The Billy Wilder DVD Collection |
Many of these films are available on DVD for the first
time, although Some Like It Hot has not only been released on DVD, it was one of
the few classic films that was done "right." This version preserves the fidelity
and the extras of that that release -- too bad so many of us already own it.
Witness For the Prosecution, based on an Agatha
Christie story, is one of Wilder's near-perfect gems. Shot in stunning black and white, it
features wonderful actors -- Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, Elsa
Lancaster -- in roles that play perfectly to their strengths. The plot is one of the most
complicated, twisting courtroom dramas you will ever see and I won't even attempt to
describe it out of fear of ruining it for the uninitiated. If you haven't seen it, prepare
to be entranced -- and if you have, do you really need an excuse to see it again?
Sad to say, for all of its charms, The Apartment
hasn't aged quite as well. It does feature Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in very
charming performances and it does capture the sweaty-palmed sexual politics of the late
'50s with a sharply cynical eye for romantic movie conventions (which Wilder joyfully
skewered), but it just doesn't sing like Wilder's best comedies. Most people seem to
disagree with me on this one, however. Perhaps you will, too.
One, Two, Three belongs in the ranks of the great
fast-paced, breathlessly funny comedies like Bringing Up Baby and His Girl
Friday, but few people even know it these days. Pity, but it's their loss. Now that
it's available on DVD, it's time for a revival. James Cagney's energy and timing are a
delight, as he portrays a Coca Cola executive stationed in West Berlin who must show a
prominent Senator's daughter the sights. Complications, as they say, ensue. Even English
speakers might wish to activate the subtitles on this one, since the pace is so fast that
you might miss many of the best lines in the explosive gales of laughter the lines
preceding them will elicit.
Lemmon and MacLaine teamed up again for Irma la Douce,
which has almost dropped off the radar, despite having been one of 1963's biggest
box-office hits. Lemmon plays a sweet, uptight policeman who falls in love with a
streetwalker. In both its manic intensity and its Technicolor vision of Paris' seedy
underbelly, the film retains an allure that refutes its contemporary obscurity. It's a
good 'un and shouldn't be missed.
Kiss Me Stupid, starring Ray Walston, Dean Martin,
and Kim Novak, was a rare misstep for Wilder. It's essentially an interminable smarmy
dirty joke -- the kind I would claim that people don't even tell any more were it not for
the inexplicable popularity of the Farrelly Brothers. Wilder later repudiated this film
and I know I'll never watch it again -- but if you're a huge fan of the Farrellys,
you might find it worth repeated viewings. Even in his throwaway films, Wilder built-in
more substance than most hacks could ever aspire toward.
The Fortune Cookie teams Jack Lemmon with Walter
Matthau, which is all the Wilder/Diamond script needed to take off. The chemistry that
Lemmon and Matthau generated is so obvious now, but it was a stroke of genius to pair 'em
up in the first place and The Fortune Cookie did it years before The Odd Couple.
The plot concerns an insurance scam (shades of Double Indemnity!), where Lemmon's
character has to play injured while Matthau's sleezy lawyer (Whiplash Willie) works the
angles. It's a great role for Matthau and he steals the show.
In many ways, the biggest delight in the box is The
Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, which was butchered upon its 1970 release. The DVD
features many of the deleted sequences and makes a strong case for the film as one of
Wilder's masterpieces. It's definitely not the work of a Baker Street irregular and
the liberties it takes with the Sherlock Holmes canon are among its chief charms --
although it does very satisfactorily explain some of Holmes' less salubrious habits. It's
also one of the most openly affectionate and sentimental of Wilder's films and it's hard
not to imagine the great director identifying with the awkward, loner, deductive genius.
Not a bad place to end either the collection or a career.
Video quality is generally quite high and the sound quality
ranges from acceptable to very fine (verging on superb for Some Like It Hot, which
obviously had the largest restoration budget). However, the chances of a more lavish
Wilder edition seem remote, so grab this one while it's available. It'll repay you with years
of entertainment.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhometheater.com
