For a number of years, exhibitors voted Holden among the most popular stars in the country: On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Free shipping for many products! 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. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol. His co-star Barbara Stanwyck, a screen. After Salome, she planned to make another picture and another picture. The structure in the film required a tennis court, or rather the ghost of a tennis court, with faded markings and a sagging net. 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. The movie was previewed with this opening, in Illinois, Long Island (NY) and Poughkeepsie (NY). Our friendship never waned. William Holden 15 greatest films ranked: 'Sunset Boulevard' and more Fred MacMurray and Gene Kelly both turned down the role of Joe Gillis. This promised to go the limit. [41], Holden was married to actress Brenda Marshall from 1941 until their divorce in 1971. Every woman was in love with him. For scenes in which he drove, the car was towed by another car. Holden had another hit with The World of Suzie Wong (1960) with Nancy Kwan, which was shot in Hong Kong. (1950), as a way of "art imitating life." 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. When Joe tells Betty that next time he will write "The Naked and the Dead", he is referring to the best-seller written by Norman Mailer and published in 1948. Sunset Blvd. At Columbia, he starred in film noirs, The Dark Past (1948), The Man from Colorado (1949) and Father Is a Bachelor (1950). The two starred in the films The Lion (1962) and The 7th Dawn (1964). They reportedly began a two-year affair, which is alleged to have ended due to Holden's alcoholism. Gene Kelly was then approached, but MGM refused to loan him out. Billy Wilder's sixth film in a row for Paramount Pictures. 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. DeMille." 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. What do you say about a longtime friend a sense of personal loss, a fine man. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's 17th and final screenplay collaboration. When crew members asked Billy Wilder how he was going to shoot the burial of Norma's monkey, one of the film's most bizarre scenes, he just said, "You know, the usual monkey-funeral sequence.". Holden was still an unknown actor when he made Golden Boy, while Stanwyck was already a film star. It's probably just as well, since the darker, more nuanced story that eventually emerged was quite different from West's wheelhouse anyway. Holdens last movie, Blake Edwardss S.O.B., was another masterpiece of Hollywood cynicism. Montgomery Clift was originally cast as Joe Gillis but quit the production two weeks before filming began because he had already played the kept man of a wealthy older woman in The Heiress (1949). Episode 68 - William Holden-Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radi At one point, Norma decides the time is right to send Gillis script to DeMille because is a Leo. Im not giving anything away here. 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. Everyone had a good laugh, though the record doesn't reflect whether Marshall joined in. Queen Kelly nearly ruined both of their careers after Joe Kennedy, JFKs dad who produced the film, replaced von Stroheim as director because Swanson complained about the racy material. Holden was reunited with Wilder in Stalag 17 (1953), for which Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The only Best Picture Oscar nominee of the year to be also nominated for Original Screenplay. 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). Words are as good as sex to two writers. Prior to joining the Houston Chronicle, Gonzales worked as a night cops reporter at The. (he'd already gotten the shot he needed on the first take). If it were to come to auction in 2021, it would be valued at well over $1M. There were no shortage of suspects. 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. Warner, who appears as one of "The Waxworks", had been Gloria Swanson's leading man in Zaza (1923). william holden arlene holden - bdcgtoronto.ca But it wasn't a mistake. When Peavey heard the moans I am the ghost of William Desmond Taylor. Buster Keaton appears only in the bridge party scene and utters the word "Pass" twice. Erich von Stroheim, who directed Swanson in Queen Kelly (1932), plays Max the butler, who serves as the projectionist in the scene. 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." Other actresses considered for Norma Desmond were Mae West (who wanted to rewrite the dialogue), Mae Murray, and Mary Pickford. 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. Brenda Marshall, Holden's wife since 1941, was visiting the set when Holden and Nancy Olson had their kissing scene. Beedle grew up in South Pasadena, California. 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. Sunset Boulevard (DVD, 2017) UK Region 2 release with extras. Norma is perceived as the evil force, even if she uses a white phone while Betty is relegated to a poor black phone. De Mille at Paramount, the director is shooting the film Samson and Delilah, which he was actually shooting at the time. One of only 13 films to be nominated for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director. In fact,Bob Thomas, Holden's biographer, said that the actor's addiction counselor predicted his demise. The writer was almost all washed up, one step ahead of the finance company, parking his car in a lot behind the shoeshine parlor run by Rudy, a guy who never asked any questions about finances because he could just look at the peoplesr heels and know the score. The pool was used in its empty condition in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). If anything, its observations on the greedy machinations of Tinseltown are truer now than they were in 1950. A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. 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. For Swanson, whose career was already being threatened by the advent of talkies, Queen Kelly was another blow. A classic film review of Sunset Boulevard (1950) starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson and Eric Von StroheimDirected by acclaimed film maker Billy Wilder (. Brackett was also a frequent collaborator with Billy Wilder, co-writing and producing a dozen movies with him (including The Lost Weekend) before Sunset Boulevard proved to be their last. But it's also a love story, and the love keeps it from becoming simply a waxworks or a freak show. The "fee" for renting the Jean Paul Getty mansion was for Paramount to build the swimming pool, which features so memorably. The killing and the media circus that followed it hurt the industry. When Joe and Betty stroll around the studio back lot they pass through the Washington Square set that was used in The Heiress (1949). Paramount always labeled that studio as its Long Island Studios. Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Originals (includes Limited Edition De Mille, and Max von Mayerling. [46] Rumors existed that he was suffering from lung cancer, which Holden had denied at a 1980 press conference. 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. 10 films that began filming without a finished script, Donald Trumps Bad Romance with Hollywood Began Before Parasite, Shazam! 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. When two more test audiences reacted the same way, Wilder cut the scene and the movie was saved. His height was 1.8 m tall and weighed 89 kg. Sunset Boulevard is no. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett met with Greta Garbo and tried to convince her to make a comeback in the role of Norma Desmond. In accordance with his wishes, no funeral or memorial services were conducted. Not everyone felt the same way, however. When filming began, William Holden was 31 and Gloria Swanson was 50, the same stated age as her character. 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. During the shopping excursion, Norma remarks that if Joe is not careful, he'll need a cutaway. And that young man who was found floating in the pool of her mansion, with two shots in his back and one in his stomach, was nobody important, really. Holman was reportedly worried the film would parody their relationship and told Clift she would commit suicide if he played the role. Glenn Close, who portrayed Norma Desmond on stage, also played a character who dramatically cut her wrists over a man she was in love with in the film "Fatal Attraction. Norma, the aging silent-movie star who ensnares down-at-the-heels screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden), is the vamp become vampire (look at those clawlike hands! Wilder told the actors to kibbutz and let him shuffle. . She was nominated for the first Academy Award in the Best Actress category. They eventually worked together on several films and became close friends. Its second owner was Jean Paul Getty, who purchased it for his second wife. In 1969, Holden made a comeback when he starred in director Sam Peckinpah's graphically violent Western The Wild Bunch,[4] winning much acclaim. Cecil B. DeMille agreed to do his cameo for a $10,000 fee and a brand-new Cadillac. The name Norma Desmond was a combination of early Hollywoods comedy star Mabel Normand and her lover, silent film director William Desmond Taylor. It was meant to be slightly humorous in a morbid way, but the audience at the first test screening found it flat-out hysterical, setting the wrong mood for the rest of the picture. This car has been on display at the National Automobile Museum in Turin, Italy since 1972. Sunset Boulevards cinematographer John Seitz said Wilder had wanted to do The Loved One, but couldnt obtain the rights. British author Evelyn Waughs satirical 1948 novel was about a failed screenwriter who lives with a silent film star and works in a cemetery. Sunset Blvd. (1950) - Photo Gallery - IMDb It was largely from his association with Wilder that Holden would enjoy the greatest acting successes of his career in the 1950s. He was perfection on- and off-screen. Taylor had $78 in his wallet, a silver cigarette case, a Waltham pocket watch, and a two-carat diamond ring on his finger when his body was found, so cops quickly ruled out robbery as the motive. Sunset Boulevard now begins with police cars racing to Norma Desmond's house, where a dead body is floating in the pool. 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. She reportedly told Clift shed kill herself if he made the movie. Also, the house didn't have a pool, so Paramount paid to have one installed on the condition that if Mrs. Getty didn't like it, they'd remove it after filming was over. It was a the kind of a place crazy movie people built in the crazy 20s. was better known as the seat of the film industry in 1950, the Los Angeles film industry actually began on Sunset Blvd. Fat Man: "You were murdered?" Well, not a comeback, a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven her for deserting the screen. Read and download theDen of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazineright here! Warner took the part. Swanson supplemented many of the costumes with her own accessories and jewelry. It said so on the chart from her astrologer, who read DeMilles horoscope. I instantly fell in love - both with the movie itself and with its handsome 32-year old male lead, William Holden. I know your face. "Lonely, alone, without dignity.". 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. To publicize the film, Paramount sent Gloria Swanson on a cross-country tour, paying her $1,000 a week for her services. In 1986 Nancy Olson became the last surviving member of the cast. Holden, who was at this point dependent on alcohol, said, "I really was in love with Audrey, but she wouldn't marry me. Zach Laws, Chris Beachum. The only film to be nominated for Best Actor and Actress Oscars that year. He played Rafts kid brother, who was following in his gangster footsteps and needed to be set straight. Editorial Reviews. 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. Sunset Boulevard, Clip, William Holden, Gloria Swanson, 1950 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. 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. Charles Brackett and Wilder were just as adamant that nothing in their scripts should be changed, and nothing new added. Thirty-one years later, the actor who played Gillis, William Holden, met his end. 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. cynical Hollywood survivor played by William Holden. 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. A neglected house gets an unhappy look. Billy Wilder also used Sheldrake as the last name of Fred MacMurray's character in "The Apartment". For the cover photo of the very first issue, in April 1951, of what many consider the most important film magazine of all time, the Paris-based "Cahiers du Cinema, " the editors chose the image of Gloria Swanson and William Holden in her screening room. She can be seen talking and giggling on the phone during the party. Columbia teamed him with Lucille Ball for Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), and the sequel to Dear Ruth, Dear Wife (1949). William Holden Net Worth 2023: Age, Height, Weight, Wife, Kids, Bio It gives them an opportunity to write really good acceptances speeches. Holden paid it forward, becoming Hepburns guardian angel.. Mrs. Getty divorced her millionaire husband and received custody of the house; it was she who rented it to Paramount for the filming. While talking with Betty and Artie in Schwab's, Artie points out the studs in Joe's tuxedo. April 17 marks the 100th birthday of William Holden, who is ranked No. All of the silent film stars mentioned by Norma, Joe, Betty and Max were either dead or no longer active in films by 1950. [39] On a trip to Africa, he fell in love with the wildlife and became increasingly concerned with the animal species that were beginning to decrease in population. ), It came out the same year as another behind-the-scenes showbiz classic, All About Eve, which took most of the Oscars. 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. Among the many past associations embedded in Sunset Blvd. Around this time he also appeared in 21 Hours at Munich (1976). Men bribed her hairdresser to get a lock of her hair. Saltar al contenido principal.com.mx. The death was just one of many infamous Hollywood scandals of the 1920s, which included the Roscoe Arbuckle bottle rape trial, the death of Olive Thomas, the mysterious death of Thomas H. Ince, and the drug-related deaths of Wallace Reid, Barbara La Marr, and Jeanne Eagels. Marlon Brando was considered, but the producers thought he was too much of an unknown as a film actor. Director Cecil B. DeMille, silent film actors Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson played waxy versions of themselves. He stayed at Paramount for The Remarkable Andrew (1942) with Brian Donlevy, then made Meet the Stewarts (1943) at Columbia. The apartments, and the "Alto Nido" sign out front that is glimpsed briefly in the film, are still there. Billy Wilder originally wanted another silent star, Pola Negri, to take the part of Norma Desmond. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film Stalag 17 (1953) and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for the television miniseries The Blue Knight (1973). Cecil B. DeMille appears in the film on a studio set. Paramount reunited Bracken and him in Young and Willing (1943). 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). [10] RKO borrowed him for Rachel and the Stranger (1948) with Robert Mitchum and Loretta Young. )[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. They swore each other off over the montage where Norma struggles to lose weight for her comeback. Wilder was, well, the wilder of the two, often bawdy and crass, while Brackett was genteel. Holden continued to work steadily for the next decade, but Hollywood often had no idea what to do with him. It is also one of the most frequently misquoted movie lines, usually given as, "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. She burst into tears upon completion of the scene. Sunset Boulevard 1950, William Holden, Gloria Swanson, full movie When Powers returned to California, she went to his penthouse apartment in Santa Monica but couldn't get in. On the basis of this film and largely due to his continuing association with director Billy Wilder, Holden would reach the zenith of his career from 1950-'57. Previous image. William Holden | Biography, Movies, Death, & Facts | Britannica It's the pictures that got small" was #91. 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. is a 1950 American black comedy [1] [2] film noir [3] directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. (as Arthur Schmidt) According to the DVD commentary by Wilder biographer Ed Sikov, this story was most likely invented/exaggerated by Billy Wilder. Wilder won the argument and privately told friends that he would not be making any more films with Brackett. Sunset Boulevard mixed fiction with the realities of filmmaking. 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. The finest things in the world have been written on an empty stomach, and Wilder and Brackett rewrote the story as adrama. Swanson made the transition to talkies with The Trespasser in 1929. But that wasnt good enough for Hollywood. The script (which was to be a vehicle for her comeback) was submitted to Cecil B. DeMille who sent it back. The Den of Geek quarterly magazine is packed with exclusive features, interviews, previews and deep dives into geek culture. 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. In the movie, an aide tells Cecil B. DeMille "Gordon Cole has been trying to reach you". The movie begins about five oclock in the morning, left coast time. 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. Norma telling studio guard Jonesy that without her there would be no Paramount Studios is not a far-fetched notion.