EBOOK
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"A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2021" "Longlisted for the Kraszna-Krausz Book Award, Moving Image Category" "Longlisted for the National Translation Award, American Literary Translators Association" Billy Wilder (1906–2002) wrote and directed Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment, among other films. Over the course of his career, he won seven Academy Awards. Noah Isenberg is the George Christian Centennial Professor and Chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin. His many books include We'll Always Have "Casablanca" and Weimar Cinema. Twitter @NoahIsenberg Instagram @noah.isenberg1967 Shelley Frisch is the award-winning translator of Dietrich & Riefenstahl and the three-volume Kafka (Princeton), among other books. Twitter @shelfrisch
A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year, chosen by Tom Stoppard
"A revelation."-Marc Weingarten, Washington Post
Acclaimed film director Billy Wilder's early writings-brilliantly translated into English for the first time
Before Billy Wilder became the screenwriter and director of iconic films like Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, he worked as a freelance reporter, first in Vienna and then in Weimar Berlin. Billy Wilder on Assignment brings together more than fifty articles, translated into English for the first time, that Wilder (then known as "Billie") published in magazines and newspapers between September 1925 and November 1930. From a humorous account of Wilder's stint as a hired dancing companion in a posh Berlin hotel and his dispatches from the international film scene, to his astute profiles of writers, performers, and political figures, the collection offers fresh insights into the creative mind of one of Hollywood's most revered writer-directors.
Wilder's early writings-a heady mix of cultural essays, interviews, and reviews-contain the same sparkling wit and intelligence as his later Hollywood screenplays, while also casting light into the dark corners of Vienna and Berlin between the wars. Wilder covered everything: big-city sensations, jazz performances, film and theater openings, dance, photography, and all manner of mass entertainment. And he wrote about the most colorful figures of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Prince of Wales, actor Adolphe Menjou, director Erich von Stroheim, and the Tiller Girls dance troupe. Film historian Noah Isenberg's introduction and commentary place Wilder's pieces-brilliantly translated by Shelley Frisch-in historical and biographical context, and rare photos capture Wilder and his circle during these formative years.
Filled with rich reportage and personal musings, Billy Wilder on Assignment showcases the burgeoning voice of a young journalist who would go on to become a great auteur. "A revelation, a trove of snappy pieces that give the reader tantalizing glimpses of the mature film satirist."---Marc Weingarten, Washington Post "The brightest moments here let you watch a little more of the human comedy through Billy Wilder's eyes. Few saw it as clearly he did or had more fun writing it down."---Jeremy McCarter, Wall Street Journal "Readers who come to Billy Wilder on Assignment to find the seeds of the films for which he is famous-nearly all of them, one assumes-will not be disappointed."---Ryan Ruby, Bookforum "A delicious compilation."---Tobias Grey, Financial Times "The most successful story in this collection, 'Waiter, a Dancer, Please!,' about being a hoofer for hire at a big hotel, is waspish and (if you allow for the choppy sentences) jazz-era excitable, New Yorker–ish, with a self-deprecating turn and a fairly urbane sense of the perfectly ridiculous."---Andrew O'Hagan, New York Review of Books "Long before he became the celebrated filmmaker of 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Some Like It Hot' and 'The Apartment,' a young Billy Wilder work
A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year, chosen by Tom Stoppard
"A revelation."-Marc Weingarten, Washington Post
Acclaimed film director Billy Wilder's early writings-brilliantly translated into English for the first time
Before Billy Wilder became the screenwriter and director of iconic films like Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, he worked as a freelance reporter, first in Vienna and then in Weimar Berlin. Billy Wilder on Assignment brings together more than fifty articles, translated into English for the first time, that Wilder (then known as "Billie") published in magazines and newspapers between September 1925 and November 1930. From a humorous account of Wilder's stint as a hired dancing companion in a posh Berlin hotel and his dispatches from the international film scene, to his astute profiles of writers, performers, and political figures, the collection offers fresh insights into the creative mind of one of Hollywood's most revered writer-directors.
Wilder's early writings-a heady mix of cultural essays, interviews, and reviews-contain the same sparkling wit and intelligence as his later Hollywood screenplays, while also casting light into the dark corners of Vienna and Berlin between the wars. Wilder covered everything: big-city sensations, jazz performances, film and theater openings, dance, photography, and all manner of mass entertainment. And he wrote about the most colorful figures of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Prince of Wales, actor Adolphe Menjou, director Erich von Stroheim, and the Tiller Girls dance troupe. Film historian Noah Isenberg's introduction and commentary place Wilder's pieces-brilliantly translated by Shelley Frisch-in historical and biographical context, and rare photos capture Wilder and his circle during these formative years.
Filled with rich reportage and personal musings, Billy Wilder on Assignment showcases the burgeoning voice of a young journalist who would go on to become a great auteur. "A revelation, a trove of snappy pieces that give the reader tantalizing glimpses of the mature film satirist."---Marc Weingarten, Washington Post "The brightest moments here let you watch a little more of the human comedy through Billy Wilder's eyes. Few saw it as clearly he did or had more fun writing it down."---Jeremy McCarter, Wall Street Journal "Readers who come to Billy Wilder on Assignment to find the seeds of the films for which he is famous-nearly all of them, one assumes-will not be disappointed."---Ryan Ruby, Bookforum "A delicious compilation."---Tobias Grey, Financial Times "The most successful story in this collection, 'Waiter, a Dancer, Please!,' about being a hoofer for hire at a big hotel, is waspish and (if you allow for the choppy sentences) jazz-era excitable, New Yorker–ish, with a self-deprecating turn and a fairly urbane sense of the perfectly ridiculous."---Andrew O'Hagan, New York Review of Books "Long before he became the celebrated filmmaker of 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Some Like It Hot' and 'The Apartment,' a young Billy Wilder work