About the book:
Before Billy Wilder became the screenwriter and director of iconic films like “Sunset Boulevard” and “Some Like It Hot,” he worked as a freelance reporter, first in Vienna and then in Weimar Berlin. “Billy Wilder on Assignment” brings together more than 50 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.
About the speakers:
Noah Isenberg 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 “We’ll Always Have ‘Casablanca'” and “Weimar Cinema.”
Shelley Frisch is the award-winning translator of “Dietrich & Riefenstahl” and the three-volume “Kafka,” among other books.