Drama
American
1945 · Directed by Billy Wilder · 101 min
Don Birnam is a New York writer who hasn't finished anything in years and is trying, with mixed conviction, to stay sober. When his brother and girlfriend plan a restorative weekend away, he finds reasons to be left alone in the city. A studio drama shot with the tension of a thriller.
Why it matters in cinema history
A key film of 1940s Hollywood noir and the postwar cycle of adult social-problem pictures, showing a major studio willing to spend prestige and money on an uncomfortable subject.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a noir thriller whose only crime scene is a man's own mind, and track how Wilder builds suspense from small, ordinary acts.
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