Billy Wilder, Auteur

The term ‘auteurism’, coined in the Cahiers du Cinéma in 1951, details the change of cinema from simple entertainment into an art form and a mode of self-expression. Literally translated to ‘author’, the auteur moves cinema away from just the ‘how to’ of filmmaking, the mise-en-scène, to creating deep and intertextual connections between each of their films. These connections are a way for the director, the auteur, to express their view and opinion, which is evident through their use of themes and the stylistic qualities of their film. The skill of the auteur is not only to be able to create an underlying meaning within a film, but to also be able to do this with any given script, as scripts were initially handed out by the production companies regardless of director and their filmography. Auteurism is the great shift of cinema – from the simple vehicle of storytelling to an artform.

Billy Wilder displays the mark of an auteur in his film Some Like It Hot (1959). His films focus on the witty dialogue rather than gaudy cinematography, keeping the audience’s eye on the interaction between the characters. ‘It’s very nice, very artistic,’ he says about an overhead angle shot, ‘but who sees the scene from this angle? … It does not push the story along. We shoot from only the angles that help us tell the story.’ (Horton, p. x) His talent at writing was well known, and he wrote his scripts in great detail, ‘insisting that his scripts be spoken ‘exactly as written’ with no ‘on the spot improvisations’ or ‘method actor mumbling.’ (p. vii) Using his talent, he overtly displays and creates connections between other films. George Raft’s character in Scarface continuously flips a coin. In Some Like It Hot, Raft’s character Spats Colombo sees a young hood flipping a coin in the air; he snatches the coin out of the air and says ‘Where’d you pick up that cheap trick?’ (Phillips, p. 246) Taking elements out of widely acclaimed Hollywood films, Wilder places them within and deliberately, yet subtly, parodies them.

This parodying of Hollywood and American culture is not only revealed in the dialogue and choice of actor, but also in his subject matter. He takes American culture and Hollywood and questions them, pushing the boundaries of what was then acceptable in cinema. Throughout Some Like It Hot, Wilder pushes the idea of homosexuality and same-sex marriage beyond what was the norm and acceptable at the time, though it is certainly softened by the genre of comedy. Jerry and Joe often have trouble remembering that they are meant to be women, and ogle at Sugar and rival each other to be closer to her than the other, which also lends the film a sort of pseudo-lesbianism. His use of the cross-dressing disguises also directly refers to and questions the construction of the star image – what is, and what isn’t, the reality of the person or character – the formation of which was happening regularly in Hollywood during this era, as each star was typecast, and often still is now. It questions the star and stardom, calling ‘stardom’ a role, then subverts it by making the characters step outside of it. Thus emphasising that ‘disguises are metaphors for roles’, particularly in life itself, which means that this roleplaying ‘becomes part of the character’s narrative transformation’, i.e. the character adopts the guise in an act of immorality, and throws it off in an act of moral integrity. (McNally, p. 98)

Jerry: “I’m a man.”
Osgood: “Well, nobody’s perfect.”

         A theme that Wilder frequently revisits is the idea of human nature, an issue that confronts ordinary people every day. In Some Like It Hot, Joe and Jerry are looking for a job as musicians, but their outlook is grim. For musicians, or artists in general, searching for a job is virtually impossible – whether it’s now or in the 1920s. The exploration of human nature is also apparent in the exchanges between Joe and Sugar. Joe is attracted to Sugar, the gorgeous bombshell who is running away from her own life, like him, but his own true identity must remain a mystery. To save himself from Spats Colombo, the head of the mafia, he has to remain incognito, so he disguises himself once again as Sugar’s ideal man – a millionaire with a big yacht, glasses, and the ability to take her away from her own life and protect her from herself. By playing hard to get, he reveals to the audience his want for the woman to chase him. This play and examination of the sexual aspect of social intercourse, including the ease in which Sugar follows this man and runs off into the sunset with him – yet another saxophone player who will likely be just another man who’ll disappoint her – reveals Wilder’s pessimism towards women, a view he held which is widely realised, which ‘explains the hard-bitten, cynical females who turn up in his movies’ (Phillips, p. 3). In that light, with women being untrustworthy and conniving, it is clear that Wilder makes a comment on men as well – women may be cruel in his eyes, but what does that say about men if they still follow and woo them?

Throughout his film history, Billy Wilder has proved and justified his label as auteur, with the consistent exploration of the themes of deception, disguise, human nature, stars and stardom, everyday life and people. Using his biting wit and cynicism, he takes the reproduced and carefully constructed Hollywood world that surrounded him and cracks it apart, questioning and prodding at what we  take for granted – the image of a star, American values, and the primitive and grating post-war life. Wilder takes his skill at writing, and directs with precision his ideas and philosophies through the medium of film.

Bibliography

Horton, R. (2001). Billy WIlder: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi.

McNally, K. (2011). Billy Wilder, Movie-Maker: Critical Essays on the Films. Jefferson: McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers.

Phillips, G. D. (2010). Some Like It Wilder: The Live and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.

Wilder, B. (Director). (1959). Some Like It Hot [Motion Picture].

Tags: 1950s, Auteur, Auteurism, Billy Wilder, Cross dressing, Disguises, Hollywood, Homosexuality, Intertextuality, Scarface, Some Like It Hot