Billy Wilder

A Trio of Intriguing Factoids From the Sci-Fi/Horror/Mystery Genre!

Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D. | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: The Incredible Shrinking Man, Dr.Ruel, One Step Byond, Billy Wilder, Bizarre, Weird, Film Factoids, Quatermass, Video, Weird News News

Why was the ending of TV's The Quatermass Xperiment changed for the silver screen? What would be the ultimate destiny of The Incredible Shrinking Man? Was screen credit denied to the stars of several cinematic and TV productions?

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Exquisite Austrian Food in Beverly Hills!

Jay Weston | Posted 05.26.2012

Read More: Billy Wilder, Mr. Chow, Lord Windsor, Patina, Austrian Food, LA Restaurants, Austrian Restaurants, BierBeisl, Best of La, Los Angeles News

BeerBeisl is a stunning, delightful and delicious restaurant with authentic, enchanting food so satisfying and striking it will resound favorably in the inner recesses of your mind.

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When Comedy Was Clean and Comediennes Were King

John Farr | Posted 05.20.2012

Read More: Preston Sturges, Don Ameche, Carole Lombard, Ben Hecht Charles MacArthur, Screwball Comedy, Mary Astor, Frank Capra, John Barrymore, Bob Hope, Claudette Colbert, Billy Wilder, Best Movies on DVD, Best Movies by Farr, Best Movies, Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, Leo McCarey, Bridesmaids, Howard Hawks, Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Hecht, Kristen Wiig, Bill Cosby, Jean Arthur, Irene Dunne, Gary Cooper, Ralph Bellamy, Comedy, Jack Benny, Entertainment News

For those wanting a respite from today's low, "in-your-face" brand of comedy, here are a few tried-and-true classics featuring these top screen comediennes. These special ladies made us laugh -- and feel smart -- at the same time.

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The Perfect Noir: Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity

Network Awesome | Posted 04.29.2012

Read More: Billy Wilder, Classic Hollywood, Film Noir, Raymond Chandler, Hollywood, Billy Wilder Films, Double Indemnity, Double Indemnity Movie, Video, Entertainment News

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Five Classic Movies You Need to Revisit

Bryan Young | Posted 04.28.2012

Read More: Manhattan, Notorious, Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen, Oscars, Annie Hall, The Apartment, Classic Movies, Spellbound, Billy Wilder, Academy Awards, Entertainment News

While everyone has their attention fixed on cinema because of the Academy Awards, there are some classic Blu-ray releases I'd love to kindle (or rekindle) interest in.

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Which Directors Have Gotten The Most Academy Award Nominations For Their Actors?

The Huffington Post | Sharon Knolle | Posted 04.22.2012

Read More: The Academy Awards, Video, Fred Zinnemann, Sidney Lumet, Academy Awards, William Wyler, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, George Cukor, Billy Wilder, Slidewide, The Oscars, Academy Awards 2012, Elia Kazan, Entertainment News

Who's the best director in Hollywood history? You could look at who's won the most Best Director Oscars -- that would be legendary John Ford, whose fo...

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Kirk Douglas Turns 95!

John Farr | Posted 02.07.2012

Should we call him "Spartacus"? Or "Champion"? Both names certainly fit the man. Kirk Douglas turns 95 tomorrow, and he is still very much with us.

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Why We Need Shirley MacLaine, and Billy Wilder's The Apartment More Now than Ever

Vivian Norris | Posted 11.09.2011

Read More: Manhattan, Shirley MacLaine, Legion D'honneur, Mensch, Frederic Mitterrand, Mistress, The Apartment, Jack Lemmon, Deauville American Film Festival, Film, Billy Wilder, Corporate Culture, Entertainment News

Perhaps this morality tale will cheer up a few folks who are out of work in the big city...things could be worse, you could still be working for some schmuck, dating some jerk, serving the corporate beast.

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10 Black & White Movies for People Who Won't Watch Black & White Movies

John Farr | Posted 09.27.2011

Read More: Fred MacMurray, ?the Best Years of Our Lives?, The Grapes of Wrath, Academy Awards, Harper Lee, All About Eve, Fredric March, The Apartment, Best Movies by Farr, Rod Steiger, Citizen Kane, Walter Huston, Robert Duvall, Pulitzer Prize, Marilyn Monroe, Black and White, Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin, Jack Lemmon, Duck Soup, Gregory Peck, On the Waterfront, Elia Kazan, American Film Institute, Humphrey Bogart, John Steinbeck, Movie Recommendations, Orson Welles, Movie Suggestions, Billy Wilder, Best Movies on DVD, Best Movies, Casablanca, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, John Huston, Schindler's List, Shirley MacLaine, Sidney Lumet, 12 Angry Men, William Wyler, The Marx Brothers, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Myrna Loy, Marlon Brando, To Kill a Mockingbird, Bette Davis, Culture News

If I could get all those black and white haters out there to watch just ten titles -- movies that constituted absolutely essential viewing -- which would they be?

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Is Today's Film Comedy in the Toilet?

John Farr | Posted 09.16.2011

I continue to be nostalgic for comedy that doesn't require constant profanity or a surfeit of fart gags to succeed, that relies instead on subtle, clever scripts and witty dialogue; movies that in the end give their audiences some credit for brains and taste.

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10 Classic Movies That Turn Up the Heat for Summer

John Farr | Posted 08.21.2011

Read More: Richard Dreyfuss, Academy Awards, James Stewart, River Phoenix, Best Movies by Farr, Rod Steiger, Emma Stone, Blu-Ray, Alfred Hitchcock, Gianni Di Gregorio, Michael Cera, Grace Kelly, Summer Movies, Frances McDormand, Summer, Ray Liotta, Kiefer Sutherland, Rob Reiner, Criterion Collection, Patrick Fugit, Jonah Hill, Burt Lancaster, Billy Wilder, Billy Crudup, Judd Apatow, Best Movies on DVD, Best Movies, John Candy, Thirteen/WNET, Bill Murray, Kathleen Turner, Tom Hanks, Greg Mottola, Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Kate Hudson, Cameron Crowe, Adam Sandler, Sidney Poitier, Entertainment News

I googled "best summer-themed movies" but I think what I got was "any summer-themed movie."For those who want a little extra quality in their summer fare, here comes a varied but more rewarding list.

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The 2011 Academy Awards: It Gets a C-Plus at Best

Michael Russnow | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Billy Crystal, Kirk Douglas, Academy Awards, Mo'Nique, Hugh Jackman, The Oscars, Helen Mirren, Marilyn Monroe, Alfred Hitchcock, Halle Berry, Mary Martin, Christian Bale, The Fighter, Eli Wallach, Tony Curtis, David Seidler, The Social Network, Bob Hope, Billy Wilder, Gone With the Wind, Lena Horne, Anne Hathaway, John Hughes, Russell Brand, Tom Hanks, Francis Ford Coppola, The King's Speech, Ethel Merman, Michael Russnow, Reese Witherspoon, Aaron Sorkin, Kenneth Brownlow, Fred Zinnemann, Melissa Leo, Lauren Bacall, Colin Firth, James Franco, Christoph Waltz, Abc, Film, Oscars 2011, Celebrities, Natalie Portman, Award Season, Movies, Entertainment News

You know the writers are in trouble when they have to rely upon Hathaway's mother and Franco's grandmother to help out in the audience. All in all the show was mediocre, but not a disaster.

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Three Underappreciated Silent Film Classics

George Heymont | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Paul Leni, Rafael Sabatini, George C. Tilyou, Film Noir, Eleanor Boardman, Swashbuckler, San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Mighty Wurlitzer, Sunset Boulevard, King Vidor, Billy Wilder, Gloria Swanson, Clark Wilson, Kilruddery Silent Film Festival, John Wayne, Conrad Veidt, Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Steeplechase Park, Victor Hugo, Maurice Ravel, Dennis James, The Man Who Laughs, Norma Desmond, A Cottage on Dartmoor, Coney Island, Stephen Horne, Anthony Asquith, Wall-E, John Gilbert, Castro Theater, The Magnificent, Bardelys Film, Arts News

The Bay Area has a large and loyal base of silent film fans, many of whom will descend on the Castro Theatre this weekend for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival's annual winter event.

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Make Way for Satana, Heaven

Kim Morgan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Irma La Douce, Tura Satana, Billy Wilder, Elvis Presley, Kim Morgan, Russ Meyer, Entertainment News

Who was ever like Tura Satana? Tura was a tiger with a blackbelt, a true exotic who actually lived a life of hard knocks and one she, no doubt, disgorged in cathartic release on screen.

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Just Maybe -- the Best Comedy Film Director Ever

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

Even though Entertainment Weekly named him the 16th-best film director of all time, if I mention the name Ernst Lubitsch to my own middle-aged contemporaries, I usually get a hazy look.

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Why It's A Wonderful Life Still Resonates

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Frank Capra, It's a Wonderful Life, Christmas, Billy Wilder, Best Movies on DVD, Best Movies by Farr, Home Alone, Holiday Movie Guide 2010, Best Holiday Movies, Best Christmas Movies, Entertainment News

With glitzier fare squeezing out this special old stand-by, is the new generation missing out on something special? I think so. In short, the film explores the fundamental, overarching importance of the ties that bind.

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They Belong in Every Home: The Ten Best Holiday Movies by Farr

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

The values and emotions imparted in these timeless films are sure to stoke the spirit of "Peace On Earth, Good Will Towards Men" (and women). Happy viewing!

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Missing Mr. Matthau

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Glenda Jackson, Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, Kirk Douglas, Billy Wilder, Best Movies on DVD, Best Movies by Farr, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, Sidney Lumet, Robert Shaw, Jack Lemmon, Don Siegel, Elia Kazan, Gregory Peck, Entertainment News

On the first of this month, Walter Matthau, who left us just a decade ago, would have turned ninety. Ruminating on this unnoted milestone made me consider anew what a unique and gifted screen actor he was.

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The Man Who Was Tony Curtis

Tom Teicholz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Holocaust Memorial, Some Like It Hot, Hungary, Burt Lancaster, Billy Wilder, Tom Teicholz, Tony Curtis, Emanuel Foundation, Balthus, Arts News

It was Curtis' combination of toughness and vulnerability -- his predatory sexual magnetism and the almost female quality to his beauty -- that would make his career.

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Two Passing Greats: A Tribute to Arthur Penn and Tony Curtis

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

One had to acknowledge and admire Tony Curtis's sheer spirit and zest. But while Curtis was the ultimate public personality, filmmaker Arthur Penn, who died two days ago, was basically a private man.

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Professional Pictures: Movies About Our Day Jobs

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Broadcasting, Charlie Sheen, Kirk Douglas, Lawyers, Oliver Stone, William Holden, Billy Wilder, Faye Dunaway, Best Movies on DVD, Real Estate, Rock Hudson, Best Movies by Farr, Business, Professions, Kevin Spacey, Sidney Lumet, Peter Finch, Finance, William Wyler, Ingrid Bergman, Doris Day, Paddy Chayefsky, Jack Lemmon, The-Corporation-2004, David Mamet, Alec Baldwin, Gregory Peck, Michael Douglas, Rod Serling, Entertainment News

As seen through the revealing lens of timeless film, you can derive a measure of comfort and perspective amidst the seeming complexity of it all, because the pressures and vicissitudes of the work place go back a very long way.

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Survivor: Heroes vs Villains: Double Indumbnity

Tallulah Morehead | Posted 05.25.2011

Over in Samoa, Jerri, having profited from the use of Candice's disloyalty, now suggested cutting her loose, for being untrustworthy. Excuse me? Show me one Insufferable who is trustworthy.

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Kate Mantilini: The Son(s) Also Rises!

Jay Weston | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Billy Wilder, Kate Mantilini, Beverly Hills, Hagler-Hearns Fight, Los Angeles News

The only problem with this restaurant is that the menu is so extensive and irresistible that I always end up ordering far too much food.

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The Top Father/Son Movie Stars, Bar None

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Charlie Sheen, Steven Soderbergh, Glenn Close, Peter Fonda, Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Anthony Quinn, Benicio Del Toro, Stanley Kubrick, Burt Lancaster, Fredric March, Billy Wilder, Jane Fonda, Best Movies on DVD, Best Movies by Farr, Don Cheadle, Vincente Minnelli, Henry Fonda, Ava Gardner, Jeff Bridges, Lon Chaney Jr., Jack Lemmon, Lana Turner, Lloyd Bridges, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Entertainment News

With advance apologies to Lloyd and Jeff Bridges, Henry and Peter Fonda, Martin and Charlie Sheen, this special designation belongs to Kirk and Michael Douglas.

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Recalling "The Lubitsch Touch"

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Tom Hanks, Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Billy Wilder, Greta Garbo, Best Movies on DVD, Ernst Lubitsch, Best Movies by Farr, Meg Ryan, Irving Thalberg, Jack Benny, Entertainment News

If you have not experienced the German director Ernst Lubitsch's special "touch," well -- here's your chance.

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