Or shall I call my servant? 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. Marshman was a journalist but both Wilder and Brackett had been impressed by the critique he had given of their earlier film, The Emperor Waltz (1948). director of photography Film Editing by Arthur P. Schmidt . Every character is jaded, except the oldest players. After graduating from South Pasadena High School, Holden attended Pasadena Junior College, where he became involved in local radio plays. Please, don't let it be true, it must be some mistake," per her memoir. "I know how it's going to be," Holden said (per The Huntsville Item). But it's also a love story, and the love keeps it from becoming simply a waxworks or a freak show. Holman was 16 years older than him and was afraid people would think the movie was a parody of their relationship. William Haines turned down an offer to appear in the film but attended the Hollywood premiere with Joan Crawford. Director Billy Wilder Writers Charles Brackett Billy Wilder D.M. According to the DVD commentary by Wilder biographer Ed Sikov, this story was most likely invented/exaggerated by Billy Wilder. Holden's films continued to struggle at the box office, however: Paris When It Sizzles (1964) with Hepburn was shot in 1962 but given a much delayed release, The 7th Dawn (1964) with Capucine and Susannah York, a romantic adventure set during the Malayan Emergency produced by Charles K. Feldman, Alvarez Kelly (1966), a Western, and The Devil's Brigade (1968). I think that Sunset Boulevard was the most important film of William Holden's career. See, Bettys a message gal, not a virgin, and there are no whores in Hollywood. Filtered cigarette packs always open at the filtered end, which meant he would've been lighting the filter otherwise. After living in the home for a year he moved, and the house sat vacant for a little over a decade, earning the moniker "The Phantom House" in the process. In her private screening room, with butler Max running the projector, Norma cuddles up with Joe to watch one of her own films. 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. [4] The film was made for Columbia, which negotiated a sharing agreement with Paramount for Holden's services. words "Sunset Blvd." Getty always wanted a pool, the poor dope. was better known as the seat of the film industry in 1950, the Los Angeles film industry actually began on Sunset Blvd. Principal photography took place from 11 April to 18 June 1949. The two starred in the films The Lion (1962) and The 7th Dawn (1964). Billy Wilder's sixth film in a row for Paramount Pictures. The writer was almost all washed up, one step ahead of the finance company, parking his car in a lot behind the shoeshine parlor run by Rudy, a guy who never asked any questions about finances because he could just look at the peoplesr heels and know the score. Gloria Swanson was paid $50,000 plus $5,000 per week for any time over schedule. Gloria Swanson played her final descent on the staircase barefoot, as she was terrified of tripping in high heels. The four films were released between August 1950 and November 1951. However, he knew that her arch-rival Hedda Hopper had trained as an actress and would therefore be more convincing onscreen. When filming began, William Holden was 31 and Gloria Swanson was 50, the same stated age as her character. Marshman Jr. Sunset Boulevard was the last time Brackett and Wilder collaborated on a film. Wilder told the actors to kibbutz and let him shuffle. ", 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. Sunset Boulevard (1950) 1950, 1h 50min - Drama Gloria Swanson, as Norma Desmond, an aging silent-film queen, and William Holden, as the struggling young screenwriter who is held in thrall by her madness, created two of the screen's most memorable characters in "Sunset Boulevard." Gloria Swanson almost considered rejecting the role of Norma Desmond after Billy Wilder requested she do a screen test for the role. [41], Holden was married to actress Brenda Marshall from 1941 until their divorce in 1971. Technically the address was 641 S Irving Blvd but the estate lay at the corner of Irving and Wilshire Blvd. Wilder was, well, the wilder of the two, often bawdy and crass, while Brackett was genteel. At the end of her acceptance speech, she paid him a personal tribute: "I loved him very much, and I miss him. It's probably just as well, since the darker, more nuanced story that eventually emerged was quite different from West's wheelhouse anyway. Sunset Blvd. The two men never worked together again. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It made him a true front ranked star after years of being an actor slogging through a series of largely forgottable films (and performances). . William Holdens Joe Gillis helps a timid soul named Norma Desmond cross a crowded street on Paramounts back lot. Fat Man: "A husky fellow like you?" An ending for the film was cobbled together, but the movie was never shown in the U.S. Later he strangled himself with it. Holden was best man at the wedding of his friend Ronald Reagan to actress Nancy Davis in 1952. As far as being a forgotten star, past her prime, Norma is only 50 in the movie, Swanson was 53 when she made it and was herself very busy on the then-new medium of television. In an interview Wilder gave in 1996 he claimed that the film which eventually became SUNSET BOULEVARD began as a comedy for Mae West and Marlon Brando. For the opening shot of Joe Gillis floating face-down in the swimming pool, Billy Wilder wanted a shot from below that would show both the body and the police and photographers standing at the pool's edge looking down. When two more test audiences reacted the same way, Wilder cut the scene and the movie was saved. What is the streaming release date of Sunset Blvd. His death certificate makes no mention of cancer. 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. "I left countless messages but received no answer." In 1998 the American Film Institute selected this as the 12th greatest film of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time. The other line, "I am big! 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. The Paramount logo appears as a transparency over the opening shot. But it was too difficult to put a camera underwater to get the shot, so Wilder and cinematographer John Seitz came up with an ingenious solution: they put a mirror on the bottom of the pool and filmed the reflection from above. But it wasn't a bullet from the gun of an aging movie queen that tragically ended his life, but rather, a rug, per The New York Times. It was a big hit, as was The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), a Korean War drama with Kelly.[20][21]. But before you hear it all distorted and blown out of proportion, before those Hollywood columnists get their hands on it, maybe youd like to hear the facts, the whole truth. During the shopping excursion, Norma remarks that if Joe is not careful, he'll need a cutaway. taste bar and kitchen missouri city. The film's narrative structure bears a marked resemblance to that of American Beauty (1999). During Norma Desmond's New Years' Eve party, the band begin to play the song 'Diane', the theme of the 1927 film 7th Heaven (1927). In subsequent years, two lawsuits have been filed against Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, claiming that Sunset Blvd. [46] Rumors existed that he was suffering from lung cancer, which Holden had denied at a 1980 press conference. 12 Sep. WILLIAM HOLDEN: At some point, "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) played at The Silver Screen. According to Gloria Swanson's daughter, Michelle Amon, her mother stayed in character throughout the entire shoot, even speaking like Norma Desmond when she arrived home in the evening after filming. When Joe and Norma sit down to watch one of her old movies, Joe pulls out a cigarette and places the bottom end in his mouth. The address of Norma Desmond's house is given as 10086 Sunset Boulevard. A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. He always wished that I would get an Oscar. He said hed already played a young kept man in the film The Heiresswith Olivia De Havilland, and in real life with his relationship with older singer Libby Holman. It's not possible to shoot through water and get a clear image beyond. Sunset Boulevard, one of Hollywood's most cruelly accurate depictions of itself, is now 65 years oldolder, even, than its main character, who's washed up at 50. Oh, wake up, Norma. Two years later, he was praised for his Oscar-nominated leading performance in Sidney Lumet's classic Network (1976),[34] an examination of the media written by Paddy Chayefsky, playing an older version of the character type for which he had become iconic in the 1950s, only now more jaded and aware of his own mortality. Her Stockholm Syndrome is positively infectious. Hedda Hopper: at the top of the stairwell as Norma descends toward the cameras. [2] His brother Robert ("Bobbie") became a U.S. Navy fighter pilot and was killed in action in World War II, over New Ireland, a Japanese-occupied island in the South Pacific. . Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the Top 100 Greatest American Movies. Editorial Reviews. According to reports, Taylor went to the feds for help filing charges against Normands cocaine suppliers. Free Postage. The actor's second major breakthrough occurred when Wilder cast him in the lead of the. Location scenes at Norma Desmond's mansion were shot not on Sunset Boulevard but on Wilshire Boulevard. While Hollywood Blvd. Jay Livingston, Ray Evans: The Paramount songwriting duo is seen at the piano at Artie Green's New Year's Eve party. Norma Desmond says that she paid $28,000 for the Isotta-Fraschini car in 1929. Although Sheldrake's musings on a film about the story of a female baseball player was seen as humorous, the movie "A League of Their Own" would do just that 42 years later. Newspapers printed love letters between 19-year-old former child star and screen idol Mary Miles Minter and Taylor. This car has been on display at the National Automobile Museum in Turin, Italy since 1972. . Despite that, von Stroheim "still managed to hit the gates, he had no co-ordination", said Billy Wilder in an interview for the book "Sunset Boulevard: From Movie to Musical". On the advice of Libby Holman, Montgomery Clift, who had signed to play the part of Joe Gillis, broke his contract just two weeks prior to the start of shooting. In the fall of 1981, the television actor Stefanie Powers, who was dating William Holden, was in Hawaii filming the ABC show "Hart to Hart" when Holden stopped answering his phone. According to both versions of the morgue prologue script, Gillis' body is admitted on 5/17/49 (as indicated by a toe tag). 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. We had faces" was #13. Such extravagances were so commonplace that when Wilder was planning to shoot the funeral of Normas chimpanzee, the director told the crew to just set-up the usual monkey-funeral sequence.. Wilder and his co-writers reversed several elements, and there was no official connection between the movie and Waugh's book.

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