The 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. 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). 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. . 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. To everyone's surprise, Judy Holliday won the Best Actress Oscar in 1951 for Born Yesterday (1950), beating Gloria Swanson in this film, and Bette Davis in All About Eve (1950). Seitz had used a similar technique on Double Indemnity (1944). In 2007 the American Film Institute ranked this as the #16 Greatest Movie of All Time. Wilder won the argument and privately told friends that he would not be making any more films with Brackett. was better known as the seat of the film industry in 1950, the Los Angeles film industry actually began on Sunset Blvd. She said it was a blackmail scheme gone wrong. 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. Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder retained the term of endearment for the scene in which DeMille greets Norma Desmond at the door of the sound stage. 3.48. Sunset Boulevard (DVD, 2017) UK Region 2 release with extras. He was just a movie writer with a couple of B-pictures to his credit. is a 1950 American black comedy [1] [2] film noir [3] directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. Part of the dialogue goes: Fat Man: "Where did you drown? Culture Editor Tony Sokol is a writer, playwright and musician. Billy Wilder was frustrated with people assuming that the ending was meant to be ambiguous and asking him what happens to Norma after the final dissolve. They swore each other off over the montage where Norma struggles to lose weight for her comeback. We'll hear two of his visits to Suspense, beginning with the New Orleans jazz . You probably know about the Andrew Lloyd Webber version of Sunset Boulevard that premiered in London in 1993 and headed to Broadway in 1994 with Glenn Close in the lead role. Norma's bed originally belonged to French actress/singer Gaby Deslys. The name "Norma Desmond" was chosen from a combination of silent-film star Norma Talmadge and silent movie director William Desmond Taylor, whose still-unsolved murder is one of the great scandals of Hollywood history. 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. The studio needed an actor who the audience could believe wrote a story about Okies in the Dust Bowl that played on a torpedo boat by the time it hit the screen. Wilder's version is the one they went with (he was the director, after all), but the argument marked a turning point for him, and he decided never to work with Brackett again. 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. Every character is jaded, except the oldest players. Erich von Stroheim, who made the masterpiece Greed in 1924, directed Swanson in Queen Kelly (1928), the flick Holdens character cuddles up with Norma to watch in the dark screening room of the dark mansion. He stayed true to his word. The next decade saw Holden's career flourish. William Holden: Golden Boy of Hollywood Starred in 'Sunset Boulevard "Sometimes he'd just get in his car and drive," the director told the AP. When Gloria Swanson finished Norma's final scene, the mad staircase descent, she burst into tears and the crew applauded. Eventually it wasn't Wilder who shouted "Cut!" Ultimately she retired completely from films, making only sporadic appearances, notably in Airport 1975 (1974). Born William Beedle Jr. on April 17, 1918, he was 21 when he got his first starring role as the classical fiddle playing boxer in Golden Boy in 1939. Marion Davies owned a famous ocean-front mansion in Santa Monica. 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. About 10 minutes later, Holden passed out and died from blood loss. A modern-girl Jiminy Cricket, Betty asks, Dont you sometimes hate yourself? and Joe corrects her, Constantly.. 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. 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. 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." Holden himself claimed that he, too, could picture his end. Sure she was a forgotten silent star, living in exile, screening her old movies and dreaming of a comeback. Sunset Boulevard, Clip, William Holden, Gloria Swanson, 1950 Gillis smokes unfiltered cigarettes in the film. William Holden movies: 15 greatest films, ranked worst to best, include 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Network,' 'Stalag 17'. Billy Wilder wanted Hedy Lamarr to appear in a cameo in the scene where Norma and Joe visit Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. It was a the kind of a place crazy movie people built in the crazy 20s. Joe Gillis' typewriter is a portable manual Remington Rand Noiseless Model 7. 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). This film was originally released in the United States as The Christmas Tree and on home video as When Wolves Cry. When he drives Norma to Paramount Pictures at the studio gates, the car was pulled with a rope by off-camera grips. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! His death certificate makes no mention of cancer. 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). read more: Can The Biblical Epic be Resurrected? words "Sunset Blvd." The character of Norma Desmond is modeled on the fate of several leading actresses of the silent era. DeMille." Some speculated it was because he was dating an older woman at the time (actress Libby Holman, 16 years his senior) and didn't want people to think the movie was a parody of that relationship. West wanted to rewrite her dialogue. This dynamic served them well for years, each man's extreme tendencies being balanced by the other's, but during Sunset Boulevard it finally became unworkable. Norma Desmond promised she would never desert her audience again. The others were Union Station (1950), Force of Arms (1951), and Submarine Command (1951). Gloria Swanson does a famous impression of Charles Chaplin as the "Little Tramp," but Chaplin's name is never mentioned. 10060 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA. Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950). Sunset Boulevard DVD (2007) William Holden, Wilder (DIR) cert PG Amazing Value. The character of Joe Gillis was very much in tune with William Holden's standing at the time. The apartments, and the "Alto Nido" sign out front that is glimpsed briefly in the film, are still there. He always wished that I would get an Oscar. When Powers returned to California, she went to his penthouse apartment in Santa Monica but couldn't get in. Their relationship makes the film as much a love story as it is a noir film, because if ever there is a femme fatale, it is Norma Desmond. William Holden: The Golden Boy of Vintage Hollywood - Variety According to Cameron Crowe, who shadowed Billy Wilder in his twilight years, a typical day in his office would consist of him answering numerous phone calls from people requesting to remake this film, and he would inform them that he didn't own the rights and promptly hang up. American Beauty screenwriter Alan Ball has acknowledged that another Billy Wilder film, The Apartment (1960), influenced that screenplay. Norma Shearer turned down the role of Norma Desmond as she didn't want to come out of retirement and also found the part to be highly distasteful. Gloria Swanson's career was not revitalized by this film. Holden never lost his stride as cinema changed. Marshman Jr. Stars William Holden Gloria Swanson Erich von Stroheim See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 701 User reviews 196 Critic reviews Well, in the end, he got himself a poolonly the price turned out to be a little high, so Paramount paid to have one installed on the condition that if Mrs. Getty didnt like it, theyd remove it after filming was over. So she lands his head on a golden tray, kissing his cold, dead lips. Sunset Blvd. (1950) - Sunset Blvd. (1950) - User Reviews - IMDb The finest things in the world have been written on an empty stomach, and Wilder and Brackett rewrote the story as adrama. Director Billy Wilder Writers Charles Brackett Billy Wilder D.M. Forensic evidence recovered at the scene suggested that he was conscious for at least half an hour after the fall. [44] After his death, Powers set up the William Holden Wildlife Foundation at Holden's Mount Kenya Game Ranch. At Columbia, he starred in film noirs, The Dark Past (1948), The Man from Colorado (1949) and Father Is a Bachelor (1950). Normas waxworks card sharps were Swedish-born Anna Q. Nilsson, H. B. Warner and Buster Keaton. Wilder asked how much shed charge just to shoot the chair and Lamarr said $10,000. When Joe and Betty stroll around the studio back lot they pass through the Washington Square set that was used in The Heiress (1949). It was like that old woman in Great Expectations, Miss Havisham in her rotting wedding dress and her torn veil, taking it out on the world because shed been given the go-by. 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. Joe Gillis is seen reading the book "The Young Lions" by Irwin Shaw, a best-selling World War Two novel of the time, Montgomery Clift, who was originally offered the part of Joe Gillis, later played one of the leads in the film adaptation of that book The Young Lions (1958), though it was not directed by Billy Wilder. He directed classic films like Double Indemnity, Ace in the Hole, The Apartment, The Lost Weekend, Stalag 17, Witness for the Prosecution, Sabrina, and Some Like It Hot. But also much funnier. His body was found four days later. The Pharmacy was filmed only 500 feet (150 meters) from a scene in Armed and Dangerous (1986) & Falling Down (1993), The parking lot behind Rudy's Shoeshine where Joe Gillis pulls his car out of is 1751 Vine Street - about a half a block North of Hollywood Blvd (you can tell by the scene's POV of the Taft building that sits on the corner of Hollywood and Vine). In Billy Wilder's film, Erich von Stroheim plays the butler of Gloria Swanson's forgotten silent-film star. 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. Previous image. At the end, they stood and cheered for Gloria Swanson's return. The black studs on Joe's shirt front were probably onyx, black opals, or even black pearls. According to reports, Taylor went to the feds for help filing charges against Normands cocaine suppliers. Paramount reunited Bracken and him in Young and Willing (1943). Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's 17th and final screenplay collaboration. On the morning of February 1, 1922, Taylor--who had been romantically involved with her-- was shot and killed in his Hollywood bungalow. Make-up designer Wally Westmore found that Gloria Swanson's face belied her age and wanted to make her look older. 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. Suratt was reportedly obsessed with the fact that she was the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, and after her career ended commissioned the leader of the U.S. Reform Bah' Movement to co-write a script on the life of Mary Magdalene. 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!" Ballard, who used to impersonate Norma descending the stairs. Norma's buying Joe a fine woolen topcoat would be mostly an affectation in sunny Los Angeles. A Western at MGM, Escape from Fort Bravo (1953) did much better, and the all-star Executive Suite (1954) was a notable success. When Norma is telling Joe about how rich she is, she mentions a beach house and downtown real estate. One of the few showy bits of camerawork in the film is near the beginning, when the corpse floating in Norma Desmond's pool is seen from underneath. 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). "I left countless messages but received no answer." Gloria Swanson was paid $50,000 plus $5,000 per week for any time over schedule. Normands career never recovered after word of her addiction leaked out and she died of tuberculosis on Feb. 23, 1930. On February 7, 1955, Holden appeared as a guest star on I Love Lucy as himself. was voted #6 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by "Premiere" magazine in 2007. When Peavey heard the moans I am the ghost of William Desmond Taylor. In a case of life mirroring art, she outlived him. There were actually three mansions used during filming. A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. Since her part required her to gaze at the newsreel cameramen and "fans" (the waiting police) gathered in the foyer below, she couldn't watch where she placed her feet. "Lonely, alone, without dignity.". Microphones would catch the last gurgles, and Technicolor would photograph the red, swollen tongues. April 17, 2019 6:00AM. - 65th Anniversary (25) Film Noir Through the Years (3) Movies Set in Hollywood (3) Our Favorite Male-Female Duos (1) The History of Golden Globe Winners for Best Actor and Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (1) Our Favorite Stills From "The Movies" (1) Movies About Movies (1) 77 Years of Golden Globes Best Picture Winners (1) GLAMOROUS MEN: WILLIAM HOLDEN: At some point, "Sunset Boulevard" The movie featured the famed director Erich von Stroheim, who made photographs of Gloria Swanson move so beautifully the world was enthralled, as Max Von Mayerling, the director who made, married, and divorced the enthralling Norma Desmondand then gave up his career in film to be her slave in butlers clothing. As the band plays 'Diane', we also see Desmond ascending her staircase. The director turned actor was still able to steer the expensive Italian car into the Paramount gate. Men bribed her hairdresser to get a lock of her hair. The mansion was torn down in 1957, and a large office building for Getty Oil built on the site still stands on the spot. Marshman Jr. was hired to help batten down a script that was giving Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett great difficulty. When filming began, William Holden was 31 and Gloria Swanson was 50, the same stated age as her character. So speaking of funerals, heres the great real life murder mystery we teased in the opening. Sondheim respectfully stopped work on the project and, on the same grounds, later declined an offer to write the score for a proposed movie remake., Additional Sources: 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. When Norma visits Cecil B. Included among the 25 films on the American Film Institute's 2005 list of AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores. No one wants to get caught by surprise anymore. "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. Taylor had $78 in his wallet, a silver cigarette case, a Waltham pocket watch, and a two-carat diamond ring on his finger when his body was found, so cops quickly ruled out robbery as the motive. [15] Holden and Hepburn became romantically involved during the filming, unbeknownst to Wilder: "People on the set told me later that Bill and Audrey were having an affair, and everybody knew. She felt that Wilder used her name in a past-tense context, and she was offended. He starred in Sam Peckinpahs masterwork Western The Wild Bunch. Since he had classic good looks, an expressive voice, and was an excelle [38], Holden maintained a home in Switzerland and also spent much of his time working for wildlife conservation as a managing partner in an animal preserve in Africa. Sunset Boulevard - General Discussions - TCM Message Boards Talk! Well, not a comeback, a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven her for deserting the screen. They eventually worked together on several films and became close friends. Gloria Swanson and Nancy Olson also co-starred in Airport 1975 together. She was nominated for the first Academy Award in the Best Actress category. Sunset Boulevards cinematographer John Seitz said Wilder had wanted to do The Loved One, but couldnt obtain the rights. British author Evelyn Waughs satirical 1948 novel was about a failed screenwriter who lives with a silent film star and works in a cemetery. H.B. Wilder was, well, the wilder of the two, often bawdy and crass, while Brackett was genteel. For purposes of authenticity Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson wore their own clothes in the film. The statuette on the telephone table at Artie Green's new years party is a model of the Philistine god, Dagon. 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. It was the same technique he had used to shoot Rudolph Valentino's tango in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921). Who didnt then? While Hollywood Blvd. American actress Gloria Swanson in a promotional portrait for 'Sunset Boulevard', directed by Billy Wilder, 1950. [46] Rumors existed that he was suffering from lung cancer, which Holden had denied at a 1980 press conference. The role of Norma Desmond was initially offered to Mae West (who rejected the part), Mary Pickford (Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett realized when talking to her that her image as "America's Sweetheart" made her unsuitable for the part), and Pola Negri (Billy Wilder rejected her as her thick accent would cause too many problems) before being accepted by Gloria Swanson. The first-floor set of Norma Desmond's mansion was also used in the western comedy Fancy Pants (1950) starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, giving fans a chance to see it in full color. Eugene Walter was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter of the 1920s and 1930s. The writers feared that Hollywood would react unfavorably to such a damning portrait of the film industry, so the film was code-named "A Can of Beans" while in production. 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. Erich von Stroheims Max von Mayerling is equally awestruck, still caught in the wake of Normas star dust. And so tonight, my golden boy, you got your wish". Im not giving anything away here. 4.99. Swanson agreed to the audition, and won the role. They had paired up in pictures since 1938. Columbia teamed him with Lucille Ball for Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), and the sequel to Dear Ruth, Dear Wife (1949). Sunset Blvd. (1950) - Photo Gallery - IMDb I instantly fell in love - both with the movie itself and with its handsome 32-year old male lead, William Holden. You used to be big. 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. 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. Still, whatever hard feelings there may have been between Swanson and von Stroheim, they were gone by the time Sunset Boulevard came along. 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. preppy-3 15 March 2008. The film was the favorite of Sci-Fi author J.G. Holden, who was at this point dependent on alcohol, said, "I really was in love with Audrey, but she wouldn't marry me. ), a woman who trades on charms that have . "I am big. Holman was 16 years older than him and was afraid people would think the movie was a parody of their relationship. [39][46] He dictated in his will that the Neptune Society cremate him and scatter his ashes in the Pacific Ocean. It has to be an opera. Billy Wilder quickly offered the role to Fred MacMurray, who turned it down because he didn't want to play a gigolo. Some, including Holden himself and one of his close confidants, could foresee the death (per The Huntsville Item). He was perfection on and off-screen. Holden was a bit of an anti-hero, or at least a very flawed hero. His Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki (founded 1959) was popular with the international jet set. (1950) in my head, and I'd always sort of related to that character floating in . Features the only Oscar-nominated performances of Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson. It is one of the most indelible films you will ever see. This promised to go the limit. 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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