Film and culture

Golden Age Hollywood screenwriter Charles Brackett was an extremely observant and perceptive chronicler of the entertainment industry during its most exciting years. He is best remembered as the writing partner of director Billy Wilder, who once referred to the pair as "the happiest couple in Hollywood," collaborating on such classics asThe Lost Weekend (1945) and Sunset Blvd (1950). In this annotated collection of writings taken from dozens of Brackett's unpublished diaries, leading film historian Anthony Slide clarifies Brackett's critical contribution to Wilder's films and Hollywood history while enriching our knowledge of Wilder's achievements in writing, direction, and style. Brackett's diaries re-create the initial meetings of the talent responsible forNinotchka (1939), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), Ball of Fire (1941),The Major and the Minor (1942), Five Graves to Cairo (1943), The Lost Weekend, andSunset Blvd, recounting the breakthrough and breakdowns that ultimately forced these collaborators to part ways.