Norma's bed originally belonged to French actress/singer Gaby Deslys. Norma Desmond: I *am* big. Warner, who appears as one of "The Waxworks", had been Gloria Swanson's leading man in Zaza (1923). 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's not possible to shoot through water and get a clear image beyond. Charles Brackett and Wilder were just as adamant that nothing in their scripts should be changed, and nothing new added. 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. She is ever the star. In reality, Gloria Swanson never worked with Normand and worked only once with Prevost in a 1916 short. Not everyone felt the same way, however. She is still waving proudly to a parade which had long since passed her by. This can be deduced from the fact that when he pulls one out of the pack he turns the bottom end up to his mouth. About 10 minutes later, Holden passed out and died from blood loss. Here's some backstage information to enhance your experience the next time you visit the Paramount lot.. Sunset Boulevard told an old familiar story. Swanson herself reportedly asked him to do it. She hates all of Joes writing except for about six pages. This still goes on today. In fact, Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett even went to Pickfair to pitch the story to Pickford, but her horrified reaction as the story progressed made them stop halfway through and apologize to her. ), and he calls her "young fellow." A version of how he obtained his stage name "Holden" is based on a statement by George Ross of Billboard: "William Holden, the lad just signed for the coveted lead in Golden Boy, used to be Bill Beadle [sic]. In those days there were no buttons on formal shirts. 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. 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. 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). 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. She said it was a blackmail scheme gone wrong. Suratt believed that DeMille's epic, "The King of Kings" (released in 1927) was based on her screenplay and filed a $1,000,000 plagiarism suit which was settled out of court in 1930. 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. During Norma Desmond's New Years' Eve party, the band begin to play the song 'Diane', the theme of the 1927 film 7th Heaven (1927). The butler stonewalls Joe from the outside world until hes rolling up twenties tight enough snort through to deal with even the shortest withdrawal from the big empty house. Billy Wilder originally wanted another silent star, Pola Negri, to take the part of Norma Desmond. [46] Rumors existed that he was suffering from lung cancer, which Holden had denied at a 1980 press conference. Norma is at the edge of insanity through the whole movie, but that doesnt mean shes not fun. He earned an Oscar nomination for "Sunset Boulevard" and won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 for his role in "Stalag 17," per IMDb. In addition to starring in "Queen Kelly", Swanson also produced it, and fired von Stroheim when he had already gone over the budget by more than double, and with no end to filming in sight. Men bribed her hairdresser to get a lock of her hair. ", The scene of Max playing Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" at the organ might well have been an inspiration for Lurch at the harpsichord in the TV series "The Addams Family.". This ushered in the peak years of Holden's stardom. The film's narrative structure bears a marked resemblance to that of American Beauty (1999). 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. 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. The murder made it to the late editions, radio, and television because one of the biggest old-time stars was involved. Norma goes to visit Cecil B. DeMille, several of whose films Swanson had starred in. 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." 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. West wanted to rewrite her dialogue. [23][24] Picnic was his last film under the contract with Columbia. Billy Wilder quickly offered the role to Fred MacMurray, who turned it down because he didn't want to play a gigolo. 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. 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? Columbia teamed him with Lucille Ball for Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), and the sequel to Dear Ruth, Dear Wife (1949). Bogart took the part hoping it would pair him back up with his wife Lauren Bacall. He received an eight-month suspended sentence for vehicular manslaughter.[1]. April 17, 2019 6:00AM. William Holden movies: 15 greatest films, ranked worst to best, include 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Network,' 'Stalag 17'. The only film to be nominated for Best Actor and Actress Oscars that year. Originally Billy Wilder wanted both of Hollywood's top gossip columnists--Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons--reporting from Norma's mansion at the end and fighting over the phone. Normand made movies with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle, and lived like life was one Wild Party. He contributed to Altvariety, Chiseler, Smashpipe, and other magazines. Technically the address was 641 S Irving Blvd but the estate lay at the corner of Irving and Wilshire Blvd. 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. - 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) She declined the offer. It is one of the most indelible films you will ever see. read more: Can The Biblical Epic be Resurrected? 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. And what faces. Filtered cigarette packs always open at the filtered end, which meant he would've been lighting the filter otherwise. This was a first for Gloria Swanson, but proved a big boon in helping her develop her character's descent into madness. The next decade saw Holden's career flourish. We'll hear two of his visits to Suspense, beginning with the New Orleans jazz . Norma Desmond says that she paid $28,000 for the Isotta-Fraschini car in 1929. Brackett thought the sequence was cruel in its emphasis on what age had done to the one-time beauty, but Wilder insisted it was essential to show how driven she was in her pursuit of youth. [41], Holden was married to actress Brenda Marshall from 1941 until their divorce in 1971. What is the correct title - "Blvd." Later in the film Max tells Gillis that he was the silent-movie director who discovered Norma and put her in films. [26], He made another war film for a British director, The Key (1958) with Trevor Howard and Sophia Loren for director Carol Reed. Joe could have slept with Norma and loved Betty, and owned the pool that would be his final resting place. But as commentator Steve Sailer points out, more than one contemporary source mentions it as an inspiration. Gloria Swanson, meanwhile, was born on March 27, 1899. When producer Sheldrake offers to turn Gillis' script into a Betty Hutton story, the desperately poor writer inexplicably turns him down. [44] After his death, Powers set up the William Holden Wildlife Foundation at Holden's Mount Kenya Game Ranch. "[13] Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950). You murdered me. Editorial Reviews. Wilder, ever the merry prankster, told Holden and Olson to keep kissing until he called "cut": he was going to fade out at the end of the scene, and he needed to make sure the kiss didn't end prematurely. The film was the favorite of Sci-Fi author J.G. Features the only Oscar-nominated performances of Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson. Yes, this is Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. 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). At Cecil B. DeMille's first appearance, his on-set cry of "Wilcoxon!" With unofficial permission from Paramount, she worked for a few years with writer Dickson Hughes and actor Richard Stapley developing a show called Starring Norma Desmond (later changed to Boulevard). They stayed that way even if the pictures got small. All I know is that she's meshuggah, that's all. 10 films that began filming without a finished script, Donald Trumps Bad Romance with Hollywood Began Before Parasite, Shazam! Sunset Boulevard DVD (2007) William Holden, Wilder (DIR) cert PG Amazing Value. Sunset Boulevard now begins with police cars racing to Norma Desmond's house, where a dead body is floating in the pool. The same musical quote from "Salome" is used again as she descends the stairs, where Waxman segues into his own original musical statement of "The Dance of the Seven Veils". The silent comedian had a reputation as one of Hollywoods best bridge players. Both Keaton and Hopper died the same day, on February 1, 1966, at the ages of 70 and 80 respectively, both in Los Angeles. According to a statement director King Vidor made in 1968, the Los Angeles police detective who was assigned to the case was told to lay off about a week into the investigation. Gloria Swanson played her final descent on the staircase barefoot, as she was terrified of tripping in high heels. . 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. (The book is about a failed screenwriter who works for a cemetery and lives with a forgotten silent-film star.) Norma's butler, Max, who used to be one of her directors is played by Erich von Stroheim, who directed Swanson in the movie Queen Kelly (1932), clips from which are used in the scene where Norma and Joe watch one of her old films. It was this astonishing footage that rekindled interest in the film. However, DeMille insisted that Lamarr be paid $25,000 for the privilege, so the idea was quickly dropped. "We didn't need dialogue. Norma's buying Joe a fine woolen topcoat would be mostly an affectation in sunny Los Angeles. Set non-holiday all-time house record of $166,000 at New York's Radio City Music Hall when it opened. Her Stockholm Syndrome is positively infectious. For some scenes, cinematographer John F. Seitz would sprinkle dust into the air so it could be caught by the lights and create a moody effect. Billy Wilder wanted Hedy Lamarr to appear in a cameo in the scene where Norma and Joe visit Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. Set designer Hans Dreier had in fact been the interior designer for the homes of former silent stars Bebe Daniels, Norma Shearer and Pola Negri. When she received her Honorary Oscar at the 1982 Academy Award ceremony, Holden had died in an accident just a few months prior. The car with the massive chrome grill that the repo men drive is a 1948 DeSoto Custom Club Coupe.
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