Billy, How Did You Do It? (1992) (2025)

Popular reviews

• Review by williamfaeleith ★★★★

  Three hours of Billy Wilder in conversation with Volker Schlöndorff. Heaven!
  Shown in 3 parts as part of BBC's Arena series this is currently showing on the BBC iPlayer, and is not to be missed by any film fan in the UK.
  Billy takes us through his whole career, including movingly talking about the short documentary 'Death Mills' which he returned to Germany to make in 1945 showing the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.

  It's mostly Billy talking to Volker, and while it doesn't look great, being shot on video in the early nineties, it is absolutely fascinating to hear Wilder talk about how he made movies, always following his number one rule: "How would Lubitsch do it?"

  A word of warning to those who struggle with subtitles, Billy mostly speaks German throughout the interviews.

  Watched on BBC iPlayer.

• Review by Niall Urquhart ★★★★

  There was a very standard documentary in terms of how it was made. Several different interviews spliced together with clips from films. But this was advantageous as the content was very impressive and nothing distracted from this. Billy Wilder was very enjoyable company providing lots of interesting information about his films, actors he'd worked with and other filmmakers. He was also very charismatic and showed of his impressive linguist skills. I wish it had been longer and covered his whole career.

• Review by Emily Manley ★★★★

  This three part documentary was like watching back interviews of your grandpa talking about the old days of cinema. As a Wilder fan since I was seven, watching a VHS tape of Some Like It Hot at my grandpa's, this series made me even more of a fan.

  I am definitely going to watch more of his filmography.

• Review by Hogfather ★★★★★

  The success of a documentary rests entirely on how interesting the subject is. If you have an interesting subject, then the filmmaker can perhaps make an interesting documentary. If the subject is boring, then the project is doomed. Luckily for Volker Schlöndorff and Gisela Grischow, their subject is Billy Wilder and his films. It's a real joy to watch, even if you haven't seen the movies and aren't super enthusiastic about a three-hour long conversation with low-res clips of old movies thrown in.

• Review by ‮דניאל ניקראסוב‬ 2

  הציניקן המובהק של הקולנוע, מחפש תמיד מה שיגרום ליותר מסתם הסחת דעת מהסבל והטירוף, ומציע קריירה נצחית של שבץ אחרי מכת מופת, כל אחד מהם פתרון אפשרי לנשמה היומיומית הפגועה.
  המרירות, הכעס האמיתי על העולם שלאחר השואה מובן ועשו בשנותיו הראשונות כמה סרטים חושפניים וגם כמה סרטים מעניינים ואיכשהו אישיים על גרמניה שלאחר המלחמה, אבל בסופו של דבר התאחדו לקומדיות ציניות שנראה שיש להן מעט מקום לנשים או לרגשות עדינים יותר.
  הסרטים של ויילדר מציגים טווח יוצא דופן, מפילם נואר ועד לקומדיה מושחתת. למרות שלטענתו כבמאי הוא שאף לסגנון צילום לא פולשני, כל סרטיו, בכל זאת מסומנים בחזון יחיד - דרמטיזציה אלגנטית של הדמות באמצעות פעולה, דיאלוג מיוחד, ותפיסה חמוצה/מתוקה, או אפילו מיזנתרופית, של אנושיות - תכונות הנובעות, לרוב, מהכתיבה.
  הדוקו הזה מכתיב את כל הטכניקות להן ווילדר התבסס וכך גרף אהדות ממיליוני מעריצים כאות תודה על עיצוב הקולנוע.

• Review by Andrew Craddock ★★★★

  As Hitchcock/Truffaut, Welles/Bogdanovich, and Lang/Friedkin, this extended conversation between Wilder and Schlöndorff is a treasure trove.

• Review by Phil Drinkwater

  A shambolic stream-of-conciousness joy. A one man, three hour film school. It's like sitting in front of your Grandpa while he tells you stories, only your Grandpa is one of the greatest directors who ever lived and you are a bald German dude called Volker Schlöndorff

• Review by jacklint

  Very interesting, mostly an extended informal interview with Billy Wilder talking about his career from the beginning to the making of The Apartment. Wilder seems like one of the least pretentious people in Hollywood history, with very practical, workmanlike ideas towards his films and filmmaking in general. And he’s always had cool hats!

• Review by Stefan

  When I’m doubt just ask yourself “What would Billy do?”

• Review by Eric Bolton ★★★★ 2

  Look it's literally just an interview but it's also a 3 hour interview with Wilder speaking in extreme detail about his career leading up to The Apartment. Struggling to think of another example of an artist speaking with this much candidness about their work, its meaning, and the process of making it.

• Review by Will

  A BBC documentary about the career of Hollywoods greatest writer, and one of its best ever directors, Billy Wilder. This is a supplement on the Double Indemnity 4K disc from criterion. It’s an interesting doc for people who are fans of Wilders career as he gives background information on his filmography, and speaks on his relationships with Lubitsch, Dietrich, Marilyn, Jack Lemmon, William Holden, and I.A.L Diamond.

  The Double Indemnity disc is worth it on its own, as the great film is presented beautifully on 4K and blu-ray, but the inclusion of this doc only adds to the quality of the purchase from criterion.

• Review by Robert Mitchell ★★★★½

  I'd previously seen the 2006 cut-down version of this, Billy Wilder Speaks, and as a Wilder fan loved it not knowing there was a previous version that's over twice as long. Even at twice as long it's not enough for me as, while much more comprehensive, it still misses out loads of his work pretty much everything after The Apartment (although Irma La Douce and Fedora get brief mentions), which means such classics as The Fortune Cookie and The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes go unmentioned. This is a shame because up until The Apartment this version covers everything. Still, having this resource of, IMO, the world's greatest film director at any length is wonderful. I could listen to Billy discuss his life and work for hours and, in this version, I get that opportunity!