Billy Wilder on Assignment - (Hardcover)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>"Before Billy Wilder (1906-2002) left Europe for the United States in 1934 and became a filmmaker, he worked as a newspaper reporter, first in Vienna and then in Weimar Berlin. This book, edited and introduced by Noah Isenberg and translated by Shelley Frisch, collects about 65 articles Wilder published in Austrian and German newspapers in the 1920s. The collection includes reported pieces on urban life, from a first-person account of Wilder's stint as a taxi dancer to an article about street sweepers; profiles of writers, movie stars and poker players; and dispatches from the international film scene, from reviews to interviews with such figures as Charlie Chaplin and Erich von Stroheim. Isenberg provides an introduction that gives biographical details and places the writings in context, emphasizing their historical moment and their connections to Wilder's later career"--<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p><b>A revelation.--Marc Weingarten, <i>Washington Post</i> <p/>Acclaimed film director Billy Wilder's early writings--brilliantly translated into English for the first time</b> <p/>Before Billy Wilder became the screenwriter and director of iconic films like <i>Sunset Boulevard</i> and <i>Some Like It Hot</i>, he worked as a freelance reporter, first in Vienna and then in Weimar Berlin. <i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i> brings together more than fifty articles, translated into English for the first time, that Wilder (then known as Billie) published in magazines and newspapers between September 1925 and November 1930. From a humorous account of Wilder's stint as a hired dancing companion in a posh Berlin hotel and his dispatches from the international film scene, to his astute profiles of writers, performers, and political figures, the collection offers fresh insights into the creative mind of one of Hollywood's most revered writer-directors. <p/>Wilder's early writings--a heady mix of cultural essays, interviews, and reviews--contain the same sparkling wit and intelligence as his later Hollywood screenplays, while also casting light into the dark corners of Vienna and Berlin between the wars. Wilder covered everything: big-city sensations, jazz performances, film and theater openings, dance, photography, and all manner of mass entertainment. And he wrote about the most colorful figures of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Prince of Wales, actor Adolphe Menjou, director Erich von Stroheim, and the Tiller Girls dance troupe. Film historian Noah Isenberg's introduction and commentary place Wilder's pieces--brilliantly translated by Shelley Frisch--in historical and biographical context, and rare photos capture Wilder and his circle during these formative years. <p/>Filled with rich reportage and personal musings, <i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i> showcases the burgeoning voice of a young journalist who would go on to become a great auteur.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><i>Billy Wilder On Assignment</i> explores the roots of one of Hollywood's most accomplished and acclaimed directors in the fervid journalistic atmosphere of Central Europe between world wars. . . .Shelley Frisch - one of the nimblest and liveliest translators working today - renders Wilder's journalism into an English that leaps off the page with deadline urgency. . . .Isenberg's collection offers those interested in the Golden Age of Hollywood valuable new insight into one of its most significant personalities. It is also a vivid account of the vanished world that helped shape Billy Wilder.-- "Wilson Quarterly"<br><br>Readers will have fun picking out elements, traits and incidents in these lively witty texts and attempting to match them with Wilder's later cinematic masterpieces.<b>---Alexander Adams, <i>Alexander Adams Art</i></b><br><br>There is no question that <i>Billy Wilder on Assignment </i>is the most historically important recent book exploring the early days of a major filmmaker. It compiles, for the first time, Wilder's writings as a young freelance reporter in 1920s Berlin and Vienna. The result is an incredible glimpse of Wilder's mind at a key age.<b>---Christopher Schobert, <i>The Film Stage</i></b><br><br>The new anthology <i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i> proves Wilder's verbal and narrative gifts existed long before he set foot in Hollywood during the 1930s.<b>---Dan Lybarger, <i>Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette</i></b><br><br><p>Let it be said that <i>Billy Wilder on Assignment - Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna</i>, is an altogether wonderful read. In fact it reads as if a fine, literary, malt-whiskey.</p><b>---David Marx, <i>David Marx: Book Reviews</i></b><br><br>Long before he became the celebrated filmmaker of 'Sunset Boulevard, ' 'Some Like It Hot' and 'The Apartment, ' a young Billy Wilder worked briefly as a dancer for hire in the ballroom of a fashionable Berlin hotel. As he described the endeavor...for a German newspaper in 1927, 'This is no easy way to earn your daily bread, nor is it the kind that sentimental, softhearted types can stomach. But others can live from it.' Wilder's observations on his experience--from one of his many delightfully acerbic pieces of journalism anthologized in <i>Billy Wilder on Assignment<b> </b></i>. . . get to the heart of our enduring obsessions with show business and the performing arts.<b>---Dave Itzkoff, <i>New York Times</i></b><br><br>He [Billy Wilder] quickly moved on to Berlin and became a prolific writer of occasional pieces for papers such as <i>Der</i> Querschnitt and the <i>Berliner Börsen Courier</i>. Selections of these articles have been published before but are long out of print, and were never translated into English. Now, thankfully, Professor Isenberg of the University of Texas has put this frustrating situation to rights with a lively anthology, translated by Shelley Frisch into a brisk, punchy English which feels as though it must be an accurate reflection of the young Wilder's original tone.<b>---Jonathan Coe, <i>Spectator</i></b><br><br>A delicious compilation.<b>---Tobias Grey, <i>Financial Times </i></b><br><br>This new volume takes in the most significant staging posts of Wilder's early career.<b>---Gavin Plumley, <i>Literary Review</i></b><br><br><i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i> is, as my colleague, TIME Magazine film critic Stephanie Zacharek <i>kvelled</i> to me in an email, 'the little book you didn't know you needed.'<b>---Jordan Hoffman, <i>Times of Israel</i></b><br><br><i>Billy Wilder on Assignment </i>[is] a delightful and illuminating collection of Wilder's tyro reporting. -Sam Wasson, AirMail<br><br>[<i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i> is] an irresistible collection of articles, profiles, and reviews from Wilder's salad-und-bratwurst days in Berlin, where he worked as a roving journalist, critic, and scene-maker between 1926 and 1930...Isenberg is an expert guide to the Berlin-to-Hollywood axis, and Frisch is veteran translator. - Thomas Doherty, Tablet Magazine<br><br>A must-read for film buffs and history aficionados alike. --Tobias Carroll, Inside Hook<br><br>Readers who come to <i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i> to find the seeds of the films for which he is famous--nearly all of them, one assumes--will not be disappointed.--Ryan Ruby, <i>Bookforum</i><br><br><i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i> is full of glorious turns of phrase, entertaining narratives, and quirky characters. Shelley Frisch [is a] . . . superb translator. . . . Thumbing through Wilder's essays from the 1920s will make you feel as if you are enjoying yourself at a German coffeehouse, catching up on popular culture, and planning your next weekend adventure in the Weimar Republic. Isenberg and Frisch have done a great service for film historians and fans of classic Hollywood.<b>---Chris Yogerst, <i>Los Angeles Review of Books</i></b><br><br>[<i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i> is] a revelation, a trove of snappy pieces that give the reader tantalizing glimpses of the mature film satirist who would win six Oscars for his work.<b>---Marc Weingarten, <i>Washington Post</i></b><br><br>[An] adept translation. . . . Foreshadowing abounds in [<i>Billy Wilder on Assignment</i>] . . . but the book's main appeal is independent of what came after. The brightest moments here let you watch a little more of the human comedy through Billy Wilder's eyes.<b>---Jeremy McCarter, <i>Wall Street Journal</i></b><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><b>Billy Wilder</b> (1906-2002) wrote and directed <i>Double Indemnity</i>, <i>The Lost Weekend</i>, <i>Sunset Boulevard</i>, <i>Some Like It Hot</i>, and <i>The Apartment</i>, among other films. Over the course of his career, he won seven Academy Awards. <b>Noah Isenberg</b> is the George Christian Centennial Professor and Chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin. His many books include <i>We'll Always Have "Casablanca" </i>and <i>Weimar Cinema</i>. Twitter @NoahIsenberg Instagram @noah.isenberg1967<b> Shelley Frisch</b> is the award-winning translator of <i>Dietrich & Riefenstahl</i> and the three-volume <i>Kafka</i> (Princeton), among other books. Twitter @shelfrisch
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