Billy Wilder on Assignment by Noah Isenberg (top 100 novels of all time TXT) 📕

than I usually get to render in my translations. Where else do I get to write about “witless wastrels,” about an Englishman “blessed with hearing like a congested walrus,” about a performer with “gasometer lungs,” or a smoker who can “make his pipe saunter from one corner of his mouth to the other”?

Wilder’s words have verve and paint vivid pictures; they dance the Black Bottom, like the characters who populate his pieces. Noah Isenberg and I hope that the readers of this volume find it a wonderful glimpse into how the Billie Wilder of Vienna and Berlin evolved into the Billy Wilder of Hollywood.

 Index

Note: Page numbers in italics refer to figures and photos.

Ace in the Hole (1951), 12

Achaz-Duisberg, Carl Ludwig, 185

Ackermann (Holländer), 143

Acosta, Uriel, 145

Adler, Alfred, 7

age and lifespans, 140–141

airplanes, 185–186

air travel, 21, 76–78

Aldini, Carlo, 188

Alexanderplatz, Berlin, 74, 75

Alexanderplatz (Döblin), 89

Alfieri, Emanuel, 170, 188

American morality and conventions, 168

Americanophilia, 9, 10

Ander, Charlotte, 181

Andersen, Hans Christian, 183

Anet, Claude, 95, 139–140

animation films, 182–183

“Anything but Objectivity” (Wilder), 54–56

Anzengruber, Ludwig, 144

The Apartment (1960), 4

Ariane (Anet), 140

Arno, Siegfried, 188

Arrant, d’Abbadie d’, 159

“Asta Nielsen’s Theatrical Mission” (Wilder), 97–100

Atrium theater, 190

“At the Home of the Oldest Woman in Berlin” (Wilder), 140–141

Aurich, Rolf, 12, 18

Austria. See Vienna

author’s films (autorenfilms), 179

Axel. See Ole and Axel

Bahr, Hermann, 159

Bajda, Ernst, 159

Bandal, M., 187

Baschik, Kratky, 154–155

Bass, Saul, 14

The Battle for Rome (Dahn), 88

Bavaria Lichtspiele Theater, 183

beer consumption, 78–80

The Beggar from Cologne Cathedral (Der Bettler vom Kölner Dom, 1927), 170–171

Békessy, Bianca, 5

Békessy, Emmerich (Imré), 3, 5, 6

Bell, Karina, 178

Benthoi, Franziska, 185

Berenfeld, Siegfried, 174

Berlin: beer drinking in, 78–80; book market in, 21, 87–90; commercial air travel in, 21, 76–78; cultural essays on, 21, 56–58, 74–75, 141–143; documentary films on, 83–86; film scandals in, 150; “German-Jewish Spirit” in, 11; in mid-1920s, 8–12, 21; oldest woman in, 140–141; in People on Sunday, 15; radio and broadcast studios in, 172; Romanisches Café in, 9, 11, 27; theater critics in, 143–145; Vanderbilt on, 120; Whiteman in, 95, 115–117; Wilder’s dancing career in, 10, 20, 23–41, 96, 161–164; Wilder’s favorite spots in, 12–13, 74–75; Wilder’s journalism career in, 7–10. See also People on Sunday

Berliner Börsen Courier: cultural essays in, 49, 52, 54, 56, 58, 59, 62, 65, 68, 69, 71, 73, 75, 78; interviews in, 124, 126, 128, 130, 134, 137–141; Wilder’s early work for, 7, 12, 19

Berliner Zeitung am Mittag (B. Z.): cultural essays in, 41, 80; essays about selling, 96, 145–148; film and theater reviews in, 169–191; interviews in, 143, 145; Klabund’s introduction of Wilder in, 163–164; Wilder’s writing for, 10, 19, 21, 29, 41, 80

“Berlin Rendezvous” (Wilder), 21, 74–75

Bernhard, Georg, 116

Berthier, Alfons, 169

Bess, Jane, 172

Bettauer, Hugo, 6

Bietzke, Hans, 184

“Billie”: Billy Wilders Wiener journalistische Arbeiten (Aurich, Jacobsen and Krenn), 18

Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Foundation, 18

Binder, Sybille, 5

Blachnitzky, Curt, 184

Black Bottom dance, 21, 41, 57

Blind Husbands (1919), 150

A Blonde for a Night (1928), 176–177

Bois, Curt, 169

book market, Berlin, 21, 87–90

books. See literature and books

Borchert, Brigitte, 16, 84

Boulevard-Zeitung, 11

Brabin, Charles J., 177

Braun, Alfred, 172

Brettel, Colette, 184

Briese, Gert, 172

broadcasting and radio, 172

Broken Barriers (1924), 167–168

Die Bühne: caricatures in, 10; crosswords puzzles in, 4; cultural essays in, 19, 20, 41; film and theater reviews in, 168; interviews in, 7, 100, 103, 109; Wilder’s writing for, 3–4, 19

Bush, Mae, 167, 168

“The Business of Thirst” (Wilder), 78–80

“but” as word, 54–56

“The B. Z. Lady and the German Crown Prince” (Wilder), 96, 145–148

Caligari (1920), 99

cameos by Wilder, 12, 14

card sharks, 96, 152–156

Carr, Mary, 173

Carver, Kathryn, 160

casting stories, 103

Chaliapin, Feodor, 137–139

Chaney, Lon, 99

Chaplin, Charlie, 99, 111, 121, 151, 165; discovery of Menjou by, 159, 168; films inspired by, 171; interviews of, 124–126; success of Grock and, 136

The Chinese Nightingale (Andersen), 183

Chmara, Gregori, 98–100

circuses, 124–126, 134–137

The City Without Jews (Die Stunde ohne Juden, Bettauer), 6

“Claude Anet in Berlin” (Wilder), 139–140

clowns, 124, 126, 134–137

Coca-Cola, 157

coffeehouses, 4, 42, 63–65

Colani, Victor, 169

Columbus, Christopher, 47–49

comedy. See humor

Concert (Bahr), 159

Conversations with Wilder (Crowe), 3

Crime and Punishment (Raskolnikow, 1925), 99

crossword puzzles, 3, 4, 6

Crowe, Cameron, 3, 7

cultural essays: air travel, 21, 76–78; Berlin book market and literature, 21, 87–90; Berlin rendezvous spots, 21, 74–75; coffeehouses, 4, 42, 63–65; dancing, 10, 20, 23–41, 56–58, 96, 161–164; destiny, concept of, 58–59; economics, 69–71; filmmakers, 157–161; filming people, 72–73; film studio reportage, 80–86; friendship, 90–93; Genoa, 47–49; landladies, 52–54; lying and ruses, 50–52; Monte Carlo, 90–93; New York City, 60–62; optimism, concept of, 60–62; overview of, 19–21, 20; personal objectivity, concept of, 54–56; plants and flowers, 68–69; smells and fragrances, 65–68; thirst vs. hunger, 78–80; Wilder’s writing style and, 10–11, 17–19, 95–96, 163–164

Dahn, Felix, 88

Dame Care (Frau Sorge, 1928), 173

The Dancer (Holländer), 142

dancing: Black Bottom dance, 21, 41, 57; Klabund (Alfred Henschke), 10, 23, 96, 161–164; Tiller Girls, 7, 12–13, 14, 95, 104, 105–107, 105–109; Wilder’s job as a dancer for hire, 10, 20, 23–41, 96, 161–164

Danegger, Theodor, 5

A Day in Film (Ein Tag Film, 1928), 180

“Day of Destiny” (Wilder), 58–59

Defu film studio, 173

Delac, Ch., 187

DeMille, Cecil B., 152

Desmond, Norma, 18

Desni, Xenia, 172

destiny, concept of, 58–59

destruction, wishing for, 132–133

detective films, 170–171, 178–179, 188, 189

Deutsches Theater, 143, 166, 184

The Devil’s Pass Key (1920), 150

Deyers, Lien, 186

Dieterle, Wilhelm, 173, 186

Dietrich, Marlene, 165, 185–186

disguises, 128–130

Döblin, Alfred, 89

Docks of Hamburg (1928), 175

Douglas, Kirk, 12

Dream and Day (Traum und Tag, Holländer), 142

drinking, 78–80

Dwan, Allan, 8

earth, destruction of, 185

Eberty, Paula, 144

economics, 69–71

Edward VIII (Prince of Wales), 7, 100–103, 121–124, 159

Ehlers, Christl, 13, 16, 84

Ehrlich, Max, 191

Eichberg, Richard, 169–170

Ekman, Gösta, 178

Elder, Ruth, 189

“The Elder Statesman of Berlin Theater Critics” (Wilder), 143–145

entertainment centers, 124–126

Erwin, Ralph, 114

Erwin (chameleon character), 128–130

experimental films, 12, 187

Die Fackel (The Torch) newspaper, 6

Fairbanks, Douglas, 111, 158

Falk, Norbert, 178

Falkenstein, Julius, 184, 190

fashion, 100–103, 159

Fashions in Love (1929), 159

femininity vs. masculinity, 63–65

Ferrer, Miguel, 31–32, 33, 35, 38

feuilleton, defined, 19. See also cultural essays

Feyder, Jacques, 173

filming people, 72–73

filmmakers, 157–161

film reviews, overview of, 165–166. See also specific films

Film Studio 1929, 12, 20, 21, 80–82, 187

film studio reportage, 80–86

“Film Terror” (Wilder), 72–73

flowers and plants, 68–69

Fontane, Theodor, 144

Ford, Harrison E., 177

forests, 177

Fouché (Zweig), 89

fragrances and smells, 65–68

Freud, Sigmund, 7

friendship, 90–93

Fritsch, Willy, 175

The Front Page (1974), 12, 95

Fryland, Alfons, 175

Fütterer, Werner, 169

Gal-Ezer, Josef, 166, 182

Garden, Viola, 185

Gärtner, Heinrich, 169

Gay, Peter,