Book cover of Conversations with Wilder

Book description

In Conversations with Wilder, Hollywood's legendary and famously elusive director Billy Wilder agrees for the first time to talk extensively about his life and work.

Here, in an extraordinary book with more than 650 black-and-white photographs -- including film posters, stills, grabs, and never-before-seen pictures from Wilder's own collection --…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Conversations with Wilder as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard… Billy Wilder is my favourite filmmaker. I like the elegance of his storytelling and his bittersweet wit. In Wilder’s final years, Cameron Crowe conducted a series of interviews with the writer-director. From fleeing Nazi Germany to his admiration for Ernest Lubitsch, from the trials of working with Marilyn Monroe or Raymond Chandler to the joys of collaborating with Barbara Stanwyck, Jack Lemmon, and Charles Laughton, from his successes to his failures and on to the secret of what makes a good writing partner, Wilder needs little…

From Kieron's list on moviemaking.

Billy Wilder was a genius filmmaker, but even if you aren’t a fan of The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like it Hot, or any of his other movies, there is still so much for any artist to learn from his fabulous creative brain. This is a unique book, in which director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry McGuire) sits down to talk to Wilder – not so much about his life, as his creative process. It digs deep into the soul of a filmmaker who changed the way we all approach storytelling. I return to it…

If you love Conversations with Wilder...

Ad

Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Want books like Conversations with Wilder?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 28 books like Conversations with Wilder.

Browse books like Conversations with Wilder

Book cover of Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting
Book cover of Making Movies
Book cover of How to Write One Song: Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Conversations with Wilder, you might also like...

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

5 book lists we think you will like!