JasparLamarCrabb Billy Wilder's penultimate film is also his weirdest. Based on Thomas Tryon's speculative novel, the film stars William Holden as a down on his luck producer trying to coax a very Garbo-like actress out of retirement. Seeking her out on a remote Greek isle, Holden encounters a lot of trouble from the actress's ghoulish entourage --- nasty secretary Frances Sternhagen, sinister doctor Jose Ferrer and bossy countess Hildegard Knef. He's also let in on one extremely bizarre secret. The film clearly hearkens back to Wilder's earlier masterpiece SUNSET BOULEVARD, and while it's not nearly as successful as that black comedy, it has lot of pluses: a remarkable performance by Marthe Keller in the title role; a truly odd supporting cast; great camera work by Gerry Fisher; stunning art direction by Alexandre Trauner.

jc1305us After just finishing Ed Sikov's wonderful biography of Billy Wilder, I got interested in this movie, seeing as it was another pairing of Wilder and one of my favorite actors, William Holden. Shot in 1978, it has a very dream like quality to it, due to the cinematography, which adds to the somewhat creepy atmosphere of the movie. Trying to track an elusive movie star who has retired to a Mediterranean villa to star in his latest film, Barry Detweiller (Holden) cannot seem to catch the elusive beauty. Her compound is secluded, and all access is restricted. His calls and letters go unanswered. But he must get in to see the elusive Fedora. After sneaking in to the compound, Detweiller believes he has caught his quarry. But a strange turn of events, reveal to him that all is not what it seems in paradise. Wilder's next to last film, is something of a return to his great "Sunset Blvd' featuring another Joe Gillis like character, and a another Norma Desmond as well. The two movies do bookend each other I believe, and if you are a fan of the former, you should try and see the latter.

Claudio Carvalho The former successful and famous Polish actress Fedora (Marthe Keller) commits suicide at the Mortcerf Station, jumping off in front of a train. The broken Hollywood producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler (William Holden) attends the funeral at her house in Paris and recalls that he might have caused her death.Two weeks ago, Dutch traveled to Greece Island of Corfu seeking Fedora out in the Vila Calypso, located in an isolated island owned by the bitter Countess Sobryanski (Hildegard Knef). Fedora has been living an unsocial reclusive life for the last years in the villa with the countess, the plastic surgeon Doctor Vando (José Ferrer) and her assistant Miss Balfour (Frances Sternhagen), since she abandoned the set of a film that she was shooting in London with Michael York.Dutch brings the screenplay with a version of "Anna Karenina" to offer to Fedora, with the promise that investors would finance the film if Fedora accepts the lead role. Fedora, who is impressively young, is receptive to the offer, but the countess and the doctor tell that she is mentally unstable and paranoid and can not act again. When Dutch discovers that Fedora will be secretly sent to a mental institution owned by Dr. Vando in Mortcert, he tries to rescue the actress from the island but he is hit on the head and faints with a concussion. One week later, when he awakes, he learns that Fedora is dead. Dutch travels to Paris and meets Countess Sobryanski that him the truth about Fedora. "Fedora" is the swan song of Billy Wilder, with an engaging story; a complex screenplay and many twists about aging, selfishness and loss of youth and identity. The plot has many elements of "Sunset Boulevard", with a washed-up producer looking for a former glamorous Hollywood actress that surprisingly has not aged like she should and might represent his comeback to the glory. The secret about Fedora and her friends is unpredictable. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): Not Available

tgswann It is embarrassing to watch a former master of the medium (Billy Wilder) create a shallow, bitter little piece like this. His lead character, a filmmaker desperate to work again, chases an aging movie star for his movie. He rails against the new kids taking over the movie industry with their hand-held cameras, dismissing in a stroke a whole new generation of filmmakers. The story is based on the thinnest of ideas, Holden looks like he has a hangover in every scene, and there is the stench of desperation hanging over the whole enterprise. We have all seen played out far too many times the sad tale of the former great this- or-that attempting a comeback and flopping because the juice is gone. That sums this movie up in spades. All in all it's a sad piece of work, and a reminder to bow out gracefully.