How did A Foreign Affair portray occupied Berlin after World War II?

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Billy Wilder poses in a suit and hat, leaning against a streetlamp with a sign reading Sunset Blvd. in a promotional photo for the film Sunset Boulevard. — Billy Wilder Billy Wilder in a promotional photograph for *Sunset Boulevard* (1950), which he directed.

In his 1948 film A Foreign Affair, director Billy Wilder portrayed post-World War II Berlin with a level of cynicism and candor that was remarkably unique for its time.1

Drawing on his own experiences serving as a colonel in the Psychological Warfare Division in occupied Berlin, Wilder depicted the city as a complex environment where the moral lines of the occupying forces were blurred. The film serves as a critical examination of the U.S. armed services, highlighting the pragmatic and often calculating nature of life in the occupied territory. Through the story of a prim congresswoman on a fact-finding mission and an army captain protecting his mistress, the movie illuminates the gritty, disillusioned reality of the postwar occupation rather than offering a sanitized version of events.1