Billy Wilder had a theory about everything and, like so many of the great directors, he was also a great raconteur. Just before he died, a book of his conversations with Cameron Crowe was published. It’s no accident that so many wonderful film books are structured in this way (I’m thinking of Truffaut’s dialogues with Hitchcock and Bogdanovich’s with Welles). Conversations with Wilder is a book I treasure, full of technical insight and bitchy gossip about old Hollywood. It has personal significance too, since I bought it with a book voucher from my secondary school before I went off to university to study film!
Wilder with his favourite star, Jack Lemmon
Wilder had a long and fascinating career, as both a writer and director. Ninotchka, Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes… these are all films I’ve returned to with pleasure again and again. In fact, Wilder was so prolific that there’s many more I’ve yet to see. Given my love of Kirk Douglas, I’m especially looking forward to Ace in the Hole!
In the back of the Crowe book of conversations, Wilder lists his advice to budding writers. I’ve had a photocopy blue-tacked next to my desk for years.
WILDER’S TIPS TO WRITERS
1. The audience is fickle.
2. Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go.
3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
4. Know where you’re going.
5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
7. A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.
8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they are seeing.
9. The event that occurs at the second-act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then -
11. – that’s it. Don’t hang around.
Still, don’t worry if you have trouble keeping to Wilder’s rules. Nobody’s perfect!
excellent..! Try 2 grab a copy of “Ace in the Hole”. Though critically panned in its time, the film is a scathing commentary on the news community of America..it’s relevant in today’s times of “breaking News” days..
Hello Shamik! Thank you for commenting and welcome to Squeezegut Alley!
I had no idea Ace in the Hole was badly received in its day, that’s really interesting. I can’t wait to see it, it looks like classic caustic Wilder. I watched Double Indemnity again the other night. Wow, what a movie…
then u must watch another Wilder film..it was blasted by critics,too..but still it stands out..the film is named “Avanti!”..starring Jack Lemmon..if possible,try 2 catch up with Wilder’s “Love in the Afternoon”,too..both of them are forgotten masterpieces..
Ah, now I have seen Avanti! I thought it was lovely, and that Jack Lemmon’s performance was very finely judged. Wilder was very good at capturing melancholy, I think. I haven’t seen Love in the Afternoon (though I certainly will following your recommendation, and because I love Cooper and Hepburn). Two of my favourite Wilder films are The Apartment and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. The latter’s Miklos Rosza score is capable of moving me to tears…