In July 1941, he married 25-year old actress Brenda Marshall, who commanded five times his income. 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. [12] Swanson later said, "Bill Holden was a man I could have fallen in love with. She can sense the hot spot of every light and has never lost the wonderment of movies. For television roles in 1974, Holden won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of a cynical, tough veteran LAPD street cop in the television film The Blue Knight, based upon the best-selling Joseph Wambaugh novel of the same name.[31][4]. But it originally began in the L.A. county morgue, with toe-tagged corpsesincluding Joe'sspeaking to each other (in voiceover) about how they died. They had faces. The "Desmond mansion" was located not on Sunset Blvd. Talk! Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," edited by Steven Schneider. The antique car used as Norma Desmond's limousine is an 1929 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo 8A, a luxury car made in Italy, and once belonged to 1920s socialite Peggy Hopkins Joyce. Eugene Walter was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter of the 1920s and 1930s. "[13] Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950). 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.". It was the same technique he had used to shoot Rudolph Valentino's tango in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921). In accordance with his wishes, no funeral or memorial services were conducted. Swanson herself reportedly asked him to do it. It said so on the chart from her astrologer, who read DeMilles horoscope. Wilder and Brackett told everyone at Paramount and the Production code that the screenplay was based on the story A Can of Beans by Wilder, Brackett, and D.M. Throughout Hollywood history many film stars, and/or single films, were responsible for saving ailing studios. A new 4K high-definition scan was done in 2008 for the film's release on Blu-ray disc. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol. This parallel narrative--two perspectives from the same character, one omniscient, the other blissfully ignorant--that converge at the moment of Joe's death, are a major reason the film retains such dramatic and emotional power. In fact, a pivotal plot point in the Showtime limited series of Twin Peaks (2017) includes a scene from "Sunset Boulevard" in which the character's name is mentioned. This is a reference to the now-mad Norma's final possession by the character of Salome, with whom she'd been so obsessed. When Joe and Betty stroll around the studio back lot they pass through the Washington Square set that was used in The Heiress (1949). 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." 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!) 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. Wilder told the actors to kibbutz and let him shuffle. Around this time he also appeared in 21 Hours at Munich (1976). See, Bettys a message gal, not a virgin, and there are no whores in Hollywood. Forensic evidence recovered at the scene suggested that he was conscious for at least half an hour after the fall. Sure she was a forgotten silent star, living in exile, screening her old movies and dreaming of a comeback. 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. 10060 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA. Here's some backstage information to enhance your experience the next time you visit the Paramount lot.. Norma, the aging silent-movie star who ensnares down-at-the-heels screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden), is the vamp become vampire (look at those clawlike hands! The home was built in 1923 for businessman William O. Jenkins. In the movie when a cop tries to call in to the coroners office, he cant get an open line because Hedda Hopper is on the phone in Normas room, talking to the Times City Desk and that is more important. was better known as the seat of the film industry in 1950, the Los Angeles film industry actually began on Sunset Blvd. Hola, identifcate . At one point Norma mistakes Joe for a funeral director and asks for her coffin to be white, as well as specially lined with satin. In subsequent years, two lawsuits have been filed against Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, claiming that Sunset Blvd. The black studs on Joe's shirt front were probably onyx, black opals, or even black pearls. The California license plate on Gillis' Plymouth, 4D R 116, appears to be a legal and current registration for 1949. "[13] And Wilder commented "Bill was a complex guy, a totally honorable friend. Billy Wilder went into production with only 61 pages of script finished, so he had to shoot more or less in chronological order. Those offices later became the home of the "Star Trek" art department. The four films were released between August 1950 and November 1951. De Mille, and Max von Mayerling. 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. Location scenes at Norma Desmond's mansion were shot not on Sunset Boulevard but on Wilshire Boulevard. Gloria Swanson, meanwhile, was born on March 27, 1899. Highly unusual at the time, Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder had Joe Gillis narrate, from beyond the grave, the sad tale of the final months of his life, while the film simultaneously depicts the still living Gillis experiencing those events unaware of the fate his dead self already knows. Kodak would discontinue to manufacture it altogether in 1953. The next decade saw Holden's career flourish. Oh, wake up, Norma. on the corner of Crenshaw and Irving. 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. According to reports, Taylor went to the feds for help filing charges against Normands cocaine suppliers. This can be deduced from the fact that when he pulls one out of the pack he turns the bottom end up to his mouth. 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.. Universal bought it on her death in 1920 and it was used in several movies, most notably in The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Director Cecil B. DeMille, silent film actors Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson played waxy versions of themselves. preppy-3 15 March 2008. However, he knew that her arch-rival Hedda Hopper had trained as an actress and would therefore be more convincing onscreen. The name Norma Desmond was a combination of early Hollywoods comedy star Mabel Normand and her lover, silent film director William Desmond Taylor. Billy Wilder's sixth film in a row for Paramount Pictures. Fat Man: "A husky fellow like you?" American actress Gloria Swanson in a promotional portrait for 'Sunset Boulevard', directed by Billy Wilder, 1950. The two actors never worked together in another film. are shown stenciled on the curb of that street. When two more test audiences reacted the same way, Wilder cut the scene and the movie was saved. Since 2006, he has overseen the Bayou City History blog, which covers various aspects of Houston's history. Columbia put Holden in a Western with Jean Arthur, Arizona (1940), then at Paramount he was in a hugely popular war film, I Wanted Wings (1941) with Ray Milland and Veronica Lake. "Waxwork" Buster Keaton was in reality an excellent bridge player, always in demand at Hollywood bridge parties. 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." In later interviews, Davis admitted that she thought Swanson's work in the film was absolutely outstanding. Before he became a kept man for Norma Desmond, he was thinking of wrapping up the whole Hollywood deal and trying to get his old job back as a newspaperman in Dayton, Ohio. The character of Joe Gillis was very much in tune with William Holden's standing at the time. Joes voice even starts to take on more and more of her theatrical flourish after too much exposure. ", 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. Joe insists hes not a Hollywood whore, but he accepts Normas gifts, gold cigarette cases, a platinum watch, suits, shirts, and shoes that would impress Rudy. Gloria Swanson almost considered rejecting the role of Norma Desmond after Billy Wilder requested she do a screen test for the role. The finest things in the world have been written on an empty stomach, and Wilder and Brackett rewrote the story as adrama. Warner, who appears as one of "The Waxworks", had been Gloria Swanson's leading man in Zaza (1923). Sometimes hetinkles the wheezing gothic ivories like Lurch in the original TV series The Addams Family, playing the recognizable strains of The Phantom of the Opera. He was just a movie writer with a couple of B-pictures to his credit. Please, don't let it be true, it must be some mistake," per her memoir. Neither did Toward the Unknown (1957), the one film Holden produced himself. . 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. The death was just one of many infamous Hollywood scandals of the 1920s, which included the Roscoe Arbuckle bottle rape trial, the death of Olive Thomas, the mysterious death of Thomas H. Ince, and the drug-related deaths of Wallace Reid, Barbara La Marr, and Jeanne Eagels. 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 working on Sunset Boulevard, Swanson remarked, Bill Holden was a man I could have fallen in love with. Swanson supplemented many of the costumes with her own accessories and jewelry. 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. [39][46] He dictated in his will that the Neptune Society cremate him and scatter his ashes in the Pacific Ocean. Fat Man: "You were murdered?" but Holden's wife, Ardis (Brenda Marshall), who happened to be on set that day. Every woman was in love with him. While talking with Betty and Artie in Schwab's, Artie points out the studs in Joe's tuxedo. 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). For Swanson, whose career was already being threatened by the advent of talkies, Queen Kelly was another blow. As DeMille was directing Lamarr at the time in Samson and Delilah (1949), this would have been no problem. His death certificate makes no mention of cancer. Billy Wilder's terrifying valentine to Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard (1950), features one of the most indelible of all screen performances: Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond. She refuses to believe that she's no longer remembered and will never make another movie. Wilder used real names like Darryl Zanuck, Tyrone Power, and Alan Ladd. 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. On the Columbia lot is an assistant director and scout named Harold Winston. The drugstore where Joe Gillis meets up with his old movie industry friends is Schwab's Pharmacy, then a real pharmacy/soda fountain at the intersection of Sunset Blvd. Hedda Hopper: at the top of the stairwell as Norma descends toward the cameras. Erich von Stroheim could not drive in real life. Sunset Boulevard DVD (2007) William Holden, Wilder (DIR) cert PG Amazing Value. For purposes of authenticity Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson wore their own clothes in the film. According to the DVD commentary by Wilder biographer Ed Sikov, this story was most likely invented/exaggerated by Billy Wilder. In 1998 the American Film Institute selected this as the 12th greatest film of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time. Getting the role was a lucky break for Holden, as Montgomery Clift was initially cast but backed out of his contract. Holden paid it forward, becoming Hepburns guardian angel.. His co-star Barbara Stanwyck, a screen. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson. But even to show a chair with her name on it, Lamarr wanted $10,000. As the band plays 'Diane', we also see Desmond ascending her staircase. Other actresses considered for Norma Desmond were Mae West (who wanted to rewrite the dialogue), Mae Murray, and Mary Pickford. Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950). It would go on to be one of his most successful movies. 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. The same musical quote from "Salome" is used again as she descends the stairs, where Waxman segues into his own original musical statement of "The Dance of the Seven Veils". 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. The actor got up and tried to staunch the blood pouring from his forehead but never called 911, which might have saved his life, per the biography. 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. (Norma Desmond would be quick to point out that, thanks to computers and iPads, the pictures have gotten even smaller. He worked on dramas like The Key (1958), Westerns like John Fords The Horse Soldiers (1959) opposite John Wayne, and comedies like The Moon is Blue which so famously challenged the Production Code in 1953 that Hawkeye and BJ insisted it get shown at M*A*S*H 4077 to break the monotony of the Korean War. Costume designer Edith Head found working on the film to be one of her greatest challenges. Holden's first starring role was in Golden Boy (1939), costarring Barbara Stanwyck, in which he played a violinist-turned-boxer. In fact,Bob Thomas, Holden's biographer, said that the actor's addiction counselor predicted his demise.