TLS signed “Bill,” one page, 7.25 x 10.25, personal letterhead, September 4, 1956. Letter to friend and director Billy Wilder, in full: “Since life is short in a cock-like way and good cheese is hard to get here, Ardis and I have decided to flee the land of smog and take a trip to Europe (now that the school teachers have left). Under the slogan of ‘Sell the Ferrari and see France,’ we will be arriving somewhere around the 15th of October. We plan to stay in Paris for a week, then to Rome, Madrid, Lisbon and home. The Far East sometime after the first of the year. However, will discuss this when we see you. Hope this finds you, your production and your tremendously talented group all well. Special love to Aud and Aud. See you soon.” In fine condition, with file and staple holes to the top edge. Given the date, Wilder’s Parisian address, and the mention of “Aud,” the ‘production’ in question is most certainly for the 1957 film Love in the Afternoon, which was set in Paris and starred Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, and Maurice Chevalier.
Holden and his recipient collaborated on some of Wilder's most famous films, including Sunset Boulevard, in which Holden played the struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis opposite Gloria Swanson's aging silent film star, Norma Desmond, and Stalag 17, in which Holden played the cynical prisoner of war, Sergeant J.J. Sefton. Holden also starred in Wilder's films Sabrina alongside Audrey Hepburn, and Fedora, a sort of spiritual sequel to Sunset Boulevard, in which Holden played an aging Hollywood producer. Holden's performances in Wilder's films earned him critical acclaim and helped to establish him as one of Hollywood's top leading men.
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