The Clairvoyant Zoopraxiscope

Billy Wilder, Billy Wilder, Billy Wilder... I watched Irma La Douce the other night, and was totally impressed by Shirley Maclaine and Jack Lemmon. Their performances carry the performances of every other actor in the movie. It occurs to me that, over time, movies have tried less hard because the filmmakers have more and more resources. Entertainment has become a matter of technology, not sweat. Though, of course, what the digital set-makers and effects-people do requires its own kind of sweat... The films of the 40s and 50s, though, seem to really try to entertain us--we get the full production, from overblown credits to fully developed story lines to conclusions with the weight of sandbags. And there's something nice about that. Simple minded observation? Possibly...