“Some Like it Hot”—do you?

Did you know that the writer/director of such quintessentially American films as “Some Like it Hot” and “Double Indemnity” was born in Austria?  Billy Wilder, who worked as a newspaper reporter and screenwriter in Germany, emigrated from Europe just before the beginning of World War II.  He first found work as a screenwriter in Hollywood where his credits include “Ninotchka” (1939, Greta Garbo, directed by Ernst Lubitch) and “Ball of Fire” (1941, Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, directed by Howard Hawks).  Wilder continued to write films, usually with a partner, but also began directing.  Some of his best-known films, which are available on DVD in Ladd’s Audio/Video department are:

Double Indemnity (1944) Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray

Audio/Display DVDs  PN1997 .D684 2006

Lost Weekend (1945) Ray Milland, Jane Wyman  Audio/Display DVDs  In Process

Sunset Boulevard (1950) Gloria Swanson, William Holden  Audio/Display DVDs  PN1997 .S92 2008

Ace in the Hole (1951) Kirk Douglas  Audio/Display DVDs  PN1997 .A252 2007

Some Like it Hot (1959) Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon  Audio/Display DVDs   PN1997 .S654 2009

The Apartment (1960) Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine  Audio/Display DVDs  PN1997 .A659 2007