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Near the end of Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution, after the central court case seems all but completely settled, senior barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton) contemplates the surprising evidence that’s just been presented. “It’s a little too neat, too tidy, and altogether too symmetrical,” he remarks. It’s a comment that begs to be read through the lens of Wilder’s own wry approach to filmmaking, which often feels throughout his canon like an alchemic combination of effortless story execution, pinpoint humor, and acting masterclass.

Wilder effects an outward feeling of wily and out of control scenarios that are running like well-oiled machines within. The ending of Witness for the Prosecution exemplifies this by throwing its characters’ preceding buttoned-up decorum out of whack, as they race through a procession of sudden revelations that contain a clear logic and purpose. But per Wilder’s wont, the...

Bix Beiderbecke with his cornet and the Wolverine Orchestra featured in Brigitte Berman’s superb Bix: 'Ain't None Of Them Play Like Him Yet' Photo: courtesy of Brigitte Berman

Bix Beiderbecke, called a “born genius” by his friend Louis Armstrong, who also provided the quote in the film’s title, died far too young at the age of 28 in 1931. Almost half a century later, between 1978 and 1980, Brigitte Berman interviewed family, friends, and many of the musicians and admirers, including Hoagy Carmichael, Bill Challis, Charlie Davis, Artie Shaw, Spiegle Willcox, Fred Bergin, Doc Cheatham, Matty Malneck, Esten Spurrier, and many more who played with Bix to get a sense of the man who left behind this remarkable music that borders on the otherworldly. A very impressive array of paintings by Edward Hopper visually doubles the effect of the experience.

Brigitte Berman with Anne-Katrin Titze on Wim Wenders: “His films have...