The Apartment (1960)
An ambitious insurance clerk lends his apartment to executives for their affairs, until he falls for the boss’s mistress at Christmas.
Billy Wilder
This archive gathers the films written by Billy Wilder reviewed at Master of Worlds: “Double Indemnity (1944)”, “Some Like It Hot (1959)”, “Stalag 17 (1953)”, “The Apartment (1960)”, and “Witness for the Prosecution (1957)” — 5 titles in all. Seen together they show a consistent sensibility across different films. The reviews focus on the screenplay as craft — what it contributes, how it serves each story, and what separates the work from the ordinary version of the same material. Rather than rank the films, the collection treats them as a body of work worth examining. The list expands as additional titles are added.
Stalag 17 (1953)
Billy Wilder’s 1953 WWII POW camp drama. William Holden won Best Actor. Source for Hogan’s Heroes. The German camp informer.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
1957 Billy Wilder courtroom drama from Agatha Christie. Charles Laughton as defense barrister, Marlene Dietrich as the wife.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Wilder’s 1959 cross-dressing comedy. Lemmon and Curtis on the run, Monroe in her last great performance. Nobody’s perfect.
Double Indemnity (1944)
Wilder’s 1944 insurance-fraud noir. MacMurray, Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson. Chandler co-wrote with Wilder. The template every later noir borrowed from.