Penultimate movie by Billy Wilder, “Fedora” is based on a novella by Thomas Tryon published in “Crowned Heads” and brings together William Holden and Marthe Keller.
An aging Hollywood producer, Barry Detweiler (William Holden) hears about the suicide of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Fedora (Marthe Keller). The actress, who seemed to have found the source of the Fountain of Youth, had enjoyed an amazing career over several decades. However, at the height of her fame, she had decided to retire from the screens and live as a recluse on a small Greek island until she threw herself under a train.
Barry remembers his failure, two weeks earlier, to bring Fedora out of her seclusion and convince her to make her comeback on the big screen in an adaptation of “Anna Karenina”. Barry is not far from suspecting the murder – rather than the suicide – of the star by her strange and oppressive entourage, her friend Countess Sobryanski, her plastic surgeon Doctor Vando and her housekeeper Miss Balfour who lived with Fedora whose behavior seemed quite erratic.
Barry decides to confront Countess Sobrianski at Fedora’s funeral. And it is a completely different reality than the one he imagined that the Countess depicts – and it is no less tragic.
The movie is released in 1978 and Billy Wilder is not very happy with the result. The production of the movie was punctuated by difficulties: Wilder wanted Marlene Dietrich as the lead role but she had already hated the novella and was not impressed by the script, which explains the less flamboyant presence of Marthe Keller. Wilder also struggled to find a studio, which explains why the film was ultimately under the banner of French and German studios, and he also had to dub Marthe Keller when he realized that the actress’s Swiss accent made her sound incomprehensible in English.
The movie did not receive a very warm critical and commercial reception upon its release. It’s a shame, because even if “Fedora” has a few flaws, it perfectly complements the criticism of the star system and youthism initiated by Billy Wilder almost thirty years before, with “Sunset Boulevard”.
In both cases, it is the tragic story of a fallen star who is aging, who falls into physical and emotional isolation and who gradually descends into madness. William Holden, who plays both in “Sunset Boulevard” and in “Fedora”, serves as a witness to this connection between the two movies.
However, I can’t help but find “Fedora” more tragic than “Sunset Boulevard”: Norma Desmond is often comically ridiculous in her madness and her refusal to see reality – Fedora for her part seems perfectly aware of the depths of the abysses into which she has fallen and from which she will never emerge.
Editor’s note. Let’s talk about Thomas Tryon. Born in 1926, this American actor disillusioned with acting ended his screen career in 1969 to become a writer. He published a dozen of novels and novellas, including “Fedora” in 1976. From this novella emanates a fine knowledge of Hollywood which appears obvious to the reader – and I must admit here that my preference went to the novella. Billy Wilder does not exactly follow the plot of the short story and that is perhaps a mistake – and when reading Thomas Tryon’s work, we find ourselves more likely to lend the paper Fedora the features of a Greta Garbo in the 1920s than those of a Marthe Keller in the 1970s.
Dior playsuit – Indira Paris headband – Vintage Valentino belt – Castaner espadrilles – François Pinton sunglasses
July 25, 2025
