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(The book is about a failed screenwriter who works for a cemetery and lives with a forgotten silent-film star.) Billy Wilder quickly offered the role to Fred MacMurray, who turned it down because he didn't want to play a gigolo. The name Norma Desmond was a combination of early Hollywoods comedy star Mabel Normand and her lover, silent film director William Desmond Taylor. This car has been on display at the National Automobile Museum in Turin, Italy since 1972. Warner, who appears as one of "The Waxworks", had been Gloria Swanson's leading man in Zaza (1923). Cecil B. DeMille: at the studio during Norma's visit. Normand made movies with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle, and lived like life was one Wild Party. The 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). Buscar Amazon.com.mx. But before that happened, it appeared in Rebel Without a Cause as the abandoned mansion in which the kids hang out. Brackett thought it was too mean while Wilder felt it was necessary. 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. 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. Other actresses considered for Norma Desmond were Mae West (who wanted to rewrite the dialogue), Mae Murray, and Mary Pickford. 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. From the right angle, the camera could shoot the reflected image in the mirror without ever going underwater itself. There are several references to Gloria Swanson's actual career in the film. All I know is that she's meshuggah, that's all. 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. Jay Livingston, Ray Evans: The Paramount songwriting duo is seen at the piano at Artie Green's New Year's Eve party. Holden had a supporting role in Ashanti (1979) and was third-billed in another disaster film, When Time Ran Out (1980), which was a flop. Von Stroheim didnt know how to drive, and the scene where hes driving the exotic leopard-upholstered Isotta-Fraschini was shot as the car was being towed. The Tragic 1981 Death Of Sunset Boulevard Star William Holden. But she fits it like a round peg in a square hole. [17], Their relationship did not last much beyond the completion of the film. 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. For this Lamarr wanted $25,000 (which would be about $250,000 in 2015 dollars). Erich von Stroheim, who directed Swanson in Queen Kelly (1932), plays Max the butler, who serves as the projectionist in the scene. 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. When Norma Desmond says to the guard at the "Paramount Studio" gates, "Without me there wouldn't be any 'Paramount Studio'" the words could apply to Gloria Swanson herself, as she was the studio's top star for six years running. cynical Hollywood survivor played by William Holden. The film was the favorite of Sci-Fi author J.G. ), It came out the same year as another behind-the-scenes showbiz classic, All About Eve, which took most of the Oscars. She declined the offer. 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. and Crescent Heights Blvd. His family moved to South Pasadena when he was three. Sunset Boulevard DVD (2007) William Holden, Wilder (DIR) cert PG Amazing Value. are shown stenciled on the curb of that street. But it's also a love story, and the love keeps it from becoming simply a waxworks or a freak show. You used to be big. About 10 minutes later, Holden passed out and died from blood loss. American Beauty screenwriter Alan Ball has acknowledged that another Billy Wilder film, The Apartment (1960), influenced that screenplay. As DeMille was directing Lamarr at the time in Samson and Delilah (1949), this would have been no problem. He was a genuine star. His deal was considered one of the best ever for an actor at the time, with him receiving 10% of the gross, which earned him over $2.5 million, however, Holden stipulated that he should only receive a maximum of $50,000 per year from the film. The first of four films in which William Holden and Nancy Olson appeared. Holden was born William Franklin Beedle, Jr., on April 17, 1918, in O'Fallon, Illinois, son of Mary Blanche Beedle (ne Ball), a schoolteacher, and her husband William Franklin Beedle, an industrial chemist. Betty is an idealist, more closely resembling Normas rose-colored outlook, but with darker shades she wants to bring to light. The part was only Nancy Olson's third film appearance. The car William Holden drives is a P15 Plymouth Special DeLuxe convertible, a model that was produced from 1945-49. 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. 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. Wilder asked how much shed charge just to shoot the chair and Lamarr said $10,000. Sunset Boulevard's cinematographer, John Seitz, said Wilder "had wanted to do The Loved One, but couldn't obtain the rights." 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 appeared uncredited in Prison Farm (1939) and Million Dollar Legs (1939) at Paramount. 1851 Ivar Street was the address of the Alto Nido Apartments, where he lived, sometimes worked and, ultimately died in 1941. Rudy's shoeshine stand at the parking lot where Gillis hides his car from the creditors was inspired by Oscar Smith's shoeshine stand located just inside the Bronson Gate at the old Paramount Studios, which was a popular hangout for gossip and socializing while Billy Wilder was building his career there. [35] Holden starred in The Earthling,[36] as a loner dying of cancer at the Australian outback and accompanying an orphan boy (Ricky Schroder). (1950) in my head, and I'd always sort of related to that character floating in . His killer was never identified. The much sought after but highly finicky leading man accepted the role, then backed out. It was this astonishing footage that rekindled interest in the film. After his final film S.O.B., Holden declined to star in Jason Miller's film That Championship Season.[37]. 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. (1950) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Billy Wilder Writing Credits Cast (in credits order) verified as complete Produced by Charles Brackett . [4] He made a sex comedy with David Niven for Otto Preminger, The Moon Is Blue (1953), which was a huge hit, in part due to controversy over its content. 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. In later interviews, Davis admitted that she thought Swanson's work in the film was absolutely outstanding. Erich von Stroheims Max von Mayerling is equally awestruck, still caught in the wake of Normas star dust. 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!) It's the *pictures* that got small. In the film Gloria is seen playing cards with three silent film stars: Buster Keaton, H.B. [7], Back at Paramount, he starred with Bonita Granville in Those Were the Days! The character of Joe Gillis was very much in tune with William Holden's standing at the time. This film is in the Official Top 250 Narrative Feature Films on Letterboxd. 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. Holdens last movie, Blake Edwardss S.O.B., was another masterpiece of Hollywood cynicism. The 2014 book by William J. Mann, Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood, names Ross Blackie Madsen Sheridan as the killer, based on a death bed confession from actress Margaret Gibson, who beat a 1917 rap on prostitution and opium dealing. De Mille at Paramount, the director is shooting the film Samson and Delilah, which he was actually shooting at the time. Holden had another hit with The World of Suzie Wong (1960) with Nancy Kwan, which was shot in Hong Kong. Although she had long before ruled out the possibility of a movie comeback, she was nevertheless highly intrigued when she got the offer to play the lead. Dont bother with a rewrite, man, take it direct! It was meant to be slightly humorous in a morbid way, but the audience at the first test screening found it flat-out hysterical, setting the wrong mood for the rest of the picture. Charles Brackett and Wilder were just as adamant that nothing in their scripts should be changed, and nothing new added. Gillis smokes unfiltered cigarettes in the film. 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. But Joe wouldnt have fallen so hard if he werent so shackled. New York-born novelist and screenwriter Brackett was 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. 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. 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.