On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder

by Ed Sikov

From the early years of anti-Semitism and frustration in Austria to the glory of Hollywood and six Academy Awards, Billy Wilders life is as fascinating as his movies. Now, drawing on new interviews, current research, and previously inaccessible archives, Ed Sikov offers endlessly entertaining portrait of one of this centurys most influential directors and screenwriters.

Genres: Film, Biography, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Biography Memoir, History

675 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 1998

About the author

Ed Sikov has taught at Haverford College, Colorado College, and Columbia University. He is the author of seven books, including On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder, Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis, Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers, and Laughing Hysterically: American Screen Comedy of the 1950s. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best Wilder biography out there, and I had to go through all of them in researching my book "I'll Have What She's Having," which includes chapters on "Sabrina" and "Some Like it Hot." A must for any fan of this great director.

[Brian Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of biographies, I prefer to look at the subject's life through the filter of an historic event or what the person is best known for in context. So A Team of Rivals is good; The "life and times" of so-and-so not so much. On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder is a little bit of both. Actually, it's a little bit "life and times" and quite a bit Hollywood history and Wilder's role within said history as well as how he influenced it. For me this book got off a little slow and that's why I didn't give it a higher rating. Where Wilder's life intersects with the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich in the early going it's particularly strong. Most of Wilder's early life, however, I could have done without. Once he hits Hollywood after narrowly escaping Hitler's grip on Europe in the 1930s, On Sunset Boulevard really takes off. Author Ed Sikov gives us just enough of Wilder's first steps toward a remarkable career before giving beat-by-beat backstory, film review, and commentary in equal parts on each and every Wilder film — both directed and written. Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, and Some Like It Hot were especially interesting. I wish the author would have given me a little more about Billy's latter years, but if you're into classic, studio era Hollywood I think you'll really like this book.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recounting of a 20th-century life of great highs and lows: this one especially excels at expanding on Wilder's background as one European Jewish refugee from Poland, Austria, and Germany. Emory is planning a retrospective of Wilder this Fall 2019. I had to seek a good biography, as I love the four or five movies I used to watch at the Silver Screen in Atlanta or the Tate Center at UGA.
Double Indemnity.
Sunset Boulevard.
Stalag 17.
Sabrina.
Some Like it Hot.
For more on Wilder, check https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000697/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_W...
Highly recommended.

[Jandy]

Very readable bio of Billy Wilder, focusing on his career more than his private life, which is perfect for me. Detailed but never boring descriptions of each production is paired with box office and contemporary critical response, as well as Sikov's own critical perspective, interspersed with anecdotes from Billy's life. Many of these stories are told in multiple versions, as it seems Wilder himself was quite prone to exaggeration to increase any story's comedic value, and the producers and actors who surrounded him are just as likely to tell versions that stroke their own egos (this is Hollywood after all). Sikov sorts through all these variations, sometimes supporting one as the more plausible, sometimes just leaving them all up in the air. As Wilder always knew, the story is often more important than the truth.

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great informative bio of one of Hollywood's greatest directors. Very detailed and well-researched, this book is an inside look at a lifelong outsider, as well as the backstory and casting decisions made for each of his films. A movie buff's delight!

[Keith MacCrimmon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billy wilder is one of my favorite directors. Like all artists, he had some hits and some misses. I was interested in this book to find more insight into why. I guess because of the length of his career, very little time is spent on each movie. Consequently, very little is learned about his now timeless gems like one,two, three; the fortune cookie; and irma la douce vs his duds like kiss me stupid, private life of sherlock holmes, and avanti. The book paints a picture of wilder always challenging the code and legion of decency. THat is not particularly unique. Otto Preminger spent a career doing this and none of his films are funny or even that interesting. Too much of the discussion is written with an eye at the time with no perspective of a few decades.
For example, both irma la douce and kiss me stupid are about risque sexual subjects and unpredictable narratives. Why does one work and the other not? The obvious answer is the main character. First played perfectly by jack lemon, and the second played flatly by ray walston. Walston was always a strange choice. His dead pan style in his body of work always brighten their stories. In kiss me stupid, he is asked to play an angry jealous frantic song writer. Why was he cast? There was no explanation other than the problems they had with peter sellers. There was a comment saying that wilder demanded an exact performance with dozen and dozen of takes. An interesting comment from Shirley maclaine was that wilder ignored her performance and always asked lemon to redo and redo his takes. Consequently her performance seemed more fresh.

The section on sherlock holmes was quite long so i was hopeful to get some insight into the creation. Particularly the casting and the writing. Both of the two main characters were cast from the Shakespeare company. Like kiss me stupid, it seems like dozen and dozens of takes were requested. That undermined the casts confidence and may have lead to stale performances. Still, for one of the most versatile writer/ director, his story on the over done sherlock holmes does not stand out. The book tries to explain the genius the how holmes falls for a woman. This maybe okay if sir arthur conan doyle had not done the plot first! It was mentioned that the original movie was over three hours. Why? Wilder first commandment is thou shall not bore. Even the trimmed movie and all of the scenes were dull. There is a explanation that he wanted to introduce some subtext of homosexuality but even that didn’t seem very interesting.

One two three is one of my favorite movies. It has the pacing and unpredictability of a great wilder movie. Why did this work so well? Guess there is no easy answer. I think that Cagneys performance was one of the best of his career. But his experience was so bad, he never saw the movie and stopped acting for decades. It seemed wilder demanded take after take and cagney being the professional complied. It was interesting that arlene francis, who was perfect in the movie, only had experience on what’s my line. That is inspirational casting.

Finally, i wanted to know more about his decline. Avanti is not really a wilder movie. It is more liike a jack lemon vehicle where he gets to do his sad sack role. It works in some like it hot or irma la douce but he cant carry a picture on that performance. Unlike a wilder picture, it is completely predictable. Would you believe boy mets girl, boy looses girl, boy gets girl? Wow! The script has something about lemon’s character being married but that was downplayed. It seemed like the author had a sentimental feeling toward to movie since he pulls out a number of adjectives in describing the movie and the co star’s performance.

In summary, a good book to know some background about billy wilder’s movies but light on analysis.

[Nisha-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My goodness, the language of that kept shocking me for the longest while. Even though I realised almost immediately that the words like "screwing", "fucking", "whores" and "sluts" were very much keeping in with Wilder's own style of speech and preoccupations, that it was clearly a stylistic choice on Sikov's part, bloody hell, I am absolutely not used to such crassness in the actual prose of a biography. Quotes, sure. Prose, woah hell. So yeah, it was super amusing how puritanical I felt, especially with such casual use of 'whore.'

That aside, my god, that was a hell of a ride. I'm inclined to think though that any biography of Wilder would be. Not that I intend to read any more, this was quite enough, and I rather liked that it was written and published during his lifetime, with an afterword that was clearly an article written and published after his death. Still I wonder if I should trust it entirely, if there have been other books that have challenged this version of events. Especially the Marilyn quotes, good lord.

It really was scandalous and delightful and made Wilder both repulsive and even more beloved to me.

[Casey Toner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good insights and interesting anecdotes especially about pre-war Vienna/Berlin though I feel like Sikov misunderstands Wilder and his depiction of women, who Sikov constantly and distractingly refers to as sluts and whores. Sure Phyllis Dietrichson in "Double Indemnity" is a true blue sociopath but it's a noir and that's what that world looks like. But think about Norma Desmond, another noir figure, who is a manipulator to be sure, but also a charmer and a human in command of her own desires and also a victim; "Sunset Boulevard" never lets you forget that and perhaps that's why I left the theater seeing it for the first time in tears. Think about the nuanced characters he wrote and the tour-de-force performances he brought out of Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn or Shirley McClain, who was so devastating in "The Apartment." A misogynist would be unable to see them as people, let alone craft roles for them that are so richly lived.

[Keith Kropp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of many of Billy Wilder's films, and this book has inspired me to check out some of those I have not seen. As a big fan of Marilyn Monroe I wanted to read this biography because Mr. Wilder directed Marilyn in two of her better films. I found his life story and the Hollywood history fascinating, but felt this book was overly long and tiresome at times. It seemed as though the author is too impressed with himself, and wanted to impress his readers with his knowledge. Could have used a strong, talented editor.

[Nog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for stories about the making of all his films, and anecdotes on his various adventures in Hollywood, but doesn't really get to the heart of who Wilder was. It seems that the author didn't get an interview with the man, and had to rely on various stories being retold from other sources. Nonetheless, it's a pretty good read. I think Wilder Times is a better read, and it's shorter (see my review).

[John Kenrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful

A great biography, filled with wit and heart, just like the brilliant and prolific man it introduces the reader to. After a lifetime enjoying Wilder's films, it was a genuine pleasure to find his life story every bit as engaging as his fictional screen creations.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustive

This is a very detailed, very complete biography of Billy Wilder. It should interest any Wilder fan. But, I must agree with Audrey Wilder, there were several mistakes, not serious enough to spoil the enjoyment of the book.

[Sue Miers · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing work! Sikov combines human history with the history of Wilder and captures the man beautifully as he moves through the decades of his life and each of his films. It was entertaining and captured the man warts and all.

[Stefano Salvadori · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best book about Billy Wilder and one of the best biographies I have ever read. Highly recommended

[CJSFilms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written but my god there is not a single detail left out

[David Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty damn good all 700+ pages of it. Highly recommend this biography of a great director and writer.

[Cheryl Lassiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book presents an incredible amount of detail. Don’t choose it for a casual read. An excellent resource for anyone interested in the irascible, brilliant Billy Wilder, his early days as a screenwriter in Vienna and Berlin, and of course, Hollywood.

How he must have suffered, having tried but failed to convince his mother to get out of Vienna before the Anschluss...and to know that she later died at the hands of the Nazis.

[Jenine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed for the bits I was interested in. Started it after seeing Sabrina for the first time. Now am on an old movie jag and may finally watch Sunset Blvd. Glad he got out of Europe when the getting was good. Lots of everything in here and much more about the shooting process for each film than I needed.

[Marí · Rating 3 out of 5]

27. Un libro de más de 500 páginas.
En las palabras de Trueba al recibir el Oscar:
"Debería agradecerle a Dios pero sólo creo en Billy Wilder. Gracias, Mr. Wilder"
El libro bien, muy meticuloso pero le falta chisssssssme.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

May well be the best of the Billy Wilder books and I have read a few.

[Richard Downey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very fun bio of a fascinating character, Billy Wilder. His life is as interesting as any of his movie creations and Ed Sikov has done a remarkable job of capturing the man.

[Magnus Stanke · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's been a while since I read this. I remember it being good but not great - unlike Wilder himself

[Federico · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of research went into this fascinating book on screenplay writer/film director Billy Wilder. And the reader is the beneficiary of all that research. Sikov never got to interview Wilder directly. The constant quotes peppering the book were all culled as part of of said research. Essentially, what we have here is a definitive though unofficial biography, intercut with very interesting, short, often juicy "Making of’s" on all of Billy Wilder’s many films, whether they are classics like "Double Indemnity", "Sunset Boulevard", "The Apartment" or "Some Like It Hot", or less well-known major works, like "Sabrina", "Stalag 17", "Ace in the Hole" (that Sikov did not like), and the snappy, whimsical "Midnight" (that Wilder scripted). Recommended for Billy Wilder fans and anyone curious about the more talented Hollywood filmmakers.