KEEN-EYED OBSERVER

Like a guest at a party who tells the host of the splendid view he might have if he would only widen the arch above the window, it often takes an outsider, as is the case with Billy Wilder, to see things from a clear and undiminished perspective (“The Artful Emigre,” by Suzanne Muchnic, Feb. 16).

Along with fellow emigres Robert Siodmak, Otto Preminger, Fred Zinnemann and Fritz Lang, Wilder is rightly regarded as one of the fathers of film noir, one of the most important--and imitated--movements in the American cinema. And while there was home-grown talent who succeeded in this area, Wilder left an indelible mark on this cycle of films.

From those last days in Berlin, Wilder knew all too well about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. From those experiences, he crafted a fascinating examination of our motives and agendas, featuring heels, has-beens, hucksters, alcoholics, elevator operators, blonds who shoot to kill and saxophone players who learn to jiggle.

Another immigrant director, Frank Capra, arrived from Italy at the age of 6, was naturalized and made a slew of successful films with a decidedly different perspective. Capra told us who we would like to be; Wilder told us who we are.

GREGORY FARMER

Fullerton