Sunset Boulevard is also a reflection of Hollywood through a glass, darkly. True to character, Von Stroheim refused to leave Paris to attend the Academy Awards ceremony, and declared that his nomination for best supporting actor should've been for best actor. 25 on AFI's list of all-time great leading men. read more: The Big Sleep is Proof That Plot Doesnt Matter. Queen Kelly nearly ruined both of their careers after Joe Kennedy, JFKs dad who produced the film, replaced von Stroheim as director because Swanson complained about the racy material. The original nitrate negatives for the film have long disappeared. An iconic sequence in that earlier film sees the character of Diane ascending a long staircase to a seventh-story apartment (hence the film's title). LAS COSAS DEL QUERER", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sunset_Boulevard_(film)&oldid=1142173541, Best Overall New Extra Features Library Release. Gloria Swanson and Nancy Olson also appeared in Airport 1975. The movie begins about five oclock in the morning, left coast time. Every time I go to L.A., which isn't too often, I look at these palm-bemused, once smart stucco facades, and wonder if a Norma Desmond from a later era might be hiding from the world inside them, buttressed by cable TV (AMC or TCM, no doubt), a poodle named FiFi or Sir Francis, walk-in closets full of leopard-print Capri pants that haven't fit in decades, and a world class liquor cabinet that has seen heads of state under the table on a good night. When Norma visits DeMille at Paramount, he's in the midst of shooting Samson and Delilah, which really is what he was up to at the time. The character of Norma Desmond is modeled on the fate of several leading actresses of the silent era. Holden had another good break when he was cast as Judy Holliday's love interest in the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway hit Born Yesterday (1950). Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard is one of his three or four masterpieces, a seminal Hollywood black comedy-satire, which unlike most films keeps improving with the passage of time.. Benfiting from a glorious and iconic cast, the film concerns a faded silent film star, played by Gloria Swanson (in a variation of her own onscreen persona), who lives in the past with her butler (and former . The 49-year-old film directors body was found on the morning of Feb. 2, 1922, inside his bungalow at the Alvarado Court Apartments in Westlake, Los Angeles. For purposes of authenticity Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson wore their own clothes in the film. Set designer Hans Dreier had in fact been the interior designer for the homes of former silent stars Bebe Daniels, Norma Shearer and Pola Negri. Holden's first film back from the services was Blaze of Noon (1947), an aviator picture at Paramount directed by John Farrow. But like so many of the female actors of the era, Holden soon realized it was his physical attributes and not his acting ability that the studio cared about. Some, including Holden himself and one of his close confidants, could foresee the death (per The Huntsville Item). Oddly enough, the reclusive Greta Garbo granted permission to use her name, though when she saw the film itself she was sorry she had done so. Cecil B. DeMille appears in the film on a studio set. Sunset Boulevard mixed fiction with the realities of filmmaking. taste bar and kitchen missouri city. Wilder and his co-writers reversed several elements, and there was no official connection between the movie and Waugh's book. William Holden, original name William Franklin Beedle, Jr., (born April 17, 1918, O'Fallon, Illinois, U.S.found dead November 16, 1981, Santa Monica, California), American film star who perfected the role of the cynic who acts heroically in spite of his scorn or pessimism. On the morning of February 1, 1922, Taylor--who had been romantically involved with her-- was shot and killed in his Hollywood bungalow. When Billy Wilder went back to him later to secure a close-up, DeMille charged him another $10,000. While Hollywood Blvd. The home was built in 1923 for businessman William O. Jenkins. The exterior shots were of a house located not on Sunset but Irving Boulevard, near the corner of Wilshire, owned by the J. Paul Getty family. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol. Reluctantly, Wilder met with William Holden, who hadn't done much after the great Hollywood innovator Rouben Mamoulian's Golden Boy (1939). When Norma is telling Joe about how rich she is, she mentions a beach house and downtown real estate. Well, they kissed, and kissed, and kept kissing, and the crew began to snicker, and finally Marshall's voice rang out: "Cut, dammit!" In addition to the famous swimming pool, the studio also built sets to exactly duplicate Schwab's Drug Store in Hollywood and the Los Angeles County Morgue. His killer was never identified. Joe could have slept with Norma and loved Betty, and owned the pool that would be his final resting place. The director turned actor was still able to steer the expensive Italian car into the Paramount gate. in West Hollywood. Joe Gillis mentions that the painting of wild horses that covers the projection screen in Norma Desmond's mansion was given to her by "some Nevada Chamber of Commerce." Von Stroheim didnt know how to drive, and the scene where hes driving the exotic leopard-upholstered Isotta-Fraschini was shot as the car was being towed. She puts on a show playing a Max Sennett bathing girl and Charlie Chaplins Tramp character, though Maxs bad timing is a little too on the nose. So funny that it took away from the rest of the picture. Norma's buying Joe a fine woolen topcoat would be mostly an affectation in sunny Los Angeles. At Paramount, he was in a comedy with Ginger Rogers that was not particularly popular, Forever Female (1953). Realizing that former actress Hopper would easily dominate the scene, Parsons declined, even though she and Wilder were friends. was voted #6 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by "Premiere" magazine in 2007. . At the end of her acceptance speech, she paid him a personal tribute: "I loved him very much, and I miss him. Westmore and director Billy Wilder agreed with this so William Holden was made up to look younger than he was. Swanson herself reportedly asked him to do it. London Boulevard (2010) was based on the Ken Bruen novel that was inspired by Sunset Boulevard and features the same trope of an aging actress as the stranger caught in her web. When he drives Norma to Paramount Pictures at the studio gates, the car was pulled with a rope by off-camera grips. Words are as good as sex to two writers. These actors were bigger than life. Thirty-one years later, the actor who played Gillis, William Holden, met his end. It's the pictures that got small," was voted #24, out of 100. It's kind of sweet, actually. [47], President Ronald Reagan released a statement: "I have a great feeling of grief. This car has been on display at the National Automobile Museum in Turin, Italy since 1972. (1949), and "Father Is a Bachelor" (1950). With the help of his partners, he created the Mount Kenya Game Ranch and inspired the creation of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation. Swanson was told "She can't show herself, Gloria, she's too overcome. Billy Wilder quickly offered the role to Fred MacMurray, who turned it down because he didn't want to play a gigolo. At one point, Norma decides the time is right to send Gillis script to DeMille because is a Leo. This indicates that he is smoking filterless cigarettes, which was the norm for that era until filters became the standard after the mid-'50s. Hola, identifcate . But it's also a love story, and the love keeps it from becoming simply a waxworks or a freak show. It said so on the chart from her astrologer, who read DeMilles horoscope. American Beauty screenwriter Alan Ball has acknowledged that another Billy Wilder film, The Apartment (1960), influenced that screenplay. The Tragic 1981 Death Of Sunset Boulevard Star William Holden. Holden served as a second and then a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force during World War II, where he acted in training films for the First Motion Picture Unit, including Reconnaissance Pilot (1943). She can be seen talking and giggling on the phone during the party. Holden acted in Executive Suite (1954), The Country Girl (1954) with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly, The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), and Picnic (1955). But she wanted to rewrite her dialogue (as was her custom)a nonstarter for Wilder, who seldom let his actors change their lines even slightly from what was on the page. Sunset Boulevard (styled in the main title on-screen as SUNSET BLVD.) White, pink, or maybe bright flaming red. He played Rafts kid brother, who was following in his gangster footsteps and needed to be set straight. The exteriors of Norma Desmond's home on Sunset Boulevard were filmed at 641 South Irving Boulevard. When Norma Desmond says to the guard at the "Paramount Studio" gates, "Without me there wouldn't be any 'Paramount Studio'" the words could apply to Gloria Swanson herself, as she was the studio's top star for six years running. Not long ago, he was divorced from the actress, Gloria Holden, but carried the torch after the marital rift. (as Arthur Schmidt) About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . [30] Holden made a Western with Ryan O'Neal and Blake Edwards, Wild Rovers (1971). They swore each other off over the montage where Norma struggles to lose weight for her comeback. She is ever the star. producer Music by Franz Waxman Cinematography by John F. Seitz . Gillis smokes unfiltered cigarettes in the film. Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge were famous for owning downtown real estate in Los Angeles and San Diego. Features the only Oscar-nominated performances of Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson. He said it was because she was braver than any man. The only Best Picture Oscar nominee of the year to be also nominated for Original Screenplay. April 17, 2019 6:00AM. For a number of years, exhibitors voted Holden among the most popular stars in the country: On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. but Holden's wife, Ardis (Brenda Marshall), who happened to be on set that day. Someone who said they were a doctor said Taylor died of a stomach hemorrhage and then disappeared. She turns out to be a multimillionaire silent screen icon played by the legendary Gloria Swanson and she leaves him all her money, which shes already spent, and face down in a pool. Previous image. The name Norma Desmond was a combination of early Hollywoods comedy star Mabel Normand and her lover, silent film director William Desmond Taylor. [22] The golden run at the box office continued with Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), from a best-selling novel, with Jennifer Jones, and Picnic (1955), as a drifter, in an adaptation of the William Inge play with Kim Novak. Ultimately she retired completely from films, making only sporadic appearances, notably in Airport 1975 (1974). Holden's career took off again in 1950 when Billy Wilder tapped him to play a down-at-heel screenwriter taken in by a faded silent film actress (Gloria Swanson) in Sunset Boulevard. Nothing else! Getting the role was a lucky break for Holden, as Montgomery Clift was initially cast but backed out of his contract. But she fits it like a round peg in a square hole. The actor-turned-director-turned-actor-again, who had indeed been one of the great silent-filmmakers, winced at playing a character so self-referential and demeaning, but he needed the money. And gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (who appears in the movie as herself) wrote that "Billy Wilder was crazy about Evelyn Waugh's book The Loved One, and the studio wanted to buy it.". "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 17, 1951, with Gloria Swanson and William Holden reprising their film roles. She liked Holden and went out of her way to help him succeed, devoting her personal time to coaching and encouraging him, which made them into lifelong friends. All I know is that she's meshuggah, that's all. Art director John Meehan experimented until he came up with the idea to shoot the scene through a mirror at the bottom of the studio water tank. For the cover photo of the very first issue, in April 1951, of what many consider the most important film magazine of all time, the Paris-based "Cahiers du Cinema, " the editors chose the image of Gloria Swanson and William Holden in her screening room. Director Cecil B. DeMille, a pioneer of silent Hollywood who was still a top director when "Sunset Boulevard" was shot in 1949, also famously played himself. That's a reference to the traditional grey morning suit worn by the groom at a formal wedding. Hola Elige tu direccin Pelculas y Series de TV. That should make the young blond Paramount actress-turned-script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson) the virgin in the virgin/whore dynamic that film noir so often (and happily) deals in. [39][46] He dictated in his will that the Neptune Society cremate him and scatter his ashes in the Pacific Ocean. Oh, wake up, Norma. "I know how it's going to be," Holden said (per The Huntsville Item). She reads everyone and everything in Hollywood, except Joes script. When he appeared in the innovative Hollywood director Rouben Mamoulian's Golden Boy (1939), he was hailed as exactly that, but had seen his stock fall, largely through his problems with alcohol and a string of unmemorable films in the 1940s. Bogart was not especially friendly toward Hepburn, who had little Hollywood experience, while Holden's reaction was the opposite, wrote biographer Michelangelo Capua. William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 November 12, 1981) was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. The "Desmond mansion" was located not on Sunset Blvd. On the Columbia lot is an assistant director and scout named Harold Winston. Garbo was once rumored to be engaged to the innovative Hollywood and Broadway director Rouben Mamoulian whose film Golden Boy (1939) made William Holden famous. Neither was The Revengers (1972), another Western. It is because of Sunset Blvd., for certain, that my mind could ever go there. I didn't know. Marlon Brando was considered, but the producers thought he was too much of an unknown as a film actor. This still goes on today. They reportedly began a two-year affair, which is alleged to have ended due to Holden's alcoholism. "[18] Rumors at the time had it that Hepburn wanted a family, but when Holden told her that he had had a vasectomy and having children was impossible, she moved on. At Paramount, he did another Western, Streets of Laredo (1949). In a scene described by director Billy Wilder as one of the best he'd ever shot, the body of Joe Gillis is rolled into the morgue to join three dozen other corpses, some of whom--in voice-over--tell Gillis how they died. For scenes in which he drove, the car was towed by another car. Even though it wasn't the last scene filmed, Billy Wilder threw a party for her as soon as the shot was finished. The car William Holden drives is a P15 Plymouth Special DeLuxe convertible, a model that was produced from 1945-49. Swanson and von Stroheim are playing themselves in that scene. are shown stenciled on the curb of that street. Less popular was Satan Never Sleeps (1961), the last film of Clifton Webb and Leo McCarey; The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), his third film with Seaton; or The Lion (1962), with Trevor Howard and Capucine. Stanwyck went to bat for Holden when he was going to be replaced in Golden Boy (1939) and Wilder's collaboration with Holden in the 50s starting with Sunset Boulevard revitalized his career (including the Best Actor Oscar for Stalag 17 (1953). Norma is Scorpio, and Mars had been transiting Jupiter for weeks and that was the day of greatest conjunction. On the night of November 12, 1981, Holden consumed somewhere between eight and 10 drinks in a short amount of time, according to "William Holden: A Biography." She is still waving proudly to a parade which had long since passed her by. Free shipping for many products! She changed her professional name to Patricia Palmer and was working with Famous Players-Lasky, Taylors studio at the time of his death. He is the TV Editor at Entertainment. Well, not a comeback, a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven her for deserting the screen. Please, don't let it be true, it must be some mistake," per her memoir. He received an eight-month suspended sentence for vehicular manslaughter. The mundane accident that took the Hollywood actor's life was made even worse by the fact that nobody found his body for a week afterward, according to the Associated Press. But it wasn't a mistake. For added meta-truthfulness, Wilder wanted to have that film's lead actress, Hedy Lamarr, be there too, so that DeMille could ask her to let Norma sit in her chair (you know, those behind-the-scenes chairs that have the star's name on them). Norma Desmond: I *am* big. Holden paid it forward, becoming Hepburns guardian angel.. The Homicide Squad, complete with detectives and newspapermen, are responding to a call about a murder from one of those great big houses in the ten thousand block of Sunset Boulevard, a 22-mile block that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown LA to the Pacific Ocean. Oh, and while were at it, Wilder didnt submerge any cameras to get that underwater shot. Test audiences at the time couldnt let go of the joke, which was why it was re-edited this way. Norma's bed originally belonged to French actress/singer Gaby Deslys. Sunset Boulevard's cinematographer, John Seitz, said Wilder "had wanted to do The Loved One, but couldn't obtain the rights." We had faces" was #13. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. They had to have the ears of the old place, too. A true Hollywood horror story. In his place, Wilder hired Buster Keaton. Now I had two favorite movies - aside from "Gone With The Wind" of course - both from 1950, "Sunset Boulevard" and "All . A second film with Seaton did not do as well, The Proud and Profane (1956), where Holden played the role with a moustache. [45], According to the Los Angeles County Coroner's autopsy report, Holden bled to death in his apartment in Santa Monica, California, on November 12, 1981, after lacerating his forehead from slipping on a rug while intoxicated and hitting a bedside table. He was just a movie writer with a couple of B-pictures to his credit. The character of Max Von Mayerling as a washed up silent film director was an homage paid by Wilder to Erich von Stroheim, who was an inspiration to Billy in his glory days as a notorious silent film director himself. And that young man who was found floating in the pool of her mansion, with two shots in his back and one in his stomach, was nobody important, really. Billy Wilder originally wanted another silent star, Pola Negri, to take the part of Norma Desmond. Seitz had used a similar technique on Double Indemnity (1944). Swanson agreed to the audition, and won the role. It is one of the most indelible films you will ever see. He stayed at Paramount for The Remarkable Andrew (1942) with Brian Donlevy, then made Meet the Stewarts (1943) at Columbia. Holden made a fourth and final film for Wilder with Fedora (1978). Billy Wilder originally approached William Haines to play one of Norma's bridge partners. "I'm not surprised that this could have happened.". (The book is about a failed screenwriter who works for a cemetery and lives with a forgotten silent-film star.) This is an old film which has been made into a musical. (Gloria Swanson's TV star - she has one for TV and one for film - is very near by at 6301 Hollywood Blvd). She said it was a blackmail scheme gone wrong. As a practical joke, during the scene where William Holden and Nancy Olson kiss for the first time, Billy Wilder let them carry on for minutes without yelling "Cut!" The truth of the matter was that Bing Crosby was one of the very few actors to whom Billy Wilder had borne a grudge, mainly because Crosby had done the unthinkable during filming of The Emperor Waltz (1948), and ad-libbed dialog, something he and Bob Hope had done for years as standard operating procedure in their breezy "Road" pictures. 12 Sep. WILLIAM HOLDEN: At some point, "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) played at The Silver Screen. Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," edited by Steven Schneider. Cecil B. DeMille had a pet name for Gloria Swanson: "Young Fellow". Paramount was more than happy to be the subject of the film, and didn't ask for the studio to be disguised. Erich von Stroheim, who directed Swanson in Queen Kelly (1932), plays Max the butler, who serves as the projectionist in the scene. Or shall I call my servant? Both Mary Astor and Miriam Hopkins starred in TV versions of the film in 1955 and 1956, respectively. Sad as this may sound, to the day he died, Holden insisted Bogart was a bastard. is directed toward his associate producer, Henry Wilcoxon, who had starred in his epics Cleopatra (1934), The Crusades (1935) and Unconquered (1947), later moving to a position behind the camera as DeMille's associate, which he held until the older man's death in 1959. The actor's second major breakthrough occurred when Wilder cast him in the lead of the. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, who plays herself in the movie, wrote that Billy Wilder was crazy about Evelyn Waughs book The Loved One, and the studio wanted to buy it.. If Gillis is accurate in stating that his meeting with Norma occurred some six months prior, the action of the film takes place between mid-November 1948 and mid- May 1949. There were actually three mansions used during filming. The pool was used in its empty condition in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Here's some backstage information to enhance your experience the next time you visit the Paramount lot.. Ready? The film originally opened and closed the story at the Los Angeles County Morgue. Although they don't have a scene together in this film, Hedda Hopper and Buster Keaton had worked together in the 1932 comedy Speak Easily (1932), both were among the many stars appearing in the 1931 two-reeler The Stolen Jools (1931), and they both appeared in a 1958 episode of The Garry Moore Show (1958) that also featured Carol Burnett, who years later would spoof the Norma Desmond character regularly on her own variety show. The veteran actress particularly wanted to see what Mary Pickford felt and was disappointed to see that she had left. The first of four films in which William Holden and Nancy Olson appeared. The stars read the stars. Holden starred in the 20th Century Fox film Apartment for Peggy (1948). About 28:00 in, when Max is playing the organ, it is the same chords that Captain Nemo (James Mason) plays on his organ aboard the Nautilus in "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea." You murdered me. Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard took the tinsel out of Tinseltown, the gild off the golden boy, and the cover off a forgotten murder. When Artie Green introduces Joe to other guests at his New Year's Eve party, he jokingly refers to him as "the well-known screenwriter, uranium smuggler and Black Dahlia suspect", a reference to the infamous unsolved L.A. murder case in 1947 of an aspiring actress known as The Black Dahlia, who was found murdered and dismembered on a street in Los Angeles. ", After serving with the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, he returned to Hollywood and in 1950 he got his first substantial role in Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard," per Britannica. An out of work writer in Hollywood (Holden) randomly pulls into the driveway of a silent film star (Swanson) who can use the assistance of his writing talent. They had paired up in pictures since 1938. Holden starred in some of Hollywood's most popular and critically acclaimed films, including Sunset Boulevard (1950), Sabrina (1954), Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Wild Bunch (1969) and Network (1976).
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