The investigation found that in the weeks just prior to his death, Taylor had been making some pretty delusional statements about his place in the world and some of his friends thought he had recently gone insane. "[13] And Wilder commented "Bill was a complex guy, a totally honorable friend. It was widely known as a top Hollywood hangout for many actors, directors, writers and producers. So in that scene, William Holden is driving over the future locations of Walk of Fame stars dedicated to the two people arguably most responsible for his success in Hollywood. He would slay, "I have no idea! The movie was previewed with this opening, in Illinois, Long Island (NY) and Poughkeepsie (NY). All I know is that she's meshuggah, that's all. Minters mother Charlotte Shelby was a manipulative stage mother who owned a rare .38 caliber pistol that fired unusual bullets very similar to ones found inside Taylor. He was named one of the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" six times (19541958, 1961), and appeared as 25th on the American Film Institute's list of 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema. Her character's age was 22 but she was 21 at the time of filming. Sunset Boulevard is no has-been, though. Idealists can screw for fun and for power, because sex is good for business but love is a luxury Hollywood gals cant live without. Because all three audiences inappropriately found the morgue scene hilarious, the film's release was delayed six months so that a new beginning could be shot. But who could play the silent film diva? The mansion belonged to the second Mrs. Jean Paul Getty, who rented it on condition that if she did not like the swimming pool the studio would have to add for the film, it would cover it over and restore the original landscaping. There once was a time in this business when they had the eyes of the whole world. Im not giving anything away here. This is an old film which has been made into a musical. Wilder was, well, the wilder of the two, often bawdy and crass, while Brackett was genteel. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. (1949), and "Father Is a Bachelor" (1950). It said so on the chart from her astrologer, who read DeMilles horoscope. The film is openly referenced in Soapdish (1991), The Player (1992), Gods and Monsters (1998), Mulholland Drive (2001), Inland Empire (2006) and Be Cool (2005) while the closing scene of Cecil B. Demented (2000) is a direct parody of the final scene of the 1950 classic. The director turned actor was still able to steer the expensive Italian car into the Paramount gate. [14], Holden made a third film with Wilder, Sabrina (1954), billed beneath Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. They had faces. Holdens last movie, Blake Edwardss S.O.B., was another masterpiece of Hollywood cynicism. In the scene where Norma is showing Joe her silent movies, one of them is Queen Kelly (1932), which was filmed at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens, NY. When the movie first dropped, Louis B. Mayer, the Mayer in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, told everyone who would listen that Wilder disgraced the industry that made him and fed him, and urged that he be tarred and feathered, and run out of Hollywood. Wilder, who had been feeding himself for quite some time, told Meyer to go fuck himself. . Marion Davies owned a famous ocean-front mansion in Santa Monica. A version of how he obtained his stage name "Holden" is based on a statement by George Ross of Billboard: "William Holden, the lad just signed for the coveted lead in Golden Boy, used to be Bill Beadle [sic]. 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. Sunset Boulevard turns the tables on film noir by casting Joe in the oldest role on the books. His Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki (founded 1959) was popular with the international jet set. While Hollywood Blvd. His body was found four days later. All of the silent film stars mentioned by Norma, Joe, Betty and Max were either dead or no longer active in films by 1950. William Holden returns to find that Gloria Swanson has tried to slash her wrists in 'Sunset Boulevard', directed by Billy Wilder. Swanson agreed to the audition, and won the role. The directions given by the Paramount guard for Norma and Joe to go meet Cecil B. DeMille on "Stage 18" is accurate: this stage, one of the largest on the Paramount lot, was known for years as "The DeMille Stage" and now is called "The Star Trek Stage", as all the "Trek" movies and some scenes from the TV shows have been shot there (the TV series, from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) onward, had its main sets right across the studio street on Stages 8 and 9, which are right below the second-floor office occupied by Betty Schaefer in this film. The silent comedian had a reputation as one of Hollywoods best bridge players. There's a little dig in the scene when Cecil B. DeMille finds out that Paramount has been calling Norma Desmond because it wants to rent her car for "the Crosby picture." The car with the massive chrome grill that the repo men drive is a 1948 DeSoto Custom Club Coupe. Cecil B. DeMille: at the studio during Norma's visit. This makes her the youngest of the cast members, excluding any extras. He was Judy Hollidays tutor in Born Yesterday (1950) and played a war correspondent in Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955). The plot element of Norma Desmond's obsession with writing a screenplay based on Salome as a vehicle for her comeback was obviously influenced by eccentric, aging actress Valeska Suratt, who had a brief film career (1915-1917) playing mostly vamp roles. Sunset Boulevard Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images 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). At Paramount, he did another Western, Streets of Laredo (1949). When Joe and Betty stroll around the studio back lot they pass through the Washington Square set that was used in The Heiress (1949). The name was then changed to Millman and finally to Sheldrake and was played by Fred Clark. Holden was best man at the wedding of his friend Ronald Reagan to actress Nancy Davis in 1952. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Sunset Boulevard DVD Special Collector's Edition William Holden Gloria Swanson at the best online prices at eBay! She produced and starred in Sadie Thompson and The Love of Sunya. A few years later, Stephen Sondheim became interested in writing a musical version of his own, working with writer Burt Shevelove (with whom he ended up writing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum). Norma's bed originally belonged to French actress/singer Gaby Deslys. 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. He earned an Oscar nomination for "Sunset Boulevard" and won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 for his role in "Stalag 17," per IMDb. Queen Kelly nearly ruined both of their careers: von Stroheim was replaced as director midway through after complaints from Swanson about the racy material and arguments with the producer (JFK's father!) What is the streaming release date of Sunset Blvd. Old whores dont fuck for fun, as the old saying goes. Billy Wilder originally approached William Haines to play one of Norma's bridge partners. Around this time he also appeared in 21 Hours at Munich (1976). (1950) was plagiarized from other scripts. When Billy Wilder went back to him later to secure a close-up, DeMille charged him another $10,000. Set non-holiday all-time house record of $166,000 at New York's Radio City Music Hall when it opened. Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the Top 100 Greatest American Movies. Warner took the part. So speaking of funerals, heres the great real life murder mystery we teased in the opening. 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. It always will be! 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. Marshman Jr. was hired to help batten down a script that was giving Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett great difficulty. Upon telephoning her, however, Wilder found that Negri's Polish accent, which had killed her career, was still too thick for such a dialog-heavy film. Also in 1969, Holden starred in director Terence Young's family film L'Arbre de Nol, co-starring Italian actress Virna Lisi and French actor Bourvil, based on the novel of the same name by Michel Bataille. [5][6], Next he starred with George Raft and Humphrey Bogart in the Warner Bros. gangster epic Invisible Stripes (1939), billed below Raft and above Bogart. GLAMOROUS MEN: WILLIAM HOLDEN: At some point, "Sunset Boulevard" Gloria Swanson does a famous impression of Charles Chaplin as the "Little Tramp," but Chaplin's name is never mentioned. See production, box office & company info. Suratt believed that DeMille's epic, "The King of Kings" (released in 1927) was based on her screenplay and filed a $1,000,000 plagiarism suit which was settled out of court in 1930. but at 641 S. Irving Blvd. After his final film S.O.B., Holden declined to star in Jason Miller's film That Championship Season.[37]. 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). "[13]:174 The interactions between Bogart, Hepburn and Holden made shooting less than pleasant, as Bogart had wanted his wife, Lauren Bacall, to play Sabrina. White, pink, or maybe bright flaming red. The murder made it to the late editions, radio, and television because one of the biggest old-time stars was involved. 1751 Vine is still a parking lot across the street from the landmark, Capitol Records building and is the address of both Billy's Wilder's and Barbara Stanwyck's "Hollywood Walk of Fame" stars that were dedicated in 1960. Mrs. Getty divorced her millionaire husband and received custody of the house; it was she who rented it to Paramount for the filming. Sunset Boulevard DVD (2007) William Holden, Wilder (DIR) cert PG Amazing Value. Newspapers printed love letters between 19-year-old former child star and screen idol Mary Miles Minter and Taylor. Ultimately she retired completely from films, making only sporadic appearances, notably in Airport 1975 (1974). In July 1941, he married 25-year old actress Brenda Marshall, who commanded five times his income. Norma is Scorpio, and Mars had been transiting Jupiter for weeks and that was the day of greatest conjunction. The old movies needed neither color nor dialogue. She changed her professional name to Patricia Palmer and was working with Famous Players-Lasky, Taylors studio at the time of his death. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson. 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.". Jay Livingston, Ray Evans: The Paramount songwriting duo is seen at the piano at Artie Green's New Year's Eve party. The only extant film elements were 35mm inter-positives struck in 1952, which had undergone a great deal of decay. Holden starred in the 20th Century Fox film Apartment for Peggy (1948). 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. In 1998 the American Film Institute selected this as the 12th greatest film of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time. They eventually worked together on several films and became close friends. It's kind of sweet, actually. 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. It's not possible to shoot through water and get a clear image beyond. 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. Originally Billy Wilder wanted both of Hollywood's top gossip columnists--Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons--reporting from Norma's mansion at the end and fighting over the phone. Sunset Blvd. 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. Neither did Toward the Unknown (1957), the one film Holden produced himself. (The book is about a failed screenwriter who works for a cemetery and lives with a forgotten silent-film star.) )[19], He took third billing for The Country Girl (1954) with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly, directed by George Seaton from a play by Clifford Odets. To shoot Joe and Norma dancing together at her New Year's Eve party, cameraman John F. Seitz used a dance dolly---a wheeled platform attached to the camera. After a private screening for Hollywood dignitaries, Barbara Stanwyck knelt in front of Gloria Swanson and kissed the hem of her skirt. When he drives Norma to Paramount Pictures at the studio gates, the car was pulled with a rope by off-camera grips. Sunset Boulevard is also a reflection of Hollywood through a glass, darkly. Mary Pickford lived in seclusion, away from the public eye, while both Mae Murray and Clara Bow had well documented struggles with mental illness. When producer Sheldrake offers to turn Gillis' script into a Betty Hutton story, the desperately poor writer inexplicably turns him down. director of photography Film Editing by Arthur P. Schmidt . So she lands his head on a golden tray, kissing his cold, dead lips. (1954). A disagreement over the montage where Norma puts herself through hell getting thinner and younger for her comeback nearly resulted in physical violence: Brackett thought it was too mean, while Wilder felt it was necessary to show what lengths a desperate actor would go to in Hollywood. This is absolutely true, Nancy Reagan continued consulting her astrologer long after she stopped parking at studio lots. While talking with Betty and Artie in Schwab's, Artie points out the studs in Joe's tuxedo. Betty is engaged to be married to Jack Webbs character, Arthur Artie Green, who is such a good buddy to Joe that he offers to put him up on the couch for a few weeks. Those offices later became the home of the "Star Trek" art department. She is ever the star. [47], President Ronald Reagan released a statement: "I have a great feeling of grief. SUNSET BOULEVARD: The Making of the Billy Wilder Classic Norma Desmond: Get out! Reluctantly, Wilder met with William Holden, who hadn't done much after the great Hollywood innovator Rouben Mamoulian's Golden Boy (1939). He is the TV Editor at Entertainment. Wilder was no fan of improvisation and was very protective of his words. The movie premiered in the days of restricted language, not so long after Rhett Butler controversially told Scarlett OHara he didnt give a damn what happened to her in Gone With the Wind, a classic Paramount passed on because who wanted to see Civil War picture? But the old guard thought Wilder and his co-writer Charles Brackett fashioned a rope that could strangle this business of show by writing words, words, and more words. Schwab's was torn down in 1988 to make way for a movie theater and a shopping center. But also much funnier. (She liked it.). Gloria Swanson brings sunshine into every room as silent screen idol Norma Desmond. "Lonely, alone, without dignity.". Hola Elige tu direccin Pelculas y Series de TV. Norma Desmond returns to the Paramount lot and is overcome with nostalgia. Sometimes its interesting to see just how bad, bad writing can be. The look of pain sustained two fine films 'The Wild Bunch' and 'Network' so that we rubbed our eyes to recall the fresh-faced enthusiast from Golden Boy. You see, this is my life, she promised. Sunset Boulevard: The Original Hollywood Expose | Den of Geek The film and actors was excellent and lived up to our expectations. The character of Joe Gillis was very much in tune with William Holden's standing at the time. Holden turned the tables on Lucille Ball when he appeared as a guest star on I Love Lucy at The Brown Derby. In the movie, an aide tells Cecil B. DeMille "Gordon Cole has been trying to reach you". Marlon Brando was considered, but the producers thought he was too much of an unknown as a film actor. In fact,Bob Thomas, Holden's biographer, said that the actor's addiction counselor predicted his demise. He became bitter about the throwaway roles Hollywood kept giving him. At Paramount, he was in a comedy with Ginger Rogers that was not particularly popular, Forever Female (1953). They reportedly began a two-year affair, which is alleged to have ended due to Holden's alcoholism.