April 10 – April 16, 2026
Sag Harbor, NY – Following the success of its Douglas Sirk and Ernst Lubitsch retrospectives, Sag Harbor Cinema continues its exploration of the defining contribution brought to American cinema by the wave of European émigrés fleeing the war and the Nazi regime in the 1920s and 1930s. A tribute to a self-declared student of Lubitsch, “Nobody’s Perfect: Billy Wilder’s Comedies” is an eight-film series celebrating one of the most incisive, irreverent, and enduring writer-directors in Hollywood history.
Spanning almost three decades of Billy Wilder’s long career, the series concentrates on the director’s comedic genius, featuring classics, such as Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), and Sabrina (1954), as well as equally brilliant if less widely seen films: the Lubitschian Love in the Afternoon (1957), with Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper (in a role conceived for Cary Grant); the bold and controversial Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), with Dean Martin and Kim Novak as “Polly the Pistol”; the advertising satire One, Two, Three (1961), with James Cagney in his last starring role; The Front Page (1974), Wilder’s take on Ben Hecht and Charles McArthur’s 1928 hit play (also an inspiration for Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday) and Avanti! (1972), set in the dreamy Italian island of Ischia.
“Everybody loves Some Like It Hot, often considered the greatest of all American film comedies, but many other Wilder comedies, such as Kiss Me, Stupid, Love in the Afternoon, The Front Page, and Avanti!, which are part of this exciting series, were dismissed, misinterpreted, or undervalued. It is time for a fresh re-appraisal,” says film historian Foster Hirsch, author of Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties, who will return to Sag Harbor (where he appeared to speak about 3D and Dial M for Murder) to introduce some of the programs.
A director whose trademark brand of “humanistic cynicism” has influenced several contemporary filmmakers — Martin Scorsese, Alexander Payne, Cameron Crowe, Richard Linklater, and Woody Allen, among others — Wilder was born in 1906 in Austria-Hungary (now Poland) and raised in Vienna. He started his career as a journalist before moving into screenwriting in Berlin, where he worked at the height of the Weimar era until the rise of Nazism forced him to flee Europe. Wilder never saw his mother, grandmother, or stepfather again — all were later murdered in the Holocaust — a personal loss that shadows even his sharpest comedies.
Arriving in Hollywood in 1934, Wilder would become one of Hollywood’s enduring voices — first as a writer (Ninotchka, Ball of Fire), then as a director whose films fused elegance with edge. Moving effortlessly between comedy and drama, Wilder had a knack for skewering the way people behave but never losing sight of life’s humor… after all, nobody’s perfect.
“Billy Wilder landed in Hollywood during the Golden Age of the studio system. Through his long career, he saw that system slowly disintegrate as the US was going from the gritty collective energy of the New Deal into postwar gloom, the Eisenhower era, and the dawn of the sexual revolution. His vision of his adoptive country was far from idealistic, often in stark contrast with the pastel-colored postcard optimism projected by the Fifties’ economic boom. His characters never lost the reality he had learned to capture on the page as a young journalist,” says Sag Harbor Cinema’s Founding Artistic Director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan.
Nobody’s Perfect: Billy Wilder’s Comedies runs from April 10 – April 16, 2026, with each of the eight films playing twice. Tickets are available individually or as ‘The Perfect Pass’ ($55 for non-members or $30 for members) and permits guests to attend each film once.
The full lineup, times, tickets, and passes are available at the box office or sagharborcinema.org.
“Nobody’s Perfect: Billy Wilder’s Comedies” is made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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ABOUT THE FILMS
THE APARTMENT
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA | 1960 | 125 mins | English
Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, The Apartment is often considered Wilder’s crowning achievement. Blending a sharp corporate satire with a deeply human love story, the film stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in two poignant performances.
Insurance worker C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) lends his Upper West Side apartment to company bosses to use for extramarital affairs. When his manager Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) begins using Baxter’s apartment in exchange for promoting him, Baxter is disappointed to learn that Sheldrake’s mistress is Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the elevator girl at work whom Baxter is interested in himself. Soon Baxter must decide between the girl he loves and the advancement of his career.
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AVANTI! (35mm)
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA | 1972 | 144 mins | English and Italian
Avanti! trades Wilder’s usual bite for a slower, more reflective romantic comedy. Set against the sun-drenched backdrop of Ischia, the film is a luxurious meditation on love, loss, and connection.
Based on the play by Samuel Taylor, this comedy finds Wendell Armbruster Jr. journeying to the Italian island of Ischia to claim the body of his millionaire father, who died while on vacation there. As the dutiful son uncovers more about his dad’s death, revelations are made, leading to Wendell’s involvement with British beauty Pamela Piggott. Their budding romance, however, is hindered by a number of odd events that sorely test it.
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THE FRONT PAGE
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA | 1974 | 105 mins | English
Wilder’s adaptation of the Ben Hecht–Charles MacArthur play reunites Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau (The Odd Couple) in peak comedic form. The film’s biting critique of tabloid journalism reflects Wilder’s own early days as a reporter, and its rapid-fire dialogue and cynical edge carries forward the spirit of classic screwball comedy.
Successful Chicago newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson (Jack Lemmon) is hanging up his journalist’s hat to marry Peggy Grant (Susan Sarandon). When his editor, the arrogant, self-important Walter Burns (Walter Matthau), learns of Hildy’s plans, he goes to great lengths to keep his star writer. They learn that the notorious (but possibly wrongfully accused) criminal, Earl Williams (Austin Pendleton), has escaped on the eve of his execution, and Hildy can’t resist this one last sensational story.
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KISS ME, STUPID
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA | 1964 | 126 mins | English
Notorious upon release for its sexual frankness, Kiss Me, Stupid was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency and became one of Wilder’s most controversial works. Dean Martin plays a thinly veiled version of his own scoundrel persona, while Kim Novak plays against her own polished image with an unexpectedly vulnerable performance. Over time, it has been reclaimed as one of Wilder’s boldest and most subversive comedies.
When popular singer Dino (Dean Martin, playing a thinly veiled version of himself) stops for gas in a small town near Las Vegas, mechanic Barney (Cliff Osmond) disables his car. Barney, who writes songs with local teacher Orville (Ray Walston), wants Dino to sing some of their compositions. Orville invites Dino over, but sends his wife, Zelda (Felicia Farr), away so Dino can’t hit on her. He then hires prostitute Polly (Kim Novak) to play his wife. Meanwhile, Zelda goes to a bar, where she gets drunk and eventually meets a lonely Dino.
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LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (35mm)
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA | 1957 | 130 mins | English and French
Wilder’s most overt homage to Ernst Lubitsch, the film embraces a distinctly European sophistication and romantic intrigue. Audrey Hepburn stars opposite Gary Cooper, whose significantly older age sparked conversation at the time of release. Maurice Chevalier’s wry narration adds a playful charm throughout.
French private investigator Claude Chavasse (Maurice Chevalier) discovers his client’s wife has been having an affair with an American playboy, Frank Flannagan (Gary Cooper). When the client decides to kill Frank, Claude’s sheltered daughter, Ariane (Audrey Hepburn), throws off the plan and saves his life. The two are instantly attracted to one another, but Ariane doesn’t reveal her name. Frank then hires Claude to locate Ariane, unaware he has sent him on a mission to find his own daughter.
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ONE, TWO, THREE
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA | 1961 | 115 mins | English, German, Russian
Filmed in Berlin just before the construction of the Berlin Wall, One, Two, Three is a relentless satire of Cold War politics and American capitalism. James Cagney delivers one of the fastest-talking performances ever put on screen, matching Wilder’s machine-gun dialogue.
C.R. MacNamara (James Cagney) will do anything to get a promotion within the Coca-Cola company, including looking after boss W.P. Hazeltine’s (Howard St. John) rebellious teenage daughter, Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin). When Scarlett visits Berlin, where C.R. is stationed, she reveals that she is married to a communist named Otto Piffl (Horst Buchholz) — and C.R. recognizes that Otto’s anti-establishment stance will clash with his boss’s own political views, possibly jeopardizing his promotion.
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SABRINA
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA | 1954 | 113 mins | English and French
One of Wilder’s most beloved romantic comedies, Sabrina helped solidify Audrey Hepburn’s image as a symbol of elegance and transformation. The Long Island-to-Paris makeover narrative became instantly iconic. Behind the scenes, tensions between Humphrey Bogart and Wilder added an extra layer of intrigue to the production.
Chauffeur’s daughter Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) returns home from two years in Paris a beautiful young woman, and immediately catches the attention of David (William Holden), the playboy son of her father’s rich employers. David woos and wins Sabrina, who has always been in love with him, however their romance is threatened by David’s serious older brother, Linus (Humphrey Bogart), who runs the family business and is relying on David to marry an heiress in order for a crucial merger to take place.
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SOME LIKE IT HOT
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA | 1959 | 121 mins | English and French
Widely regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever made, Some Like It Hot stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in career-defining performances. Marilyn Monroe glows at the center, but it’s the trio’s chemistry and Wilder’s characteristic wit that make the film feel as daring now as it was in 1959.
After witnessing a Mafia murder, slick saxophone player Joe (Tony Curtis) and his long-suffering buddy, Jerry (Jack Lemmon), improvise a quick plan to escape from Chicago with their lives intact. Disguising themselves as women, they join an all-female jazz band and hop a train bound for sunny Florida. While Joe pretends to be a millionaire to win the band’s sexy singer, Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), Jerry finds himself pursued by a real millionaire (Joe E. Brown) as things heat up and the mobsters close in.
ABOUT THE GUEST
FOSTER HIRSCH: Professor of film and film historian, Foster Hirsch is celebrating his 60th year at Brooklyn College. He is the author of numerous books on film and theater, including FILM NOIR: THE DARK SIDE OF THE SCREEN and his most recent, HOLLYWOOD AND THE MOVIES OF THE FIFTIES.
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About the Sag Harbor Cinema
As a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), community-based organization, Sag Harbor Cinema is dedicated to presenting the past, present and future of the movies and to preserving and educating about films, filmmaking, and the film-going experience in its three state-of-the-art theaters. The Cinema engages its audiences and the community year-round through dialogue, discovery, and appreciation of the moving image – from blockbusters to student shorts and everything in between. Revitalized and reimagined through unprecedented community efforts to rebuild the iconic Main Street structure after a fire nearly destroyed it in 2016, SHC continues a long historic tradition of entertainment in the heart of Sag Harbor Village.