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| Larry Pine as Raymond Chandler and Vincent Kartheiser as Billy Wilder |
Billy & Ray, now at the Vineyard Theater, tells of the
unlikely paring of famous director, Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Together these two produced one of the first
and best of the film noir vehicles, Double Indemnity.
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The play opens with Austrian transplant, Director Billy
Wilder, played with amazing energy by Vincent Kartheiser, breaking up with his
writing partner. He is determined to
bring Double Indemnity to the screen.
The story, from the novel by James Cain, is considered unfilmable due to
the surfeit of content that raises flags with the production code. Billy convinces the studio producer to bring
in hard-boiled detective writer Raymond Chandler to help with the script, this
was Chandler’s first film work.
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But it turns out that Raymond Chandler, in the flesh, is
nothing like his characters. Chandler is
a broke, retired schoolteacher, churning out short stories for rent. Chandler is brought to boring, straight-laced
life by Larry Pine. Chandler has no use
for Cain’s over sexed novel, Billy’s vulgarities or the studio high life. But he does need the money and he writes
amazing dialog. Billy and Ray shows how this odd couple never become friends,
but forge a working relationship to get Double Indemnity pass the censors by
making an intelligent, adult film.
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Double Indemnity is one of the great American films, and
this story would be fascinating even without back and forth between this two
brilliant and difficult men. But their
interaction drives the story humorously and ingeniously to life. Mr. Kartheiser, as Billy Wilder, the play
forward with his frenetic energy and restless nature. His energy and verve make up for a horrible
accent in the first few scenes, where he seems to be channeling Austrian German
accent via Dublin. Once he gets into the
rhythm of the piece, his voice migrates across the channel to Vienna and
settles down. Perhaps as the show
progresses this minor complaint will prove obsolete.
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| Vincent Kartheiser, Sophie von Haselberg and Larry Pine |
Sophie Von Haselberg plays Billy’s secretary, Helen. The daughter of Bette Midler and Martin Von
Hasleberg, she is perfect, channeling the sass of Eve Arden with the mildly
maternal instinct of every great secretary.
Her resemblance to her mother is uncanny. Drew Gehling plays the
producer Joe Sistrom, balancing his desire to bring this story to life against
the day-to-day B pictures the studio shoves at him (“The Hitler Gang”).
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Billy and Ray looks beautiful, the offices at Paramount
brought to life by Charlie Corcoan.
Watching Vincent Kartheiser lean out of his window to heckle Bing Crosby
is one of the small moments that make this piece so perfect. Legend Garry Marshall directs the piece with
a familiarity of the Hollywood system, albeit with a little too much sit-com familiarity.
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Billy and Ray is a love letter to Hollywood in general and Double
Indemnity in particular. If you have
never seen the movie, you will want to after seeing Billy and Ray, and that is
high praise indeed.
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Billy and Ray
Playwright: Mike Bencivenga
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Drew Gehling, Vincent Kartheiser, Larry Pine, Sophie
von Haselberg
