PopcornBandit

I just finished watching The Apartment. It is the first Billy Wilder movie I have ever watched. I didn't know what to expect going in but it was absolutely fantastic. I loved it. The characters, the dialogue, the story. All of it came together into one amazingly engaging and heartfelt package.

That being said, which Wilder movie should I watch next? I'm thinking Some Like It Hot mainly because I have the blu-ray pre-ordered on Amazon.

PopcornTreeCt

Some Like It Hot or Sunset Boulevard

Dr Mabuse

'Sunset Blvd' is very good.

'One, Two, Three' is personal favorite. That role was hell on Cagney, he really struggled, but man it came out terrific. GREAT film.

davidh777

Wait, there are two Popcorns here?

EDIT: To answer the question, I'd go with Sunset over Some Like It Hot, which didn't live up to the hype for me.

inri222

Sunset Boulevard

His best IMO

Drexl

Another vote for Sunset.

The Antipodean

Good on ya -- go for Some Like It Hot next as that's just unmissable, nobody who loves movies should miss that one -- but Sunset is great too. A lesser known work that really works well today is Ace In The Hole, be sure to hunt that down.

Paul_SD

The Apartment is probably my favorite Wilder film, but you can't go wrong with most of them.
Sunset Boulevard would be a good follow-up. I just sold my copy days ago- but I expect a Bd release probably within a year.
Ace In The Hole is another favorite- it was a big flop in its initial release but it plays very well today where the cynicism and bile are more at home (not to mention the circus nature of 24 hr cable news).

I would also recommend seeking out earlier films that he wrote (or co-wrote) and didn't direct, such as Midnight, which is a charming romantic comedy. Sadly another favorite called Hold Back The Dawn has never been released on DVD in R1. Well worth DVRing if you run across it on TCM sometime.

davidh777

Double Indemnity should be part of the conversation

foofighters7

I can't believe you are just getting to Wilder, he was a terrific Director.

Double Indemnity is very good and certainly worth seeing.
Ace in the Hole is often overlooked (at least until Criterion put it out) and quite good
Some Like it Hot is a must see as well.

Two of my favorites of his is Sunset Blvd. and the wonderful Stalag 17.

Both are must see films.

Oh and 'The Lost Weekend' is way ahead of it's time IMO and very good as well.

Daytripper

"Double Indemnity" is mostly considered the best film noir film ever made.

tylergfoster

JumpCutz

Yes. Apparently one is a Bandit and the other lives in or on Tree Ct.


Another vote for SB, but SLIH, AITH and especially DI are also HIGHLY recommended.

Supermallet

Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, and Some Like It Hot are the obvious ones. Ace In The Hole is also excellent. I also love The Fortune Cookie, Irma La Douce, The Seven Year Itch, and Stalag 17. Wilder was such a genius director. He gave all of his characters such humanity.

Living Dead

Definitely Double Indemnity.

Dr Mabuse

Not one of you bastards has seen 'One, Two, Three'?

Solid Snake

I didn't even know we had a PopcornBandit...

Paul_SD

I can't believe I forgot about Stalag 17. That's right up there at the top too. In fact, I'd suggest either that or SB as the chaser for your first Wilder film. Both are highly accessible and great showcases for both Wilder and one of the best classic leading men-Bill Holden.

Five Graves To Cairo is another title not on DVD yet, but you should keep an eye out for on cable or possibly Netflix streaming.

conscience

His absolute best, IMO, is Sabrina but I know I am in the minority on that one. Stalag 17 is amazing as well.

Billy Wilder's 50-60 period is amazing, though, no matter what.

riotinmyskull

i've seen the following of his flicks:

KISS ME STUPID
SOME LIKE IT HOT
THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH
SUNSET BLVD.
THE LOST WEEKEND
DOUBLE INDEMNITY

all of which i highly recommend.

RDR

Gotta agree with Stalag 17 as well as The Fortune Cookie. Holden was amazing in S17 and there's no beating Lemmon and Matthau with satiric comedy. The 2 of them play off each other amazingly.

PopcornBandit

Yup...been here for a few years now but only been super active for the past year and a half or so.

And thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

Ash Ketchum

Ditto on everyone else's suggestions. Except I have to add a couple not yet mentioned:
THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1942)
A FOREIGN AFFAIR (1948)

THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR was Wilder's first feature as a director. It's a very funny comedy about a woman (Ginger Rogers) masquerading as a 12-year-old to save money on train fare and then, through plot machinations too complicated to go into, has to continue the masquerade at a boy's military academy where the boys all hit on her and the commander (Ray Milland) starts to get queasy about the feelings he's having towards her. This could not be made today.

A FOREIGN AFFAIR is set in a devastated Germany right after the war. An American officer is having an affair with a German woman (Marlene Dietrich) who had been a Nazi collaborator during the war and is trying to sleep her way out of trouble. An American congresswoman comes to investigate the morale of the boys occupying Germany and all hell breaks loose. It's very funny, but very dark and trenchant, esp. given that the war was still fresh in everyone's memories and the Nuremberg trials had taken place, etc. And Dietrich's performance is remarkable in that she's treated entirely sympathetically, despite clear evidence of dirty doings on her part. (In real life, of course, Dietrich had participated whole-heartedly in the war effort against her native country, entertaining American troops in combat zones and everything.)

Another underrated one is THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, although I'd save that till after you've seen all the others suggested so far.
Same for FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO (with Erich von Stroheim in a sympathetic portrayal of Rommel--in the middle of the war!!!), LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON, with Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn, and WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, a clever courtroom drama from Agatha Christie, with Dietrich, Charles Laughton and Tyrone Power.

Save these Wilder films for the very last:
THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
AVANTI
FEDORA
BUDDY, BUDDY
EMPEROR'S WALTZ (the only Wilder film I haven't seen)

davidh777

I thought of The Major and the Minor too. Worth seeing, but well below the prime candidates.

rexinnih

This.