He followed it with Damien: Omen II (1978) and had a cameo in Escape to Athena (1978), which co-starred his real-life love interest Stefanie Powers. The director turned actor was still able to steer the expensive Italian car into the Paramount gate. "[13] Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950). The movie's line "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up" was voted the #7 movie quote by the American Film Institute. Gloria Swanson brings sunshine into every room as silent screen idol Norma Desmond. Culture Editor Tony Sokol cut his teeth on the wire services and also wrote and produced New York CitysVampyr Theatreand the rock operaAssassiNation: We Killed JFK. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It would go on to be one of his most successful movies. All of the silent film stars mentioned by Norma, Joe, Betty and Max were either dead or no longer active in films by 1950. She was disappointed to see that all the parts she was offered subsequently were watered-down versions of Norma Desmond. Peavey died in a San Francisco asylum, where he was being treated for syphilis-related dementia, in 1931. Haines declined and fellow screen veteran H.B. Sunset Boulevard, one of Hollywood's most cruelly accurate depictions of itself, is now 65 years oldolder, even, than its main character, who's washed up at 50. but Holden's wife, Ardis (Brenda Marshall), who happened to be on set that day. 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. At one point, Norma decides the time is right to send Gillis script to DeMille because is a Leo. He was Judy Hollidays tutor in Born Yesterday (1950) and played a war correspondent in Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955). Holden turned the tables on Lucille Ball when he appeared as a guest star on I Love Lucy at The Brown Derby. The part was only Nancy Olson's third film appearance. The house was owned by the J. Paul Getty family. The musical version of the movie opened in London on July 12, 1993, and ran 1529 performances. Warner, who appears as one of "The Waxworks", had been Gloria Swanson's leading man in Zaza (1923). In fact,Bob Thomas, Holden's biographer, said that the actor's addiction counselor predicted his demise. Swanson agreed to the audition, and won the role. Gillis: "No, swimming pool." 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). When Peavey heard the moans I am the ghost of William Desmond Taylor. 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. At Paramount, he was in a comedy with Ginger Rogers that was not particularly popular, Forever Female (1953). Fat Man: "A husky fellow like you?" Wilder almost hired Broadway star Marlon Brando, who would make his screen debut in The Men in 1950. [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. Joes voice even starts to take on more and more of her theatrical flourish after too much exposure. The Tragic 1981 Death Of Sunset Boulevard Star William Holden. In a scene described by director Billy Wilder as one of the best he'd ever shot, the body of Joe Gillis is rolled into the morgue to join three dozen other corpses, some of whom--in voice-over--tell Gillis how they died. The actor-turned-director-turned-actor-again, who had indeed been one of the great silent-filmmakers, winced at playing a character so self-referential and demeaning, but he needed the money. No one wants to get caught by surprise anymore. 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. Part of the dialogue goes: Fat Man: "Where did you drown? There were three young directors who showed promise in those early days of silent film, D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. Initially, writer-director Wilder envisioned the movie as a straightforward comedy, and the famously saucy West seemed like a perfect fit. But before you hear it all distorted and blown out of proportion, before those Hollywood columnists get their hands on it, maybe youd like to hear the facts, the whole truth. This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 22:44. The body was found by Henry Peavey, who took over for convicted embezzler Edward F. Sands as Taylors valet. The undertaker, who appears for a few seconds early on with the white casket for Norma's deceased pet chimp, was veteran actor Franklyn Farnum, who played extras in over 1,000 films during his lengthy but unsung career. A classic film review of Sunset Boulevard (1950) starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson and Eric Von StroheimDirected by acclaimed film maker Billy Wilder (. This is a nod to retired silent-movie star Clara Bow, whose husband Rex Bell, a former star of "B" westerns, was the president of the Nevada Chamber of Commerce, and later Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. The car William Holden drives is a P15 Plymouth Special DeLuxe convertible, a model that was produced from 1945-49. Forensic evidence recovered at the scene suggested that he was conscious for at least half an hour after the fall. William Haines, along with fellow silent screen veterans Buster Keaton and Anna Q. Nilsson, was approached to play one of Gloria Swanson's bridge partners. She is still waving proudly to a parade which had long since passed her by. (The book is about a failed screenwriter who works for a cemetery and lives with a forgotten silent-film star.) Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard is one of his three or four masterpieces, a seminal Hollywood black comedy-satire, which unlike most films keeps improving with the passage of time.. Benfiting from a glorious and iconic cast, the film concerns a faded silent film star, played by Gloria Swanson (in a variation of her own onscreen persona), who lives in the past with her butler (and former . Read and download theDen of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazineright here! It also alludes to the fact that Pomona was one of three towns in California's Inland Empire region (Riverside and San Bernardino were the others) that were frequently used during Hollywood's Golden Age for testing preview audiences' reactions to unreleased films. Previous image. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. [26], He made another war film for a British director, The Key (1958) with Trevor Howard and Sophia Loren for director Carol Reed. 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. This still goes on today. 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). Montgomery Clift was originally cast as the writer but dropped out two weeks before the shoot. [41], Holden was married to actress Brenda Marshall from 1941 until their divorce in 1971. The movie opens with a shot of a dead guy floating face down in a pool, and the dead man himself tells us that its Joe Gillis getting bloated in the chlorine. Winston was one of those who discovered the Golden Boy newcomer and who renamed himin honor of his former spouse!"[3]. 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. Billy Wilder was a friend of the danish silent movie star Asta Nielsen, and based the Norma Desmond caracter on her. Oscar and Emmy winner William Holden was one of Hollywood's biggest stars for decades, with his performances as cynical, conflicted men winning acclaim and awards. The photos of the young Norma Desmond that decorate the house are all genuine publicity photos from Gloria Swanson's heyday. Holden, just 63 when he died, had most recently appeared in the Blake Edwards' film "S.O.B." Sunset Boulevard is no. To get around the restrictions of the Breen Code, the script was submitted piecemeal, several pages at a time. The general consensus was that the two titans had canceled each other out, leaving the field clear for Holliday. H.B. The film and actors was excellent and lived up to our expectations. The two men never worked together again. He was perfection on and off-screen. Holden was a bit of an anti-hero, or at least a very flawed hero. Newspapers printed love letters between 19-year-old former child star and screen idol Mary Miles Minter and Taylor. [4] They had two sons, Peter and Scott. When he drives Norma to Paramount Pictures at the studio gates, the car was pulled with a rope by off-camera grips. And, of course, a pool. [45], According to the Los Angeles County Coroner's autopsy report, Holden bled to death in his apartment in Santa Monica, California, on November 12, 1981, after lacerating his forehead from slipping on a rug while intoxicated and hitting a bedside table. But Joe wouldnt have fallen so hard if he werent so shackled. 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. 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. According to the DVD commentary by Wilder biographer Ed Sikov, this story was most likely invented/exaggerated by Billy Wilder. And so tonight, my golden boy, you got your wish". 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. Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the Top 100 Greatest American Movies. For added meta-truthfulness, Wilder wanted to have that film's lead actress, Hedy Lamarr, be there too, so that DeMille could ask her to let Norma sit in her chair (you know, those behind-the-scenes chairs that have the star's name on them). 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. When Norma is telling Joe about how rich she is, she mentions a beach house and downtown real estate. But attempts to turn the movie into a stage musical began almost immediately, spearheaded by none other than Gloria Swanson. Next image (0) (0) Principal photography took place from 11 April to 18 June 1949. On the Columbia lot is an assistant director and scout named Harold Winston. A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. 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. Now that we are getting closer to Awards Season in here in Hollywood, Im getting more and more interest from nominees and prospective nominees who want to know in advance if they are going home with the gold, Marie Bargas, known for years as the Hollywood Witch, told Den of Geek. His family moved to South Pasadena when he was three. Since 2006, he has overseen the Bayou City History blog, which covers various aspects of Houston's history. Normand was the last person known to have seen Taylor alive and she was grilled by the Los Angeles Police Department as a result. Buscar Amazon.com.mx. 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. They had to have the ears of the old place, too. Swanson made the transition to talkies with The Trespasser in 1929. "[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. Billy Wilder's 1978 Flop Fedora is less a worthy follow up to Sunset Boulevard than a sorry footnote. I instantly fell in love - both with the movie itself and with its handsome 32-year old male lead, William Holden. producer Music by Franz Waxman Cinematography by John F. Seitz . While in Italy in 1966, Holden was responsible for the death of another driver in a drunk-driving incident near Pisa. But like so many of the female actors of the era, Holden soon realized it was his physical attributes and not his acting ability that the studio cared about. Sunset Boulevard (styled in the main title on-screen as SUNSET BLVD.) Fury of the Gods Brings Back the "Shazamily": Inside DC's New Superhero Adventure, Scream 6's Brutal NYC Trip: "You Can't Trust Anyone" This Time, Cocaine Bear Is Not Just About a Killer "Coked-Up" Bear, It's Also an "Underdog Story", How Marvel's Wastelanders Podcast Created an Exciting Story with No Visual Safety Net, Sunset Boulevard: The Original Hollywood Expose. Hack screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) accidentally falls in with faded screen legend Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Was Oscar-nominated in all the major categories--Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Screenplay--but only won in the last category. Norma's bed originally belonged to French actress/singer Gaby Deslys. ", 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. De Mille, and Max von Mayerling. The actor-turned-director bitched about that goddamned butler role for the rest his life. Marshman Jr. was hired to help batten down a script that was giving Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett great difficulty. Its second owner was Jean Paul Getty, who purchased it for his second wife. Sunset Boulevard turns the tables on film noir by casting Joe in the oldest role on the books. He played an older version of Joe in Sidney Lumets classic Network (1976), written by the cynical Paddy Chayefsky. Billy Wilder wanted Hedy Lamarr to appear in a cameo in the scene where Norma and Joe visit Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. Norma goes to visit Cecil B. DeMille, several of whose films Swanson had starred in. She burst into tears upon completion of the scene. 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. But along with the accolades came a dependence on alcohol that would play a major role in his tragic end. 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. 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!" Bogart took the part hoping it would pair him back up with his wife Lauren Bacall. About 10 minutes later, Holden passed out and died from blood loss. Perry, George & Andrew Lloyd Webber (1993). [35] Holden starred in The Earthling,[36] as a loner dying of cancer at the Australian outback and accompanying an orphan boy (Ricky Schroder). There were actually three mansions used during filming. read more: Key Largo, Lauren Bacall, and the Definitive Post-War Film. 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). She lives in a crumbling old mansion with her butler Max (Erich von Stroheim). But as commentator Steve Sailer points out, more than one contemporary source mentions it as an inspiration. Marshman was a journalist but both Wilder and Brackett had been impressed by the critique he had given of their earlier film, The Emperor Waltz (1948). The older actor prided himself on needling people and he needled the shit out of Holden on the first movie, and the second movie was worse because Holden started dating Audrey Hepburn during filming. over the spiraling budget. 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. He received an eight-month suspended sentence for vehicular manslaughter. In real life, when Swanson and DeMille had worked together, that was what they always called each other. It was George Cukor who suggested Gloria Swanson for the role of Norma Desmond. Since he had classic good looks, an expressive voice, and was an excelle 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 The name was then changed to Millman and finally to Sheldrake and was played by Fred Clark. For the clip of the vintage film that Norma was watching Paramount couldn't find anything suitable so Gloria provided it from her own collection. 4.99. In one week, she received 17,000 fan letters. Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, and Greta Garbo turned down the role. It was a the kind of a place crazy movie people built in the crazy 20s. When filming began, William Holden was 31 and Gloria Swanson was 50, the same stated age as her character. The car with the massive chrome grill that the repo men drive is a 1948 DeSoto Custom Club Coupe. It was Erich von Stroheim who suggested the revelation that Max was writing all of Norma's fan mail. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol. 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. The character of Joe Gillis was very much in tune with William Holden's standing at the time. Clift's biographers say it was because he had a strong following among older women, who wrote him letters describing how they'd like to mother him, and he didn't want to encourage such behavior. Talk! Now I had two favorite movies - aside from "Gone With The Wind" of course - both from 1950, "Sunset Boulevard" and "All . William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 November 12, 1981) was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden had his most widely recognized role as "Commander" Shears in David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) with Alec Guinness,[25] a huge commercial success. But also much funnier. Director Billy Wilder Writers Charles Brackett Billy Wilder D.M. (1940) followed by the role of George Gibbs in the film adaptation of Our Town (1940), done for Sol Lesser at United Artists.[8]. Billy Wilder had worked on a script for a Swanson picture years earlier called "Music in the Air (1934)" and had forgotten about it. While talking with Betty and Artie in Schwab's, Artie points out the studs in Joe's tuxedo. It opened on Broadway at the Minskoff Theater on November 17, 1994, ran for 977 performances and won the 1995 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Book and Score. But it was too difficult to put a camera underwater to get the shot, so Wilder and cinematographer John Seitz came up with an ingenious solution: they put a mirror on the bottom of the pool and filmed the reflection from above. Brackett thought it was too mean while Wilder felt it was necessary. The young actor also got to work with George Raft and Humphrey Bogart in the gangsters on parole movie,Invisible Stripes. 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. 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.