Very well executed

not as good as all the hype

An action-packed slog

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

"Fedora" was Billy Wilder's last masterpiece, a perfect companion piece to "Sunset Boulevard" down to the casting of William Holden as the male lead, (here he's a down-on-his-luck producer rather than a struggling writer), and it is shamefully undervalued as if the film's very artifice isn't worth taking seriously, (indeed someone described the film to me as being so camp all the female roles should be played by drag-queens, missing the point by a mile). While at times darkly funny and certainly cynical, it is also deeply moving in ways we simply don't expect from Wilder. This is a movie that betrays an old master's love of movies, no longer biting the hand that feeds him but longing for the good old days when movie stars had faces that the camera adored. The story may be largely far-fetched, full of clever in-jokes and allusions to "Sunset Boulevard" and other movies about the movies but it remains a deeply affectionate homage rather than a mere pastiche; a triumph of style embracing content.Holden's uncertain acting may be the weakest thing in the picture, (it might have felt like a good idea at the time to cast the star of "Sunset Boulevard" but it doesn't really pay off), but to our surprise, the astonishing performances of both Marthe Keller and Hildegard Knef more than compensate; even Jose Ferrer is good here. And who, amongst movie lovers, won't be brought to tears by the scene in which Henry Fonda, playing himself, comes to deliver Fedora's honoury Oscar? View this, not as some half-hearted tribute-cum-horror movie about fading movie queens and the legacy and legend of Garbo but as a very great director's love letter to the industry that nurtured him and to the magic of cinema in general. Surely now this is ripe for rediscovery.

For Wilder buffs - and what serious film fan isn't - his penultimate film is a referentialists dream. The setting, Corfu, is not a million miles from Ischia, the setting for Avanti and where Avanti boasted two stiffs Fedora boasts one in a literal sense and one in a symbolic sense. The casting of Bill Holden in the lead invites direct comparison with Sunset Boulevard where a young Holden (Joe Gillis) lucked into an ageing movie star by chance and exploited the situation to the full; here, an older Holden (Barry Detweiler) contrives to get next to an ageing movie star who, he hopes, can rescue his flagging career. Wilder manages some pertinent barbs at the 'new' schools and practitioners of film-making, makes some risible casting choices in minor roles - Ferdy Mayne, Michael York, Marte Keller - but generally pulls off another minor gem. Well worth a place in any Wilder DVD collection.

It puzzles me why this film appears to have been so forgotten and neglected because I find it richly entertaining and, like so much of Wilder's work, it shows an abiding, (although not uncritical), love / hate of Hollywood and all it represented. Wilder has no illusions about the Monster Hollywood could be in its heyday when it created an almost parallel universe which consisted of those on the inside the industry, and the rest of us who paid homage at the box-office. Both parties were almost entirely oblivious of the reality of life as experienced by each other.FEDORA is much more bitter-sweet than SUNSET BLVD., (his other film with which it is natural to compare it, and of course the presence of William Holden in both makes this even more compelling), but here we see people who, having made a pact with the devil of Hollywood fame and fortune, find it is a two edged sword that keeps them in the service of its mores and values forever, even though the effort of doing so nearly makes them die from exhaustion. Death or permanent seclusion is the only way to preserve a legend's immortality.Beautifully structured, and with some excellent dialogue, all the cast acquit themselves with credit, and I find it a fascinating and valuable glimpse into a world that has now gone forever and which is never, ever likely to return. Perhaps more reflective and introspective than we expect a Billy Wilder film to be, but all the more richly satisfying for it. Highly recommended.

I wish to defend Fedora somewhat from the sole previous IMDB reviewer. It is not a great movie such as "Sunset Boulevard" but it is hugely enjoyable and a real treat for anyone interested in old Hollywood, and the bitter-sweet quality of fading glamour.Since the death of Marlene Dietrich, and especially with the publication of a biography by her daughter Maria Riva, it is now clear that Fedora is a direct portrait of Ms. Dietrich with much telling accurate detail.Billy Wilder knew Dietrich and old Hollywood well, and even though made in the 70's, the film captures a genuine essence probably for the last time as figures from the golden age of film have since then moved into retirement and sadly largely slipped the mortal coil.The real story of the EXTRAORDINARY Ms. Dietrich is better than any of her movies, and Fedora tells some of that story. It makes for more comfortable viewing than Maximillian Schell's documentary "Marlene".Wilder is an intelligent director, which makes "Fedora" worthwhile viewing. I have always found "Sunset Boulevard" a little too arch and self-consciously aware; "Fedora" is a more lyrical piece by the director as an older man.