I didn't know. Holden did a sports film at Columbia, Boots Malone (1952), then returned to Paramount for The Turning Point (1952). Still, whatever hard feelings there may have been between Swanson and von Stroheim, they were gone by the time Sunset Boulevard came along. Dont bother with a rewrite, man, take it direct! He was a genuine star. Or shall I call my servant? Its second owner was Jean Paul Getty, who purchased it for his second wife. For this Lamarr wanted $25,000 (which would be about $250,000 in 2015 dollars). The princess in love with a holy man, she dances the dance of the seven veils. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett met with Greta Garbo and tried to convince her to make a comeback in the role of Norma Desmond. She can be seen talking and giggling on the phone during the party. On the morning of February 1, 1922, Taylor--who had been romantically involved with her-- was shot and killed in his Hollywood bungalow. 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. According to the Los Angeles Times, the actor long experienced alcoholism, and though he was able to avoid drinking when with lover Stefanie Powers, it ultimately helped pave the way for his death. 3.48. Film News. Normand made movies with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle, and lived like life was one Wild Party. With the help of his partners, he created the Mount Kenya Game Ranch and inspired the creation of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation. Some, including Holden himself and one of his close confidants, could foresee the death (per The Huntsville Item). Holdens last movie, Blake Edwardss S.O.B., was another masterpiece of Hollywood cynicism. 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. As DeMille was directing Lamarr at the time in Samson and Delilah (1949), this would have been no problem. Holden earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for the role.[11]. F. Scott Fitzgerald suffered a heart attack while in Schwab's in 1940 (contrary to legend, Lana Turner was not discovered by a talent agent in Schwab's but, rather in a drugstore across from Hollywood High School, about three miles to the east). She is ever the star. At the time this movie was made, the incident was still quite recent. 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. She worked closely with Gloria Swanson on Norma Desmond's wardrobe, as she figured Swanson would have had a better idea of what women of that time would have worn and what they would be wearing now. No one wants to get caught by surprise anymore. American Beauty screenwriter Alan Ball has acknowledged that another Billy Wilder film, The Apartment (1960), influenced that screenplay. At one point, Norma decides the time is right to send Gillis script to DeMille because is a Leo. The others were Union Station (1950), Force of Arms (1951), and Submarine Command (1951). The first name of the Joe Gillis character was Dan in an early draft of the screenplay, then altered to Dick, and finally to Joe just before filming began. 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. If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. The movie premiered in the days of restricted language, not so long after Rhett Butler controversially told Scarlett OHara he didnt give a damn what happened to her in Gone With the Wind, a classic Paramount passed on because who wanted to see Civil War picture? But the old guard thought Wilder and his co-writer Charles Brackett fashioned a rope that could strangle this business of show by writing words, words, and more words. But she wanted to rewrite her dialogue (as was her custom)a nonstarter for Wilder, who seldom let his actors change their lines even slightly from what was on the page. Bogart was not especially friendly toward Hepburn, who had little Hollywood experience, while Holden's reaction was the opposite, wrote biographer Michelangelo Capua. For the opening shot of Joe Gillis floating face-down in the swimming pool, Billy Wilder wanted a shot from below that would show both the body and the police and photographers standing at the pool's edge looking down. Holden was reunited with Wilder in Stalag 17 (1953), for which Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor. This ushered in the peak years of Holden's stardom. 10 films that began filming without a finished script, Donald Trumps Bad Romance with Hollywood Began Before Parasite, Shazam! April 17 marks the 100th birthday of William Holden, who is ranked No. The "fee" for renting the Jean Paul Getty mansion was for Paramount to build the swimming pool, which features so memorably. 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. In later interviews, Davis admitted that she thought Swanson's work in the film was absolutely outstanding. Holden never lost his stride as cinema changed. Well, not a comeback, a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven her for deserting the screen. [28] Columbia would not meet Holden's asking price of $750,000 and 10% of the gross for The Guns of Navarone (1961); the amount of money Holden asked exceeded the combined salaries of stars Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn.[29]. 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. To help promote the film, Gloria Swanson did a three-month tour of 36 cities in America and Canada. [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. 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. Sad as this may sound, to the day he died, Holden insisted Bogart was a bastard. 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. 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. 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. Joe Gillis: You're Norma Desmond. One of his father's grandmothers, Rebecca Westfield, was born in England, while some of his mother's ancestors settled in Virginia's Lancaster County after emigrating from England in the 17th century. From the right angle, the camera could shoot the reflected image in the mirror without ever going underwater itself. Marshman Jr. was hired to help batten down a script that was giving Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett great difficulty. According to Gloria Swanson's daughter, Michelle Amon, her mother stayed in character throughout the entire shoot, even speaking like Norma Desmond when she arrived home in the evening after filming. Columbia teamed him with Lucille Ball for Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), and the sequel to Dear Ruth, Dear Wife (1949). Their partnership ended in a professional and gentlemanly mannerthere was no airing of any dirty laundrybut it did end.. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Sunset Boulevard DVD Special Collector's Edition William Holden Gloria Swanson at the best online prices at eBay! Set non-holiday all-time house record of $166,000 at New York's Radio City Music Hall when it opened. What do you say about a longtime friend a sense of personal loss, a fine man. You murdered me. The black studs on Joe's shirt front were probably onyx, black opals, or even black pearls. William Holden says his birthday is December 21st. They stayed that way even if the pictures got small. Billy Wilder originally approached William Haines to play one of Norma's bridge partners. According to reports, Taylor went to the feds for help filing charges against Normands cocaine suppliers. Free Postage. Swanson agreed to the audition, and won the role. Yes, this is Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Gordon Cole was a real person in the art department for DeMille's Samson and Delilah (1949) and later in The Ten Commandments (1956). Sunset Boulevard DVD (2007) William Holden, Wilder (DIR) cert PG Amazing Value. 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: "I'm not surprised that this could have happened.". Wilder was no fan of improvisation and was very protective of his words. She hates all of Joes writing except for about six pages. Oddly enough, the reclusive Greta Garbo granted permission to use her name, though when she saw the film itself she was sorry she had done so. In 1972, Holden began a nine-year relationship with actress Stefanie Powers and sparked her interest in animal welfare. Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D. M. Marshman Jr. Online Film & Television Association Awards, "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." De Mille, and Max von Mayerling. Westmore and director Billy Wilder agreed with this so William Holden was made up to look younger than he was. 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 Joe and Norma sit down to watch one of her old movies, Joe pulls out a cigarette and places the bottom end in his mouth. At Cecil B. DeMille's first appearance, his on-set cry of "Wilcoxon!" The movie's line "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." [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. Minters mother Charlotte Shelby was a manipulative stage mother who owned a rare .38 caliber pistol that fired unusual bullets very similar to ones found inside Taylor. Newspapers printed love letters between 19-year-old former child star and screen idol Mary Miles Minter and Taylor. In 1973, Holden starred with Kay Lenz in a movie directed by Clint Eastwood called Breezy, which was considered a box-office flop. Since 2006, he has overseen the Bayou City History blog, which covers various aspects of Houston's history. Brenda Marshall, Holden's wife since 1941, was visiting the set when Holden and Nancy Olson had their kissing scene. After the. "Lonely, alone, without dignity.". 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. It is one of the most indelible films you will ever see. 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). 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. Filtered cigarette packs always open at the filtered end, which meant he would've been lighting the filter otherwise. When Joe Gillis and Norma Desmond watch one of Norma's old silent movies, they are watching a scene from Queen Kelly (1932), starring a young Gloria Swanson. The great big white elephant of a mansion on Sunset Boulevard was actually on Wilshire Boulevard and would be used again as the abandoned mansion in the film Rebel Without a Cause. 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. The California license plate on Gillis' Plymouth, 4D R 116, appears to be a legal and current registration for 1949. The latter was shot in Africa and sparked Holden's fascination with the continent that was to last for the rest of his life. 25 on AFI's list of all-time great leading men. 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. Bogart took the part hoping it would pair him back up with his wife Lauren Bacall. 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. [43] Capucine and Holden remained friends until his death in 1981. Please, don't let it be true, it must be some mistake," per her memoir. 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. And what faces. Holden's films continued to struggle at the box office, however: Paris When It Sizzles (1964) with Hepburn was shot in 1962 but given a much delayed release, The 7th Dawn (1964) with Capucine and Susannah York, a romantic adventure set during the Malayan Emergency produced by Charles K. Feldman, Alvarez Kelly (1966), a Western, and The Devil's Brigade (1968). 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. 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. 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. 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". Although Gloria Swanson correctly states he is a Sagittarius, it is actually on the Sagittarius-Capricorn cusp. Blu-ray features and commentary Norma is at the edge of insanity through the whole movie, but that doesnt mean shes not fun. The script (which was to be a vehicle for her comeback) was submitted to Cecil B. DeMille who sent it back. On the night of November 12, 1981, Holden consumed somewhere between eight and 10 drinks in a short amount of time, according to "William Holden: A Biography." read more: Key Largo, Lauren Bacall, and the Definitive Post-War Film. . Seitz had used a similar technique on Double Indemnity (1944). Billy Wilder originally wanted another silent star, Pola Negri, to take the part of Norma Desmond. #7. Holden continued to work steadily for the next decade, but Hollywood often had no idea what to do with him. When Billy Wilder went back to him later to secure a close-up, DeMille charged him another $10,000. "I am big. 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. Everyone had a good laugh, though the record doesn't reflect whether Marshall joined in. Her character's age was 22 but she was 21 at the time of filming. Gloria Swanson played her final descent on the staircase barefoot, as she was terrified of tripping in high heels. This wasn't the original opening and was filmed long after completion of filming. The car with the massive chrome grill that the repo men drive is a 1948 DeSoto Custom Club Coupe. "[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. His characters were always angling for something, whether it was silk stockings in a POW Camp in Stalag 17 from 1953, which won him a Best Actor Oscar, or to clear impersonation charges in in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) with Alec Guinness. The Paramount logo appears as a transparency over the opening shot. Getting the role was a lucky break for Holden, as Montgomery Clift was initially cast but backed out of his contract. When filming began, William Holden was 31 and Gloria Swanson was 50, the same stated age as her character. William Haines turned down an offer to appear in the film but attended the Hollywood premiere with Joan Crawford. Perry, George & Andrew Lloyd Webber (1993). The exteriors of Norma Desmond's home on Sunset Boulevard were filmed at 641 South Irving Boulevard. When Peavey heard the moans I am the ghost of William Desmond Taylor. The British author's satirical The Loved One was published in 1948, after Waugh had spent time in Hollywood observing the film industry and, of all things, the funeral industry. Holden met French actress Capucine in the early 1960s. Wilder was, well, the wilder of the two, often bawdy and crass, while Brackett was genteel. But also much funnier. 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. Prior to joining the Houston Chronicle, Gonzales worked as a night cops reporter at The. 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. In 1986 Nancy Olson became the last surviving member of the cast. [44] After his death, Powers set up the William Holden Wildlife Foundation at Holden's Mount Kenya Game Ranch. 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. 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." What is the correct title - "Blvd." Holden paid it forward, becoming Hepburns guardian angel.. While Hollywood Blvd. Joe could have slept with Norma and loved Betty, and owned the pool that would be his final resting place. Although they don't have a scene together in this film, Hedda Hopper and Buster Keaton had worked together in the 1932 comedy Speak Easily (1932), both were among the many stars appearing in the 1931 two-reeler The Stolen Jools (1931), and they both appeared in a 1958 episode of The Garry Moore Show (1958) that also featured Carol Burnett, who years later would spoof the Norma Desmond character regularly on her own variety show. Sometimes its interesting to see just how bad, bad writing can be. She changed her professional name to Patricia Palmer and was working with Famous Players-Lasky, Taylors studio at the time of his death. Sands had forged Taylors name on checks and wrecked his car the summer before and left footprints on Taylors bed after a burglary. 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). Other actresses considered for Norma Desmond were Mae West (who wanted to rewrite the dialogue), Mae Murray, and Mary Pickford. 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. She lives in a crumbling old mansion with her butler Max (Erich von Stroheim). Director Billy Wilder Writers Charles Brackett Billy Wilder D.M. Sands disappeared after the murder. but at 641 S. Irving Blvd. . 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.. She produced and starred in Sadie Thompson and The Love of Sunya. The building manager found the body of the legendary actor who starred in 70 films and was a good friend of President Ronald Reagan nearly a week later, per The Washington Post. It would go on to be one of his most successful movies. Billy Wilder quickly offered the role to Fred MacMurray, who turned it down because he didn't want to play a gigolo. 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. He was named one of the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" six times (19541958, 1961), and appeared as 25th on the American Film Institute's list of 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema. Sunset Boulevard is also a reflection of Hollywood through a glass, darkly. Billy Wilder wanted Hedy Lamarr to appear in a cameo in the scene where Norma and Joe visit Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. (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 . The moment he discovers that life could be beautiful, Norma slits her wrist with Joes razor. Joe Gillis' typewriter is a portable manual Remington Rand Noiseless Model 7. A new 4K high-definition scan was done in 2008 for the film's release on Blu-ray disc. )[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. Editorial Reviews. The character of Joe Gillis was very much in tune with William Holden's standing at the time. 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.
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