billy wilder

Wilder's directorial choices reflected his belief in the importance above all in script writing. His belief was, that no matter how talented the actor, the best performances would come from bending a script to their personality rather than force a performance beyond their limitations. Wilder was skilled at working with actors, coaxing silent era legends Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim out of retirement for roles in Sunset Boulevard. In total, he directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: The American Film Institute has ranked four of Wilder's films among their top 100 American films of the 20th century: Sunset Boulevard (no. 12), Some Like It Hot (no. 14), Double Indemnity (no. 38) and The Apartment (no. 93).Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba said in his acceptance speech for his Academy Award in 1993,  "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you, Mr. Wilder."