Interesting that at the beginning of 1945, co-writer and producer Charles Brackett comments "I have begun to hate the first part and see nothing but its faults; the second part looked very good to me. Billy very depressed about the whole thing, finds it vastly inferior to his hopes." There followed several months of previews and recutting, before in 1946 it won the Oscar for Best Screenplay, Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor - Ray Milland (Wilder: 'surely not an Academy-Award-worthy actor...He's dead now, so I can say it.'). Weirdly, Brackett doesn't mention the writing of the film at all. Though he clearly liked the author as from 1944 they often lunch together. In fact changing trains in Chicago, Wilder had picked up Charles R Jackson's novel in paperback as a time killer and decided to film it.
Jackson had a long list of complaints with the film being too 'articulate', including 'all the most effective speeches. We will change none of it'.
Wilder met Audrey on set - she played a hat check girl. "I saw the arm of the hatcheck girl come in with the hat of Ray Milland. They throw him out, then they take the hat and throw it out with him too. And I only saw the arm, and I fell in love with the arm."
The bit that really gets to me is he turns up drunk at Doris Dowling's apartment - she's clearly got a massive crush on him - after standing her up, and she says "I waited up half the night, like it was my first date". Crushing line. Good performance.
Full of brilliant little tricks of direction - love the way Jane Wyman puts his cigarette the right way round - then he does it himself. Loved the way the bottle rolls out from under the bed and the brother Phillip Terry tries to make out he's the alky.
Lots of on location East Side Third Avenue filming.
With Howard da Silva as the barman, Frank Faylen in drunk tank, and that is Fred 'Snowflake' Toons as the washroom attendant.
Powerfully photographed by John Seitz, great score from Rozsa, supervising the editing - Doane Harrison.
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| Brilliant framing. Milland in foreground lies to Wyman way in the background at reception that he can't make it, her parents - the cause of his anxiety - between them |
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| Doris Dowling - Billy's one time girlfriend |
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