every case considered to be Some Like It Hot.

While this is a great film, it ranks second on my Wilder list, after Stalag 17. Stalag 17 is easily in my top ten. (Third goes to Witness for the Prosecution).

Any opinions on Wilder's masterpiece(s)?


R.I.P. Billy Wilder.

__________________
"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" - Howard Beale

Kong enjoyed Stalag 17 quite a lot, but it would probably be rank fairly low on Kong's list of favorite Wilder flicks. At the top Kong would probably put The Apartment.

So many great movies, but for me choosing the one best of the best, it'd be a toss-up between Sunset Blvd. and One, Two, Three. I'd probably give the slight edge to One, Two, Three most days, if only because it is so massively underrated.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I totally agree with you holden sunset blvd and one, two, three- absolutly brilliant

__________________
Most of the time i do what i want!
The rest of the time i'll do what i have to!

My Wilder top ten would be...

1. One, Two, Three
2. Sunset Blvd.
3. Ace in the Hole
4. The Apartment
5. Stalag 17
6. The Lost Weekend
7. The Fortune Cookie
8. Double Indemnity
9. Witness for the Prosecution
10. Some Like it Hot


Personally, I've always found Some Like it Hot to be overrated. I like it and all, but I'd slot it way down at number ten. One, Two, Three and even The Fortune Cookie and The Apartment make me laugh more than Some Like it Hot. One, Two, Three puts me in hysterics, even after well over fifty viewings over the years of my letterboxed LaserDisc.

i've only seen sunset blvd, some like it hot, the apartment, and double indemnity.

back when i saw it, several years ago, i wasnt all that impressed with some like it hot. but i constantly hear it mentioned as hilarious classic, so maybe it's time i gve it another shot.

my favorite by far is sunset blvd., which also ranks very highly among my favorite films in general. after that comes the apartment, then trailing way behind are double indemnity and finally some like it hot. the latter two are both decent movies but they're a lot less unique than either the apartment or sunset blvd.

For anyone in North America looking to either add to your Wilder collection or become a new fan, there's an R1 DVD boxed set coming from MGM featuring nine discs: Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Avanti!, Kiss Me, Stupid, The Fortune Cookie, Irma La Duce, Witness for the Prosecution, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and One, Two, Three. Everything there except Some Like It Hot, Witness for the Prosecution and The Apartment is making its R1 DVD debut. The set, and each movie individually, streets on July 15, 2003, with a retail tag of $130. Anyone with a birthday this summer, put it on your list. Or take a second job to be able and pay for it. And the Some Like It Hot in the box is the S.E. from 2001.

There's already a smaller three-disc set of Wilder flicks from Paramount: Stalag 17, Sabrina and Sunset Blvd.


Between those two sets, that'd pretty well set you up as far as Billy Wilder goes. The Lost Weekend is really the only glaring omission from that list (and it is on DVD). The others in his filmography are lessers pics, though not without their charms (The Front Page and The Seven Year Itch are currently avialable on R1 DVD too).

And for any fans who may have missed it, Sunset Blvd. was released as a nice S.E. late last year.



"SCHLEMMERRRRR!!!!"

I remember seeing One, Two, Three when I was pretty young, I loved it then. It's definitely one of my favorites of his, but so is Stalag 17 and Sunset Blvd. Above them all, however, is The Apartment.

__________________
"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

My top 10 fave Wilder Flicks: (No Order)

The Apartment
Sunset Boulevarde
Double Indemnity
Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes
Stalag 17
Witness For The Prosecution
Fortune Cookie
The Lost Weekend
The front Page
Some Like It Hot

My all time fave of this list would probably be The Apartment, but its a tough call because all are completly statisfying.

__________________
******"The Majority Is Always Wrong" Steve Mcqueen in Enemy Of The People******

No one else worships the MAN and his FILMS?????

I'll take The Apartment, Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard as his three best, with Ace in the Hole and Double Indemnity close behind. I agree with Holden that One, Two, Three is insanely underrated and is a buried treasure. I guess I just don't 'get' Stalag 17. I liked it well enough, but one of his best?

__________________
**** the Lakers!

I just saw Witness for the Prosecution last night and remembered there was a thread about Billy Wilder, so I thought I’d revive it again. This thread has been an interesting read.

I know none of you liked it the best...but my favorite is Some Like It Hot. Maybe it’s because I’ve turned my daughter on to it and she really belly laughs over it...and I of course love the innuendo. The train scenes with food and pastry talk gets me giggling every time.

Here’s what I’ve seen so far and listed in preference...
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Sabrina (1954)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Front Page (1974)
The Major and the Minor (1942)

I’ve only seen One, Two, Three (1961), The Apartment (1960) and Irma la Douce (1963) in bits and pieces through the years. I’ve looked for One, Two, Three in the video store and the libary, but no one has it. I’ll keep my eye open for it on TCM since everyone seems to like it a great deal.

I've never seen Double Indemnity and will have to look for it. Thanks for the nice read guys.

And here I thought I was the only one who loved this often overlooked gem. Mrs. Mose loves to rent old comedies and surprisingly came across this one at our local video store. We picked it up not knowing what to expect and were shocked we'd never heard of it. Cagney's performance is top notch, as is the rapid fire dialogue used throughout the film. Definitely one of my favorite classic comedies!

As for Some Like it Hot, Mrs. Mose and I picked it up after the AFI came out with the top 100 funniest movies list and were bitterly disappointed. It certainly has its moments but doesn't even crack my top 100... well, I don't think it would if I actually took the time to make such a list

__________________
Toefuzz.com - Movie reviews and quotes for those of us fortunate enough to not have our heads shoved up overly critical rectums!

My Top 100 favorite movies.

Ive only seen 3 of his films, and I like Sunset Blvd. the best out of what I have seen.

__________________

I think the best Wilder film would have to be Stalag 17, my favorite Wilder film is Sabrina.

Yeh, my favorite would have to be Sunset Blvd.

__________________
Movies I Watched Last Week:
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) ****
Drive Well, Sleep Carefully (Justin Mitchell, 2005) ****
Grilled (Jason Ensler, 2006) ****
An Inconvenient Truth (David Guggenheim, 2006) ****
The Family Stone (Thomas Bezucha, 2005) ***1/2
Rocky III (Sylvester Stallone, 1982) ***
--------------------------------------------
Visit My Blog!
or, my myspace!

1. Double Indemnity
2. Some Like it Hot
3. Sunset Boulevard
4. Witness for the Prosecution
5. Stalag 17

5 great movies

__________________

"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."- Groucho Marx

Just saw One, Two, Three for the first time. Great movie. Can't wait to watch it again.

My top five of his are

Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Sabrina (1954)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Front Page (1974)

Oh well 6

__________________
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

I have a hard time deciding between Double Indemnity and The Apartment.

On the fluffier (and generally outlandish) side, I get a kick out of The Major And The Minor and Some Like It Hot. I can only assume Tony Curtis picked up his faux accent from Cary Grant. Who talks like that?

I need to see One, Two, Three, it seems. I would have to agree that while Some Like It Hot is very amusing (in a perpetual grin sort of way), it's not exactly hysterical. It does seem to get a bit overblown in the comedy arena.