Directed By... Billy Wilder (1945 - 1959) - 4K UHD + Blu-ray Limited Edition Hardbox + Hardcover Booklet - Imprint Collection #626 - 628

Our Directed By… series turns a lens to Billy Wilder, one of the most accomplished and admired directors in the history of Hollywood.

Born in Austria-Hungary, Billy Wilder fled the rise of Nazism, arriving in Hollywood to cement a career spanning genres and styles, directing noir, comedy, and drama, receiving seven Academy Awards across his 60-film 50-year career. These three features are emblematic of Wilder’s sense of style, caustic intelligence, and versatility:

• The Lost Weekend (1945) - Blu-ray


• Stalag 17 (1953) - 4K UHD + Blu-ray


• Some Like It Hot (1959) - 4K UHD + Blu-ray

This special collection also includes the feature documentary Billy Wilder Speaks (2006) on Blu-ray, alongside hours of brand NEW and archival Special Features.

Limited Edition 6-Disc Hardbox with a 168-page hardcover booklet - 1500 copies only.

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The Lost Weekend (1945) - Imprint Collection #626

The recipient of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 1946 Academy Awards, The Lost Weekend stars Ray Milland in an unyielding portrait of alcoholism.

Billy Wilder followed up Double Indemnity with this adaptation of Charles R. Jackson's novel of the same name. An enormous box office triumph, the film was partially shot on location in Manhattan using hidden cameras and was almost shelved after a poor preview screening.

Longtime alcoholic Don Birnam has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst… but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last - one way or another.

Winner of the Grand Prix at the inaugural Cannes Film Festival, The Lost Weekend fuses documentary realism with expressionist nightmare, scandalising preview audiences and prompting the liquor industry to offer $5 million to burn the negative.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by documentarian/author Steven C. Smith
  


• 
  NEW Dipsotopia U.S.A.: America's Drunken Hearts of Darkness - video essay by filmmaker Daniel Kremer
  


• Screen Guild Theatre Radio: The Lost Weekend


• The Jack Benny Program: The Lost Weekend with Ray Milland


• Trailers From Hell with Mark Pellington: The Lost Weekend


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM Dual Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.33:1


• 
  

  Optional English HOH Subtitles

  
  

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Stalag 17 (1953) - Imprint Collection #627

An adaptation of the hit Broadway play of the same name, Billy Wilder directed William Holden in an Oscar-winning performance in this wartime pressure cooker comedy-thriller.

During Christmas 1944, the inmates of a German POW camp suspect there is an informant among them. Whenever they attempt to escape, the German guards seem to know exactly what is happening. Who is the traitor, and how will they be caught?

Also starring Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, and Robert Strauss, Stalag 17 was praised by critics and audiences alike, and remains one of the most recognised war dramas ever made.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

Disc One - 4K UHD

• 2160p High-definition presentation on 4K UHD (Dolby Vision / HDR10)


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by noir expert / Film Noir Foundation board member Alan K. Rode
  


• Audio commentary by actors Richard Erdman and Gil Stratton with co-playwright Donald Bevan


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Dual Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.37:1


• Optional English Subtitles

Disc Two - Blu-ray

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by noir expert / Film Noir Foundation board member Alan K. Rode
  


• Audio commentary by actors Richard Erdman and Gil Stratton with co-playwright Donald Bevan


• 
  William Holden - Between Shadow and Light - feature documentary
  


• 
  Stalag 17 - From Reality to Screen - featurette
  


• 
  The Real Heroes of Stalag XVII B - featurette
  


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Dual Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.37:1


• Optional English Subtitles

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Some Like It Hot (1959) - Imprint Collection #628

Widely considered the greatest comedy ever made, Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot is a hilarious, irresistible farce that continues to draw hoots and hollers almost seventy years on. Starring an extraordinary cast with Marilyn Monroe at the height of her fame, alongside Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards and made history as it helped to end the era of the Hays Code.

Two Chicago jazz musicians accidentally witness a mob massacre and flee to Miami disguised as women in an all-female band. One attracts a relentless millionaire suitor, and the other falls for the dazzling, ukulele-playing Sugar Kane.

Some Like It Hot was one of the first 25 films to be inducted into the National Film Registry, was ranked #7 in Time Out’s Top 100 Films, was selected as the greatest comedy film of all time by the BBC, and continues to top polls and rankings, including a place in the Letterboxd Top 500. This charming, enduring classic is an essential addition to every cinephile’s collection.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

Disc One - 4K UHD

• 2160p High-definition presentation on 4K UHD (Dolby Vision / HDR10)


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by film historians Daniel Kremer & David Del Valle
  


• Audio commentary by Paul Diamond (son of writer I.A.L. Diamond), screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, plus excerpts from actors Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English DTS-HD 5.1 Surround + LPCM 2.0 Stereo


• Aspect Ratio 1.66:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

Disc Two - Blu-ray

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray


• 
  NEW Audio commentary by film historians Daniel Kremer & David Del Valle
  


• Audio commentary by Paul Diamond (son of writer I.A.L. Diamond), screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, plus excerpts from actors Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon


• 
  Jack Lemmon - A True Trouper - feature documentary
  


• 
  Tony Curtis: Looking Back - interview with actor Tony Curtis
  


• Charlie Rose Show: Jack Lemmon reflects on his career 


• 
  The Making of 'Some Like It Hot' - featurette (2006)
  


• 
  The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot' - featurette (2006)
  


• 
  Memories from the Sweet Sue’s - featurette (2001)
  


• Nostalgic Look Back: actor Tony Curtis speaking with critic Leonard Maltin (2001)


• 
  Virtual Hall of Memories - featurette
  


• Theatrical Trailer


• Audio: English DTS-HD 5.1 Surround + LPCM 2.0 Stereo


• Aspect Ratio 1.66:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

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Bonus Disc: Billy Wilder Speaks (2006)

A landmark documentary assembled from extensive interview footage shot by German director Volker Schlöndorff in 1988, Billy Wilder Speaks presents the great filmmaker in his own words - funny, candid, devastating, and utterly irreplaceable. Speaking from his Beverly Hills office, Wilder reflects on life: his European origins, his flight from Nazi Germany, major films and collaborators, and his views on filmmaking with the characteristic wit and precision that defined his career.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• Standard-definition presentation on Blu-ray


• 
  Billy Wilder: Nobody’s Perfect (2017) - feature documentary
  


• Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Dual Mono


• Aspect Ratio 1.33:1


• Optional English HOH Subtitles

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Hardcover Booklet

A 168-page hardcover booklet featuring:

• 
  The Lost Weekend - original press kit and production photos
  


• 
  Stalag 17 - Scapegoating, the Holocaust, and McCarthyism in Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 - essays by Sander Lee
  


• 
  Stalag 17 - original production notes, music cues, and production photos
  


• 
  Some Like It Hot - original script and colour production photos