Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Billy Wilder: Mythmaker

Billy Wilder’s true story was colorful enough, but the born storyteller couldn’t help making things even more interesting. Join us as we kick off Season 2 by separating fact from fiction in the director’s early life and first filmmaking efforts. Next stop: Hollywood! We're upping our Patreon in a major way for Season 2, so be sure to join today! Patreon.com/TheFilmographersPodcast Social media Instagram @thefilmographers Bluesky @thefilmographers.bsky.social Letterboxd @filmographers Website https://filmographerspodcast.com/ Credits Keir Graff & Michael Moreci, hosts Kevin Lau, producer Gompson, theme music Cosmo Graff, graphic design Chapters 2:31 – Wilder is the GOAT! 4:33 – Restless and easily bored 9:43 – Hooked on movies 11:31 – Billy Wilder, cub reporter 18:17 – Just a gigolo 23:39 – Fired as a tour guide 25:52 – Billy gets a break! 27:13 - This is what we call foreshadowing 29:06 – “Menschen am Sonntag” / “People on Sunday” (1930) 43:40 – Screenwriter 48:58 – Flight to Paris 50:38 – “The advent of Mr. Hitler” 51:41 – “Mauvaise Graine” / “Bad Seed” (1934) Sources Books On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder, by Ed Sikov (Hyperion, 1998) Billy Wilder on Assignment: Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna, by Billy Wilder, edited by Noah Isenberg, translated by Shelley Frisch (Princeton University Press, 2021) Conversations with Wilder, by Cameron Crowe (Knopf, 1999) Mr. Wilder and Me, by Jonathan Coe (Viking, 2020) Films Storms of Passion (1932): https://youtu.be/HbUJvGHgz4g?si=l7XUfCtJAzpe2tdg Menschen on Sonntag (People on Sunday) (1930) Mauvaise Graine (Bad Seed) (1934) Weekend am Wansee (2000) Websites Billy Wilder on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000697/