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. Sunset Blvd. 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. But trophies or not, Sunset Boulevard has stayed near the top of the list of great movies about moviemaking. 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. When Joe Gillis says, "They'll love it in Pomona," most people assume (correctly) that Pomona is intended to be representative of just about any average American town. "Twin Peaks" also features characters named Chester Desmond and Norma Jennings, in reference to Norma Desmond. There was a maharajah who came all the way from India to beg one of her silk stockings. . but at 641 S. Irving Blvd. GLAMOROUS MEN: WILLIAM HOLDEN: At some point, "Sunset Boulevard" "[13] And Wilder commented "Bill was a complex guy, a totally honorable friend. It was only natural that he should film several sequences on the studio's backlots. Perhaps one of the reasons Swanson got the job was because director George Cukor mentioned that the actress once lived in a mansion on Sunset Boulevard. Holden starred in the 20th Century Fox film Apartment for Peggy (1948). After graduating from South Pasadena High School, Holden attended Pasadena Junior College, where he became involved in local radio plays. A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. The address of Norma Desmond's house is given as 10086 Sunset Boulevard. 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. She declined the offer. 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). The two stars had never expressed any hostility towards each other over the failure of Cecil B. DeMille and Stroheim made many recommendations to Wilder during the making of the film, including having his character write all of Norma Desmond's fan mail, and, more importantly, to use footage from "Queen Kelly" as an excerpt from one of Desmond's great silent films. [32] Also in 1974, Holden starred with Paul Newman and Steve McQueen in the critically acclaimed disaster film The Towering Inferno,[33] which became a box-office smash and one of the highest-grossing films of Holden's career. Brackett was a New York-born novelist and screenwriter, head of the Screen Actors Guild in the late 1930s, and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1949 to 1955 (during which time he won two screenwriting Oscarsgood news for conspiracy theorists). Glenn Close, who portrayed Norma Desmond on stage, also played a character who dramatically cut her wrists over a man she was in love with in the film "Fatal Attraction. It was George Cukor who suggested Gloria Swanson for the role of Norma Desmond. [48] He also has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. He walked into his bedroom and tripped over a throw rug and slammed his head so hard into the corner of a teak nightstand, the piece of furniture flew into the wall causing an indentation, per "William Holden." Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard" is the portrait of a forgotten silent star, living in exile in her grotesque mansion, screening her old films, dreaming of a comeback. It's probably just as well, since the darker, more nuanced story that eventually emerged was quite different from West's wheelhouse anyway. The restoration was performed at Lowry Digital by Barry Allen and Steve Elkin. Warner (one of the four "Waxworks" at the bridge party) in The King of Kings (1927). Co-writer D.M. [2] He had two younger brothers, Robert Westfield Beedle and Richard Porter Beedle. Bogart took the part hoping it would pair him back up with his wife Lauren Bacall. Holden paid it forward, becoming Hepburns guardian angel.. 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.. on the corner of Crenshaw and Irving. Norma Desmond promised she would never desert her audience again. . Billy Wilder wanted a fresh face for the part of Betty Schaefer. But it's also a love story, and the love keeps it from becoming simply a waxworks or a freak show. So funny that it took away from the rest of the picture. In 1986 Nancy Olson became the last surviving member of the cast. The old movies needed neither color nor dialogue. Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950). Although a registered Republican, he never involved himself in politics. Betty is an idealist, more closely resembling Normas rose-colored outlook, but with darker shades she wants to bring to light. 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. The movie's line "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." An ending for the film was cobbled together, but the movie was never shown in the U.S. Sunset Boulevard is a noir film and like many of the post-World War II dark classics, it is covered with a thick sheen of cynicism. He was a genuine star. 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. Fat Man: "A husky fellow like you?" When crew members asked Billy Wilder how he was going to shoot the burial of Norma's monkey, one of the film's most bizarre scenes, he just said, "You know, the usual monkey-funeral sequence.". And like the title, Holden seemed to have the looks and muscular build Hollywood craved. They eventually worked together on several films and became close friends. The home was built in 1923 for businessman William O. Jenkins. Swanson herself reportedly asked him to do it. Initially, writer-director Wilder envisioned the movie as a straightforward comedy, and the famously saucy West seemed like a perfect fit. This indicates that he is smoking filterless cigarettes, which was the norm for that era until filters became the standard after the mid-'50s. preppy-3 15 March 2008. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. In his place, Wilder hired Buster Keaton. We had faces" was #13. See production, box office & company info. Normas waxworks card sharps were Swedish-born Anna Q. Nilsson, H. B. Warner and Buster Keaton. 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. They had paired up in pictures since 1938. Holden, who was at this point dependent on alcohol, said, "I really was in love with Audrey, but she wouldn't marry me. Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the Top 100 Greatest American Movies. In 1954, Holden was featured on the cover of Life. His body was found four days later. 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. It made him a true front ranked star after years of being an actor slogging through a series of largely forgottable films (and performances). (1950), as a way of "art imitating life." 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. Now I had two favorite movies - aside from "Gone With The Wind" of course - both from 1950, "Sunset Boulevard" and "All . Holden earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for the role.[11]. 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. "I left countless messages but received no answer." Despite the 19 year gap in their ages, Holden and Swanson died just 2 years apart from each other- Holden in 1981 at age 63 and Swanson in 1983 at age 84. ", 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. Marlon Brando was considered, but the producers thought he was too much of an unknown as a film actor. Billy Wilder's 1978 Flop Fedora is less a worthy follow up to Sunset Boulevard than a sorry footnote. Episode 68 - William Holden-Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radi 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. Holden himself claimed that he, too, could picture his end. Norma Desmond returns to the Paramount lot and is overcome with nostalgia. We'll hear two of his visits to Suspense, beginning with the New Orleans jazz . Cecil B. DeMille had a pet name for Gloria Swanson: "Young Fellow". But along with the accolades came a dependence on alcohol that would play a major role in his tragic end. 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. [4] They had two sons, Peter and Scott. That's the end.". 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. He always wished that I would get an Oscar. Montgomery Clift was originally cast as Joe Gillis but quit the production two weeks before filming began because he had already played the kept man of a wealthy older woman in The Heiress (1949). At the time this movie was made, the incident was still quite recent. 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). I know your face. Sunset Blvd. (1950) - IMDb Forensic evidence recovered at the scene suggested that he was conscious for at least half an hour after the fall. Director Billy Wilder Writers Charles Brackett Billy Wilder D.M. If it were to come to auction in 2021, it would be valued at well over $1M. This wasn't the original opening and was filmed long after completion of filming. Holden was still an unknown actor when he made Golden Boy, while Stanwyck was already a film star. When Norma Desmond visits her old friend at Paramount, she affectionately calls him "Mr. DeMille" (not Cecil or C.B. The Den of Geek quarterly magazine is packed with exclusive features, interviews, previews and deep dives into geek culture. "[13] Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950). and was "a loner," according to Edwards, who wasn't surprised that Holden's body went so long without being discovered. But also much funnier. [47], President Ronald Reagan released a statement: "I have a great feeling of grief. He said it was because she was braver than any man. Her Stockholm Syndrome is positively infectious. His co-star Barbara Stanwyck, a screen. 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. [4] The film was made for Columbia, which negotiated a sharing agreement with Paramount for Holden's services. A week later she heard the news of Holden's death on her car radio. The Tragic 1981 Death Of Sunset Boulevard Star William Holden Grunge 2.14M subscribers Subscribe 486 18K views 3 weeks ago #Actor #Hollywood #SunsetBoulevard While Actor William Holden. Buster Keaton appears only in the bridge party scene and utters the word "Pass" twice. There were three young directors who showed promise in those early days of silent film, D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. Features the only Oscar-nominated performances of Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson. Im not giving anything away here. About 10 minutes later, Holden passed out and died from blood loss. But even to show a chair with her name on it, Lamarr wanted $10,000. And if you find it a little odd to hear dead men telling their own tales via narration, it is less strange than hearing it from a bunch of corpses with toe-tags talking it over in the LA county morgue, which was the way the movie was originally shot. Wilder asked how much shed charge just to shoot the chair and Lamarr said $10,000. They are singing a parody of their song "Buttons and Bows," from The Paleface (1948), for which they won an Oscar in 1949, the year this film was made. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's 17th and final screenplay collaboration. The Tragic 1981 Death Of Sunset Boulevard Star William Holden 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."