El legendario cineasta Billy Wilder se convierte en el decimocuarto galardonado con el premio Life Achievement Award del American Film Institute, ya que no se publican clips de varias de sus películas clásicas: "The Major and the Minor", "Double Indemnity", "The Lost Weekend", "Sunset Blvd ., "" Ace in the Hole "," Stalag 17 "," Sabrina "," Love in the Afternoon "," Some Like it Hot "," The Apartment "," Irma La Douce "," The Fortune Cookie ", y "La vida privada de Sherlock Holmes". El presentador Jack Lemmon da la bienvenida a Walter Matthau, Ginger Rogers, Tony Curtis, Shirley MacLaine, Don Ameche, Charles Durning, Jessica Lange, Whoopi Goldberg, Fred MacMurray, Carol Burnett y Audrey Hepburn para bromear y saludarlo. Un homenaje cariñoso al notable Sr. Wilder.