Rhythmic Dialogue: Music Made with Words
The conversations in Wilder's films are rich in wit and irony, and their rhythmic exchanges reveal the characters' personalities and relationships. In 'Some Like It Hot,' the back-and-forth moves briskly like improvised jazz, while 'One, Two, Three' overwhelms the audience with rapid-fire dialogue from the opening. Wilder himself reportedly said that speaking quickly and the pace of an entire film were different things, and he calculated the ideal tempo for each scene.
He had actors memorize their lines, even directing where they should breathe, as he searched for the timing that would make each laugh land most effectively. The pause before 'Nobody's perfect' in 'Some Like It Hot,' and the way Bud's sarcastic remark overlaps with the moment his boss removes his hat in 'The Apartment,' are examples of his exquisite control of timing. The dialogue did more than convey information; it functioned as a vital directorial element expressing the characters' psychological states and relationships.
The rhythm of dialogue and sound deserves equal attention. Wilder's screenplays were written with a keen awareness of the rhythms of English, down to repeated sounds and rhymes when spoken aloud. In a scene from 'Some Like It Hot' in which Monroe seductively sings 'bo-bo-boy,' the preceding dialogue reportedly contains rhymes such as 'by the sea, by the sea,' allowing it to flow seamlessly into the music.
Wilder's most distinctive dialogue technique was his frequent use of irony and double meanings. In 'Some Like It Hot,' for example, the protagonist disguised as a woman says, 'I make it a rule never to drink.' The line plays both on the need to remain sober while on the run and on the pretense of acting ladylike, giving the audience a quiet laugh. In 'The Apartment,' when Bud's boss tells him that he has prospects for promotion, the words also serve as code for lending out his apartment more often, giving the audience an ironic second meaning.
Creating Irony Through Sound Effects
In its use of sound, Wilder's work often employs music and effects ironically. By pairing a scene with an unexpected sound, he could create a pointed contrast. In 'Sunset Boulevard,' for example, comic music associated with Chaplin's silent films accompanies the scene in which Norma screens one of her old movies at home, emphasizing her pathos and absurdity at the same time.
In 'The Apartment,' cheerful pop music plays softly in the bar as a dejected Bud gets drunk on Christmas Eve, creating a contrast with his inner state. In 'One, Two, Three,' lively pieces such as the 'St. Petersburg March' and the 'Beer Barrel Polka' ring out behind the slapstick argument between a Soviet youth and a capitalist, making light of the seriousness of the Cold War.
In 'Stalag 17,' the march 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home,' hummed by the prisoners, is incorporated into the score. It suggests their longing for freedom while ironically emphasizing the reality that they remain confined. Although these sound choices appear light and cheerful on the surface, they function as deft devices that underscore contradictions and irony within the situation.
Wilder also synchronized dialogue skillfully with music and sound effects. In 'The Apartment,' for example, the sharp crack of the compact mirror Fran drops on the floor coincides with the moment Bud realizes her secret—her relationship with his boss. Though contrapuntal in nature, the sound becomes an important dramatic symbol and creates a scene that stays with the audience.
The Power of Silence: Direction Through the Absence of Sound
Silence was another important weapon in Wilder's work. In tense scenes, he sometimes deliberately removed music and used silence itself as a directorial tool. The previously mentioned murder scene in 'Double Indemnity' is a prime example: depicting a killing inside a car without music or dialogue forces viewers to confront the raw immediacy of the event. At the climax of 'Witness for the Prosecution,' only the actor's voice echoes through a silent courtroom at the moment of the final revelation, giving the truth being presented a powerful weight.
Wilder's willingness to pull sound away in this manner speaks to his excellence as a director. In 'The Lost Weekend,' he experimented with the eerie sound of a theremin in a scene where the protagonist, suffering from alcoholism, experiences hallucinations. In the film's other scenes, however, the sound design is extremely restrained.
One especially striking use of silence is the way it expresses a character's inner life. In the sequence in 'The Apartment' where Fran is cared for after her suicide attempt, sounds from the television and props such as a card game delicately convey how the two characters begin to connect even without conversation. The music is restrained overall, while 'Smile,' composed by Chaplin and used as a theme, and melancholy strains of jazz gently surround the story.
The most important characteristic of Wilder's sound direction is that sound never calls too much attention to itself and always serves the story and characters. Instead of startling the audience with flashy effects, he sought sounds that functioned naturally within the narrative flow. This approach remains an extremely important guide for filmmaking today.
A Philosophy of Sound Direction in Comedy
Sound direction in Wilder's comedies functions as an essential source of laughter. The dialogue moves at a crisp tempo that seems to synchronize with the rhythm of the music. Jazz numbers sung by Monroe within the films, including 'Bewitched' and 'Runnin' Wild,' are placed effectively, enriching the story while heightening its comic mood.
Wilder generated laughter by treating the situations themselves with complete seriousness. As Roger Ebert observed, Wilder's comedies produce much of their humor by taking the characters seriously and having them play each scene straight. The situations may be outlandish, but the characters perform them with utter sincerity, and the gap between the two becomes a classic source of comedy.
In comic sound direction, Wilder placed exceptional importance on the timing of sound effects. Everyday sounds—the opening and closing of a door, footsteps, or an object falling—often provide the punch line to a joke. The effects are never exaggerated. Their realistic quality and precisely judged placement elicit laughter naturally.
Wilder's use of music in comedy is equally deft. By deliberately playing light music in a serious scene, or unexpectedly serious music in a comic one, he unsettled the audience's emotions and created laughter and feeling with several layers. This sonic irony is one source of the distinctive flavor of Wilder's films.
Overall, Wilder paid meticulous attention to the direction of sound and language. In comedy, rhythm acted as the spark for laughter; in serious scenes, contrasts in sound and the use of silence deepened the drama. The combination of irony-laden dialogue and ironic sound effects is one of the great pleasures of his films and offers many lessons for contemporary filmmakers.
