There are few directors who remain as prolific and as fascinating as . Born and raised in Austria, Wilder moved to America in 1934, amid the growing fascist conflict in Europe at the time. Once in Hollywood, Wilder brought his unique style and incredible sensibility to the screen and created a film canon that is still one of the industry’s best. Whether it’s his and led classic, , or the ahead-of-its-time icon, , Wilder’s filmography is truly a standout. However, . What started out as a propaganda film became a deeply personal piece for Wilder, one filled with stars, intrigue,

Wilder always had a penchant for unique storytelling, often balancing comedy and darkness carefully and brilliantly. A Foreign Affair certainly follows that tradition. congresswoman Phoebe Frost(played by groundbreaking actress)arrives to gather intel on Erika von Schlütowand is suspected of an involvement with a high-ranking American military man. A love triangle ensues when Phoebe falls for her escort, Captain John Pringle (), completely unaware that he is the military man having an affair with Erika.

Even today, —it's both deliciously dark in terms of its humor while also reflecting the cynicism of the time. In true Wilder fashion, it is dripping with social commentary. Not only does it have an interesting and earthy sensual dynamic as far as its love triangle is concerned, but . However, such honesty garnered much backlash from important political figures in the U.S.

According to Be Kind Rewind, and it’s easy to see why. After all, Wilder had left Europe during the Nazi rise to power and came back in 1945, after being assigned to the U.S. Army’s Division of Psychological Warfare His return to Germany was after WWII’s liberation of Berlin, a city that was largely in ruin. The 2008 book, , notes that . Per the book, Germans were only given ration cards if they were willing to watch documentaries about the evils of Nazism, the point being to morally educate them on their “political responsibilities.”

However, audiences were also shown typical Hollywood escapist films of the period. Wilder had an issue with the contradiction that was being distributed and thus pitched the idea of making a film that was a traditional Hollywood movie that would contain themes that challenged the atrocious ideals of the Third Reich. In his memo, . Wilder’s wish was granted, and he began work on A Foreign Affair. While he did indeed deliver on much of what was promised, the final picture was not what was pitched. As Be Kind Rewind notes,

As Wilder worked on the script, he decided that he wanted to lampoon America’s occupation of Germany. Indeed, the finished film is far more cynical than what was pitched. It includes examples of the German people struggling to abandon Nazism, with one of the most uneasy examples being a little with a fondness for drawing swastikas, and shows the lake of true effort from the American forces to change the country’s ideals. Per Sense of Cinema, the military and several important American politicians were outraged by the picture. They questioned Wilder’s morals, due to his mix of cynical comedy with the dark setting, and loathed the film’s sarcastic sense of humor.

Interestingly, the film did receive spectacular reviews from several prolific news sources. As Bright Light Films recalls, both The New York Times and Life loved the movie. But that wasn’t enough to save the film from consequence. The Office of Military Government deemed the film to be unsuitable for distribution in Germany and effectively banned it from being released in the country for decades. But, while disturbing, the film did honestly reflect a lot of what was happening in Berlin at the time, whether the government wanted to admit it or not. It’s truly a story built on the idea of survival and reality, one that is rare for movies at the time, but is dripping with such richness, it deserves to be remembered.