Wilder asked how much shed charge just to shoot the chair and Lamarr said $10,000. After Salome, she planned to make another picture and another picture. )[19], He took third billing for The Country Girl (1954) with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly, directed by George Seaton from a play by Clifford Odets. Erich von Stroheim could not drive in real life. 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. 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. Wilder was no fan of improvisation and was very protective of his words. Oh, wake up, Norma. 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. Art director John Meehan experimented until he came up with the idea to shoot the scene through a mirror at the bottom of the studio water tank. 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. Gillis: "No, swimming pool." "[4], For his contribution to the film industry, Holden has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 1651 Vine Street. At the end of her acceptance speech, she paid him a personal tribute: "I loved him very much, and I miss him. 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). Youre killing yourself for an empty house. The interiors of Norma's decaying mansion were actually a set at Paramount Studios. The black studs on Joe's shirt front were probably onyx, black opals, or even black pearls. "I'm not surprised that this could have happened.". Norma's buying Joe a fine woolen topcoat would be mostly an affectation in sunny Los Angeles. Other actresses considered for Norma Desmond were Mae West (who wanted to rewrite the dialogue), Mae Murray, and Mary Pickford. Norma is at the edge of insanity through the whole movie, but that doesnt mean shes not fun. She is ever the star. Sunset Blvd. This film is in the Official Top 250 Narrative Feature Films on Letterboxd. Normands career never recovered after word of her addiction leaked out and she died of tuberculosis on Feb. 23, 1930. Joes voice even starts to take on more and more of her theatrical flourish after too much exposure. They swore each other off over the montage where Norma struggles to lose weight for her comeback. A true Hollywood horror story. American Film Institute On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder, by Ed Sikov, 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Although Sheldrake's musings on a film about the story of a female baseball player was seen as humorous, the movie "A League of Their Own" would do just that 42 years later. He played Rafts kid brother, who was following in his gangster footsteps and needed to be set straight. Billy Wilder quickly offered the role to Fred MacMurray, who turned it down because he didn't want to play a gigolo. While in Italy in 1966, Holden was responsible for the death of another driver in a drunk-driving incident near Pisa. At Paramount, he did another Western, Streets of Laredo (1949). (She liked it.). Reluctantly, Wilder met with William Holden, who hadn't done much after the great Hollywood innovator Rouben Mamoulian's Golden Boy (1939). Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). For the record, the other 12 films to achieve a similar feat are Mrs. Miniver (1942), Johnny Belinda (1948), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 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. 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. on the corner of Crenshaw and Irving. Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard took the tinsel out of Tinseltown, the gild off the golden boy, and the cover off a forgotten murder. The Academy Award-winning actor William Holden, born William Beedle Jr., on April 17, 1918, in O'Fallon, Illinois, began his career with 1939s "Golden Boy," per Britannica. In fact,Bob Thomas, Holden's biographer, said that the actor's addiction counselor predicted his demise. And so tonight, my golden boy, you got your wish". The larger version is seen at the temple that Samson brings down in the movie Samson and Delilah (1949), which Cecil B. DeMille was shooting when Norma visits him at Paramount. Darryl F. Zanuck, Olivia de Havilland, Tyrone Power and Samuel Goldwyn all refused to allow their names to be used in the film, but Billy Wilder decided to use Zanuck's and Power's names anyway. Neither was The Revengers (1972), another Western. In real life, when Swanson and DeMille had worked together, that was what they always called each other. The exteriors of Norma Desmond's home on Sunset Boulevard were filmed at 641 South Irving Boulevard. Stanwyck went to bat for Holden when he was going to be replaced in Golden Boy (1939) and Wilder's collaboration with Holden in the 50s starting with Sunset Boulevard revitalized his career (including the Best Actor Oscar for Stalag 17 (1953). Gillis: "Well, I had a few extra holes in me, two in the chest and one in the stomach." - 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) On the last day of shooting, Swanson drove back to the house she, her mother and daughter shared during production, announcing "there were only three of us in it now, meaning that Norma Desmond had taken her leave.". The murder made it to the late editions, radio, and television because one of the biggest old-time stars was involved. When he drives Norma to Paramount Pictures at the studio gates, the car was pulled with a rope by off-camera grips. Taylor had a British accent and the imposter sounded like he came out of Chicagos south side. 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. He received an eight-month suspended sentence for vehicular manslaughter. Swanson argued that a woman like Norma would have been obsessed with her appearance and would have done her utmost not to look old. What is the correct title - "Blvd." And, of course, a pool. 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. William Haines turned down an offer to appear in the film but attended the Hollywood premiere with Joan Crawford. When Artie Green introduces Joe to other guests at his New Year's Eve party, he jokingly refers to him as "the well-known screenwriter, uranium smuggler and Black Dahlia suspect", a reference to the infamous unsolved L.A. murder case in 1947 of an aspiring actress known as The Black Dahlia, who was found murdered and dismembered on a street in Los Angeles. 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. [17], Their relationship did not last much beyond the completion of the film. 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. Co-writer D.M. Sunset Boulevard is no. 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. 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. DeMille." She refuses to believe that she's no longer remembered and will never make another movie. So speaking of funerals, heres the great real life murder mystery we teased in the opening. The ocean?' Peavey died in a San Francisco asylum, where he was being treated for syphilis-related dementia, in 1931. In reality, Gloria Swanson never worked with Normand and worked only once with Prevost in a 1916 short. 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.". He became bitter about the throwaway roles Hollywood kept giving him. Billy Wilder originally approached William Haines to play one of Norma's bridge partners. Ironically, the last films that Gloria Swanson made for Paramount were not at this famous facility. and was "a loner," according to Edwards, who wasn't surprised that Holden's body went so long without being discovered. Old whores dont fuck for fun, as the old saying goes. [14], Holden made a third film with Wilder, Sabrina (1954), billed beneath Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. (1950) in Australia? Norma Desmond was the greatest of them all. When two more test audiences reacted the same way, Wilder cut the scene and the movie was saved. "We didn't need dialogue. 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. Wilder told the actors to kibbutz and let him shuffle. In accordance with his wishes, no funeral or memorial services were conducted. of quiet desperation at the end of a relationship when nothing's really making sense and I sort of had the image of William Holden at the beginning of Sunset Blvd. He made two more films with Olson: Force of Arms (1951) at Warner Bros. and Submarine Command (1951) at Paramount. "Lonely, alone, without dignity.". He rose to prominence with his role in the movie "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), which landed him his first Best Actor Oscar nomination. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson. In the movie, an aide tells Cecil B. DeMille "Gordon Cole has been trying to reach you". 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. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol. Florabel Muir, the New York Daily News Hollywood correspondent, thought Peavey was the murderer and tried to ambush him into a confession. After all, it's about a dethroned queen." 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. Since he had classic good looks, an expressive voice, and was an excelle Around this time he also appeared in 21 Hours at Munich (1976). Holden paid it forward, becoming Hepburns guardian angel.. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! 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. Peavey reportedly wore flashy golf clothes but didnt own golf clubs and had been arrested for social vagrancy and booked on lewd and dissolute charges just a few nights before the murder. The silent comedian had a reputation as one of Hollywoods best bridge players. 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: It is because of Sunset Blvd., for certain, that my mind could ever go there. in West Hollywood. But as commentator Steve Sailer points out, more than one contemporary source mentions it as an inspiration. 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. Test audiences at the time couldnt let go of the joke, which was why it was re-edited this way. While talking with Betty and Artie in Schwab's, Artie points out the studs in Joe's tuxedo. William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 - November 12, 1981) was an American actor and murderer, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Norma is Scorpio, and Mars had been transiting Jupiter for weeks and that was the day of greatest conjunction. You used to be in silent pictures. is directed toward his associate producer, Henry Wilcoxon, who had starred in his epics Cleopatra (1934), The Crusades (1935) and Unconquered (1947), later moving to a position behind the camera as DeMille's associate, which he held until the older man's death in 1959. Sunset Boulevard, the 1950 film noir classic directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, did a lot to change that and other myths of old Hollywoodlike the real-life murder at the heart of the story. Carol Burnett spoofed the film several times on her TV variety show. And what faces. When Peavey heard the moans I am the ghost of William Desmond Taylor. See, Bettys a message gal, not a virgin, and there are no whores in Hollywood. 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). He was a genuine star. Gloria Swanson played her final descent on the staircase barefoot, as she was terrified of tripping in high heels. was voted #6 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by "Premiere" magazine in 2007. 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. After his final film S.O.B., Holden declined to star in Jason Miller's film That Championship Season.[37]. The directions given by the Paramount guard for Norma and Joe to go meet Cecil B. DeMille on "Stage 18" is accurate: this stage, one of the largest on the Paramount lot, was known for years as "The DeMille Stage" and now is called "The Star Trek Stage", as all the "Trek" movies and some scenes from the TV shows have been shot there (the TV series, from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) onward, had its main sets right across the studio street on Stages 8 and 9, which are right below the second-floor office occupied by Betty Schaefer in this film. Being born on 17 April 1918, William Holden was 63 years old at the time of his death. Universal bought it on her death in 1920 and it was used in several movies, most notably in The Phantom of the Opera (1925). 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. The one on the Paramount studio soundstage; the one whose driveway William Holden ducks into at 10060 Sunset Blvd; and the one used for the exteriors, which is the one shown here. Costume designer Edith Head found working on the film to be one of her greatest challenges. This car has been on display at the National Automobile Museum in Turin, Italy since 1972. The restoration was performed at Lowry Digital by Barry Allen and Steve Elkin. words "Sunset Blvd." Despite that, von Stroheim "still managed to hit the gates, he had no co-ordination", said Billy Wilder in an interview for the book "Sunset Boulevard: From Movie to Musical". The structure in the film required a tennis court, or rather the ghost of a tennis court, with faded markings and a sagging net. 10 films that began filming without a finished script, Donald Trumps Bad Romance with Hollywood Began Before Parasite, Shazam! Mary Pickford lived in seclusion, away from the public eye, while both Mae Murray and Clara Bow had well documented struggles with mental illness. He stayed at Paramount for The Remarkable Andrew (1942) with Brian Donlevy, then made Meet the Stewarts (1943) at Columbia.