WILDER -- AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED MASTER

For decades, writer-director Billy Wilder was undervalued bythe critics. The French cineastes, and their chief disciple, AndrewSarris, dismissed the Austrian-born filmmaker who co-wrote anddirected such masterpieces as "Double Indemnity," "SunsetBoulevard," and "Some Like It Hot" as a poseur. There was nodiscernible Wilder-style that allowed critics to pigeon-hole thewily director. Presumably, making some of the greatest films inseveral genres wasn't enough.

Tonight at 9, the PBS "American Masters" series pays a longoverdue tribute to one of America's greatest artists in "BillyWilder: The Human Comedy."

There's no jazzier comedy than "Some Like It Hot," or a morekinetic film noir than "Double Indemnity," or a smarter melodramathan "The Apartment," or a better crafted tragicomedy than "SunsetBoulevard," or a more brilliant mystery than "Witness for theProsecution."In an apologia, accompanying the advance tape for the program,Sarris issues a mea culpa for not including Wilder in his seminalbook, "The American Cinema." Sarris then goes on to say that Wilderis "probably our greatest living film director." Well, Wilder's 92and retired, and except for Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick,where's the competition? He's one of our greatest directors.Period.With Walter Matthau's narration, film clips, and briefinterviews with Wilder, the hour offers a broad appreciation of thedirector's genius, but it doesn't come close to appreciating hisdepth.They could have spent an hour, no two or three hours, on anyone of a dozen films. Like so much in Wilder's life, thisappreciation comes too late. So many of the people associated withhis work are dead -- Marilyn Monroe ("Seven Year Itch," "Some LikeIt Hot"), William Holden ("Sunset Boulevard," "Stalag 17,""Sabrina"), Fred MacMurray ("Double Indemnity," "The Apartment") aswell as his two primary literary collaborators, Charles Brackettand I. A. L. Diamond. These are the people who should be heard onWilder's behalf.But Matthau and Jack Lemmon (Wilder teamed them in theunderrated "The Fortune Cookie"), offer a few revealing anecdotes,and Nancy Olson, who played Holden's true love in "SunsetBoulevard," fills in some gaps. However, it's left to Wilder, insnippets from onstage tributes, brief interviews, and a short bitfrom one of his worst films, "Buddy, Buddy," to illustrate hismethods.In a snippet from a documentary on the making of "Buddy,Buddy," Wilder pleads with costars Lemmon and Matthau to bring some"electricity" to the scene, and that concept, electrifying cinema,is what characterizes Wilder the best.Wilder has one fear as an artist that's made very clear in"American Masters" -- he's terrified of boring people. In the end,that's why he slipped easily from genre to genre, missing theadulation that comes from stereotyping, as critics lionized JohnFord's Westerns and Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers. He didn't want tobore himself, nor us. He succeeded.In a variation on the legendary line uttered by GloriaSwanson's Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard," the pictures did getsmall, but Wilder didn't. He's generated more excitement during hiselectrifying career than any director in the history of the medium.And that may be an understatement.When Billy Wilder and William Wyler were leaving fellowdirector Ernst Lubitsch's funeral, a teary-eyed Wilder turned toWyler and said, "Too bad, no more Ernst Lubitsch." "Worst thanthat," responded Wyler. "No more Ernst Lubitsch pictures." Worstthan that, no more Billy Wilder pictures.

WILDER -- AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED MASTER

For decades, writer-director Billy Wilder was undervalued bythe critics. The French cineastes, and their chief disciple, AndrewSarris, dismissed the Austrian-born filmmaker who co-wrote anddirected such masterpieces as "Double Indemnity," "SunsetBoulevard," and "Some Like It Hot" as a poseur. There was nodiscernible Wilder-style that allowed critics to pigeon-hole thewily director. Presumably, making some of the greatest films inseveral genres wasn't enough.

Tonight at 9, the PBS "American Masters" series pays a longoverdue tribute to one of America's greatest artists in "BillyWilder: The Human Comedy."

There's no jazzier comedy than "Some Like It Hot," or a morekinetic film noir than "Double Indemnity," or a smarter melodramathan "The Apartment," or a better crafted tragicomedy than "SunsetBoulevard," or a more brilliant mystery than "Witness for theProsecution."In an apologia, accompanying the advance tape for the program,Sarris issues a mea culpa for not including Wilder in his seminalbook, "The American Cinema." Sarris then goes on to say that Wilderis "probably our greatest living film director." Well, Wilder's 92and retired, and except for Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick,where's the competition? He's one of our greatest directors.Period.With Walter Matthau's narration, film clips, and briefinterviews with Wilder, the hour offers a broad appreciation of thedirector's genius, but it doesn't come close to appreciating hisdepth.They could have spent an hour, no two or three hours, on anyone of a dozen films. Like so much in Wilder's life, thisappreciation comes too late. So many of the people associated withhis work are dead -- Marilyn Monroe ("Seven Year Itch," "Some LikeIt Hot"), William Holden ("Sunset Boulevard," "Stalag 17,""Sabrina"), Fred MacMurray ("Double Indemnity," "The Apartment") aswell as his two primary literary collaborators, Charles Brackettand I. A. L. Diamond. These are the people who should be heard onWilder's behalf.But Matthau and Jack Lemmon (Wilder teamed them in theunderrated "The Fortune Cookie"), offer a few revealing anecdotes,and Nancy Olson, who played Holden's true love in "SunsetBoulevard," fills in some gaps. However, it's left to Wilder, insnippets from onstage tributes, brief interviews, and a short bitfrom one of his worst films, "Buddy, Buddy," to illustrate hismethods.In a snippet from a documentary on the making of "Buddy,Buddy," Wilder pleads with costars Lemmon and Matthau to bring some"electricity" to the scene, and that concept, electrifying cinema,is what characterizes Wilder the best.Wilder has one fear as an artist that's made very clear in"American Masters" -- he's terrified of boring people. In the end,that's why he slipped easily from genre to genre, missing theadulation that comes from stereotyping, as critics lionized JohnFord's Westerns and Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers. He didn't want tobore himself, nor us. He succeeded.In a variation on the legendary line uttered by GloriaSwanson's Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard," the pictures did getsmall, but Wilder didn't. He's generated more excitement during hiselectrifying career than any director in the history of the medium.And that may be an understatement.When Billy Wilder and William Wyler were leaving fellowdirector Ernst Lubitsch's funeral, a teary-eyed Wilder turned toWyler and said, "Too bad, no more Ernst Lubitsch." "Worst thanthat," responded Wyler. "No more Ernst Lubitsch pictures." Worstthan that, no more Billy Wilder pictures.

WILDER -- AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED MASTER

For decades, writer-director Billy Wilder was undervalued bythe critics. The French cineastes, and their chief disciple, AndrewSarris, dismissed the Austrian-born filmmaker who co-wrote anddirected such masterpieces as "Double Indemnity," "SunsetBoulevard," and "Some Like It Hot" as a poseur. There was nodiscernible Wilder-style that allowed critics to pigeon-hole thewily director. Presumably, making some of the greatest films inseveral genres wasn't enough.

Tonight at 9, the PBS "American Masters" series pays a longoverdue tribute to one of America's greatest artists in "BillyWilder: The Human Comedy."

There's no jazzier comedy than "Some Like It Hot," or a morekinetic film noir than "Double Indemnity," or a smarter melodramathan "The Apartment," or a better crafted tragicomedy than "SunsetBoulevard," or a more brilliant mystery than "Witness for theProsecution."In an apologia, accompanying the advance tape for the program,Sarris issues a mea culpa for not including Wilder in his seminalbook, "The American Cinema." Sarris then goes on to say that Wilderis "probably our greatest living film director." Well, Wilder's 92and retired, and except for Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick,where's the competition? He's one of our greatest directors.Period.With Walter Matthau's narration, film clips, and briefinterviews with Wilder, the hour offers a broad appreciation of thedirector's genius, but it doesn't come close to appreciating hisdepth.They could have spent an hour, no two or three hours, on anyone of a dozen films. Like so much in Wilder's life, thisappreciation comes too late. So many of the people associated withhis work are dead -- Marilyn Monroe ("Seven Year Itch," "Some LikeIt Hot"), William Holden ("Sunset Boulevard," "Stalag 17,""Sabrina"), Fred MacMurray ("Double Indemnity," "The Apartment") aswell as his two primary literary collaborators, Charles Brackettand I. A. L. Diamond. These are the people who should be heard onWilder's behalf.But Matthau and Jack Lemmon (Wilder teamed them in theunderrated "The Fortune Cookie"), offer a few revealing anecdotes,and Nancy Olson, who played Holden's true love in "SunsetBoulevard," fills in some gaps. However, it's left to Wilder, insnippets from onstage tributes, brief interviews, and a short bitfrom one of his worst films, "Buddy, Buddy," to illustrate hismethods.In a snippet from a documentary on the making of "Buddy,Buddy," Wilder pleads with costars Lemmon and Matthau to bring some"electricity" to the scene, and that concept, electrifying cinema,is what characterizes Wilder the best.Wilder has one fear as an artist that's made very clear in"American Masters" -- he's terrified of boring people. In the end,that's why he slipped easily from genre to genre, missing theadulation that comes from stereotyping, as critics lionized JohnFord's Westerns and Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers. He didn't want tobore himself, nor us. He succeeded.In a variation on the legendary line uttered by GloriaSwanson's Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard," the pictures did getsmall, but Wilder didn't. He's generated more excitement during hiselectrifying career than any director in the history of the medium.And that may be an understatement.When Billy Wilder and William Wyler were leaving fellowdirector Ernst Lubitsch's funeral, a teary-eyed Wilder turned toWyler and said, "Too bad, no more Ernst Lubitsch." "Worst thanthat," responded Wyler. "No more Ernst Lubitsch pictures." Worstthan that, no more Billy Wilder pictures.

WILDER -- AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED MASTER

For decades, writer-director Billy Wilder was undervalued bythe critics. The French cineastes, and their chief disciple, AndrewSarris, dismissed the Austrian-born filmmaker who co-wrote anddirected such masterpieces as "Double Indemnity," "SunsetBoulevard," and "Some Like It Hot" as a poseur. There was nodiscernible Wilder-style that allowed critics to pigeon-hole thewily director. Presumably, making some of the greatest films inseveral genres wasn't enough.

Tonight at 9, the PBS "American Masters" series pays a longoverdue tribute to one of America's greatest artists in "BillyWilder: The Human Comedy."

There's no jazzier comedy than "Some Like It Hot," or a morekinetic film noir than "Double Indemnity," or a smarter melodramathan "The Apartment," or a better crafted tragicomedy than "SunsetBoulevard," or a more brilliant mystery than "Witness for theProsecution."In an apologia, accompanying the advance tape for the program,Sarris issues a mea culpa for not including Wilder in his seminalbook, "The American Cinema." Sarris then goes on to say that Wilderis "probably our greatest living film director." Well, Wilder's 92and retired, and except for Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick,where's the competition? He's one of our greatest directors.Period.With Walter Matthau's narration, film clips, and briefinterviews with Wilder, the hour offers a broad appreciation of thedirector's genius, but it doesn't come close to appreciating hisdepth.They could have spent an hour, no two or three hours, on anyone of a dozen films. Like so much in Wilder's life, thisappreciation comes too late. So many of the people associated withhis work are dead -- Marilyn Monroe ("Seven Year Itch," "Some LikeIt Hot"), William Holden ("Sunset Boulevard," "Stalag 17,""Sabrina"), Fred MacMurray ("Double Indemnity," "The Apartment") aswell as his two primary literary collaborators, Charles Brackettand I. A. L. Diamond. These are the people who should be heard onWilder's behalf.But Matthau and Jack Lemmon (Wilder teamed them in theunderrated "The Fortune Cookie"), offer a few revealing anecdotes,and Nancy Olson, who played Holden's true love in "SunsetBoulevard," fills in some gaps. However, it's left to Wilder, insnippets from onstage tributes, brief interviews, and a short bitfrom one of his worst films, "Buddy, Buddy," to illustrate hismethods.In a snippet from a documentary on the making of "Buddy,Buddy," Wilder pleads with costars Lemmon and Matthau to bring some"electricity" to the scene, and that concept, electrifying cinema,is what characterizes Wilder the best.Wilder has one fear as an artist that's made very clear in"American Masters" -- he's terrified of boring people. In the end,that's why he slipped easily from genre to genre, missing theadulation that comes from stereotyping, as critics lionized JohnFord's Westerns and Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers. He didn't want tobore himself, nor us. He succeeded.In a variation on the legendary line uttered by GloriaSwanson's Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard," the pictures did getsmall, but Wilder didn't. He's generated more excitement during hiselectrifying career than any director in the history of the medium.And that may be an understatement.When Billy Wilder and William Wyler were leaving fellowdirector Ernst Lubitsch's funeral, a teary-eyed Wilder turned toWyler and said, "Too bad, no more Ernst Lubitsch." "Worst thanthat," responded Wyler. "No more Ernst Lubitsch pictures." Worstthan that, no more Billy Wilder pictures.