Fedora (1978)

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Tom Tryon (story)
Billy Wilder (writer) ...

Release Date:

29 June 1978 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Hollywood producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler attempts to lure Fedora, a famous but reclusive film actress out of retirement.

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Film Making | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 win

Cast

William Holden	...	Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler
Marthe Keller	...	Fedora / Antonia Sobryanski
Hildegard Knef	...	Countess Fedora Sobryanski
José Ferrer	...	Doctor Vando
Frances Sternhagen	...	Miss Balfour
Mario Adorf	...	Corfu Hotel Manager
Stephen Collins	...	Young Barry
Henry Fonda	...	President of the Academy
Michael York	...	Himself
Hans Jaray	...	Count Sobryanski
Gottfried John	...	Kritos
Arlene Francis	...	Newscaster
Jacques Maury	...	Head Usher
Christine Mueller	...	Young Antonia
Ellen Schwiers	...	Nurse

Also Known As:

Fedora (West Germany)

Runtime:

Spain:116 min | Sweden:114 min | USA:114 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

English | Greek | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Hungary:14 | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Corfu, Greece

Company:

Bavaria Atelier

Trivia:

Director Billy Wilder expected the actress that was cast as Fedora to play her both as a young and old woman. When Faye Dunaway passed on the part and Marthe Keller was cast as Fedora, Wilder was dismayed when the old age makeup prepared for the older Fedora (as Countess Sobryanski) aggravated a large scar on her forehead and caused so much pain that Wilder knew she couldn't act under those conditions. He was forced to cast an older actress for the old Fedora, and Hildegard Knef got the part. Wilder and Keller never established a good working relationship, with the result that her poor performance essentially ended her time as a Hollywood star.

Quotes:

Doctor Vando: [disbelieving] Jean Sibelius tacky?!?

Movie Connections:

References Mister Roberts (1955)

Keep young and beautiful!

Billy Wilder revisits the territory of his Hollywood Babylon classic Sunset Boulevard, with the same male lead (William Holden) in an almost identical role as a washed-up screenwriter trying to get to a reclusive and mysteriously ageless one-time screen queen in order to pitch her a comeback script. Story elements include Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray and (off-screen) the many mad-doctor yarns of the 1930s and 1940s in which Boris Karloff messes about with Things We Were Never Meant To Know. Looks great in a brittle and glitzy 1970s way, as befits its scornfully depicted international-rich-white-trash milieu. Essentially it's a sombre but humanistic sermon on the hopeless worship of physical youth and beauty: as a medieval English writer put it, "who sows hope in the flesh reaps bones". A very relevant film for our narcissistic times, its only big flaw is that it's a mighty chilly piece of work, easier to admire than to love.