Wilder's 1948 comedy comes to UK blu-ray this summer.
Billy Wilder's 1948 comedy, A Foreign Affair, is the first of several movies the director made that examined the fallout of WWII on post-war Germany (see also his 1957 thriller Witness for the Prosecution and 1961 screwball comedy One, Two, Three).
The film stars Jean Arthur as a prim congresswoman assigned to Berlin where she investigates the love affair between an American Captain (John Lund) and a cabaret singer (Marlene Dietrich) suspected of Nazi collusion. That may sound like the setup for a thriller but in the hands of Wilder and screenwriters Charles Brackett and Richard L. Breen it's a classic Hollywood comedy with all the wit you expect from a Wilder production.
A Foreign Affair will make its UK blu-ray debut when Eureka Entertainment release it on June 22nd.
Bonus features include a feature commentary by film historian Joseph McBride; video essay by critic Kat Ellinger; archival interview with Wilder; theatrical trailer; and a collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and critic Richard Combs.
Check out Eureka's artwork and official synopsis, along with the film's original trailer below.
The official synopsis reads:
From the inimitable Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend) comes this classic comedy that mixes romance with hard-boiled wit in a story about stiff-necked Iowa congresswoman Phoebe Frost (Jean Arthur – Shane) mired in jaded postwar Berlin.
As she investigates the morale of American troops, Phoebe is cynically wooed by fellow Iowan Captain John Pringle (John Lund), who is trying to cover up his affair with Nazi-tainted chanteuse Erika von Schlütow (Marlene Dietrich – Witness for the Prosecution, The Blue Angel).
New Trailer and Poster for Shudder Original Zhttps://t.co/cRZuHBID8Z pic.twitter.com/q7LnEhxypH— 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕗𝕗𝕝𝕖𝕣 (@themoviewaffler) April 17, 2020