Although a registered Republican, he never involved himself in politics. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 17, 1951, with Gloria Swanson and William Holden reprising their film roles. Gloria Swanson does a famous impression of Charles Chaplin as the "Little Tramp," but Chaplin's name is never mentioned. So speaking of funerals, heres the great real life murder mystery we teased in the opening. 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. Neither was The Revengers (1972), another Western. 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]. It was widely known as a top Hollywood hangout for many actors, directors, writers and producers. She liked Holden and went out of her way to help him succeed, devoting her personal time to coaching and encouraging him, which made them into lifelong friends. 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. 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. So she lands his head on a golden tray, kissing his cold, dead lips. Unlike the character she played, Gloria Swanson had accepted the fact that the movies didn't want her anymore and had moved to New York, where she worked on radio and, later, television. [2] His brother Robert ("Bobbie") became a U.S. Navy fighter pilot and was killed in action in World War II, over New Ireland, a Japanese-occupied island in the South Pacific. It's probably just as well, since the darker, more nuanced story that eventually emerged was quite different from West's wheelhouse anyway. Norma is at the edge of insanity through the whole movie, but that doesnt mean shes not fun. It said so on the chart from her astrologer, who read DeMilles horoscope. Gloria Swanson's career was not revitalized by this film. He was perfection on and off-screen. Holden was a bit of an anti-hero, or at least a very flawed hero. This film was originally released in the United States as The Christmas Tree and on home video as When Wolves Cry. In the scene where Norma is showing Joe her silent movies, one of them is Queen Kelly (1932), which was filmed at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens, NY. 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". Someone who said they were a doctor said Taylor died of a stomach hemorrhage and then disappeared. In Billy Wilder's film, Erich von Stroheim plays the butler of Gloria Swanson's forgotten silent-film star. 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. read more: The Big Sleep is Proof That Plot Doesnt Matter. Microphones would catch the last gurgles, and Technicolor would photograph the red, swollen tongues. After returning from France, she shot her last Paramount films--Stage Struck (1925), The Untamed Lady (1926) and Fine Manners (1926)--at the studio's lot in Astoria, Queens, NY. Sunset Boulevard told an old familiar story. Holden met French actress Capucine in the early 1960s. The photos of the young Norma Desmond that decorate the house are all genuine publicity photos from Gloria Swanson's heyday. We'll hear two of his visits to Suspense, beginning with the New Orleans jazz . The mundane accident that took the Hollywood actor's life was made even worse by the fact that nobody found his body for a week afterward, according to the Associated Press. read file from blob storage c#; ted dwane and isabel soden; best seats at belk theater charlotte; my rabbit ate ibuprofen Norma Desmond: I *am* big. 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. 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. Mrs. Getty's home had to be completely re-decorated to give it the oversized grandeur needed for the film. Nothing else! There are several references to Gloria Swanson's actual career in the film. Fat Man: "You were murdered?" It is because of Sunset Blvd., for certain, that my mind could ever go there. He stayed at Paramount for The Remarkable Andrew (1942) with Brian Donlevy, then made Meet the Stewarts (1943) at Columbia. Sunset Boulevard English audio Gloria Swanson, as Norma Desmond, an aging silent-film queen, and William Holden, as the struggling young screenwriter who is held in thrall by her madness,. But it could just as well have been Joes headquarters, Schwabs Drug Store, a kind of combination office, coffee clutch, and waiting room where actors and writers wait for the gravy train. During the shopping excursion, Norma remarks that if Joe is not careful, he'll need a cutaway. 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. It was largely from his association with Wilder that Holden would enjoy the greatest acting successes of his career in the 1950s. 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. As DeMille was directing Lamarr at the time in Samson and Delilah (1949), this would have been no problem. He played Bogarts kid brother in Sabrina, Holdens third film with director Billy Wilder, in 1954. Please, don't let it be true, it must be some mistake," per her memoir. 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. In those days there were no buttons on formal shirts. Gloria Swanson played her final descent on the staircase barefoot, as she was terrified of tripping in high heels. From the right angle, the camera could shoot the reflected image in the mirror without ever going underwater itself. Holden starred in some of Hollywood's most popular and critically acclaimed films, including Sunset Boulevard (1950), Sabrina (1954), Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Wild Bunch (1969) and Network (1976). 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. 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. It was Erich von Stroheim who suggested the revelation that Max was writing all of Norma's fan mail. The name Norma Desmond was a combination of early Hollywoods comedy star Mabel Normand and her lover, silent film director William Desmond Taylor. 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!) We were close friends for many years. Holden made a fourth and final film for Wilder with Fedora (1978). Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge were famous for owning downtown real estate in Los Angeles and San Diego. It was like that old woman in Great Expectations, Miss Havisham in her rotting wedding dress and her torn veil, taking it out on the world because shed been given the go-by. Still, whatever hard feelings there may have been between Swanson and von Stroheim, they were gone by the time Sunset Boulevard came along. Wilder and his co-writers reversed several elements, and there was no official connection between the movie and Waugh's book. The character of Max Von Mayerling as a washed up silent film director was an homage paid by Wilder to Erich von Stroheim, who was an inspiration to Billy in his glory days as a notorious silent film director himself. What do you say about a longtime friend a sense of personal loss, a fine man. The latter was shot in Africa and sparked Holden's fascination with the continent that was to last for the rest of his life. The 49-year-old film directors body was found on the morning of Feb. 2, 1922, inside his bungalow at the Alvarado Court Apartments in Westlake, Los Angeles. Seleccionar el departamento en el que deseas buscar. cynical Hollywood survivor played by William Holden. 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. His height was 1.8 m tall and weighed 89 kg. But in 1957, Paramount formally asked Desmond to stop, the studio bosses having decided not to grant permission after all. She hates all of Joes writing except for about six pages. 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. In her private screening room, with butler Max running the projector, Norma cuddles up with Joe to watch one of her own films. 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. Brackett and Wilder worked together on more than a dozen movies including The Lost Weekend. They had to have the ears of the old place, too. Salome was a wonderful part for Norma Desmonds celluloid comeback. In July 1941, he married 25-year old actress Brenda Marshall, who commanded five times his income. For the first industry screening, Paramount executives invited several silent-film stars. In the film Gloria is seen playing cards with three silent film stars: Buster Keaton, H.B. After his final film S.O.B., Holden declined to star in Jason Miller's film That Championship Season.[37]. He played an older version of Joe in Sidney Lumets classic Network (1976), written by the cynical Paddy Chayefsky.