The USC School of Cinematic Arts Cinema and Media Studies Division
invites USC Students of ALL YEARS & MAJORS to Register
for the Spring 2026 Semester Course:
 

CTCS-469: Billy Wilder's Hollywood

Taught by Professor Luci Marzola

This class will focus on the work of writer-director Billy Wilder, from the noir of Double Indemnity and Sunset Blvd. to the comedy of Some Like It Hot and One, Two, Three, the biting satire of Ace in the Hole to the melancholy romance of The Apartment. As with any auteurist class, we'll explore Wilder's biography, influences, and stylistic and thematic preoccupations, including his status as a Jewish refugee of European fascism and his formative experiences in Weimar Germany. His background informed his supposed 'cynicism' but also his empathy for those on the margins of respectability and victimized by the powerful. We will also use his career as a means to explore larger phenomenon of the Hollywood Studio System including the absorption of European refugees, Classical Hollywood style, the studio system and its decline, film noir, the rise of independent production, gender and stardom, and the breakdown of the Production Code and censorship.

Screenings may also include: Ninotchka, Ball of Fire, Hold Back the Dawn, The Lost Weekend, A Foreign Affair, Sabrina, Witness for the Prosecution, Irma la Douce, and many more.

Tuesdays from 10:00 a.m. - 1:50 p.m.

All USC Students are eligible to enroll.
NO D-CLEARANCE NEEDED. 4 UNITS.
 

Find CTCS-469 on the USC Schedule of Classes:
https://classes.usc.edu/term/20261/catalogue/course/CTCS469

Contact Information

Email: critstudies@cinema.usc.edu