how old was william holden in sunset boulevard

The The director turned actor was still able to steer the expensive Italian car into the Paramount gate. [4] He made a sex comedy with David Niven for Otto Preminger, The Moon Is Blue (1953), which was a huge hit, in part due to controversy over its content. Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, and Greta Garbo turned down the role. Billy Wilder had worked on a script for a Swanson picture years earlier called "Music in the Air (1934)" and had forgotten about it. Sunset Boulevard (styled in the main title on-screen as SUNSET BLVD.) According to reports, Taylor went to the feds for help filing charges against Normands cocaine suppliers. William Holden, original name William Franklin Beedle, Jr., (born April 17, 1918, O'Fallon, Illinois, U.S.found dead November 16, 1981, Santa Monica, California), American film star who perfected the role of the cynic who acts heroically in spite of his scorn or pessimism. The ocean?' But trophies or not, Sunset Boulevard has stayed near the top of the list of great movies about moviemaking. "I knew he was off the wagon," she recalled in her memoir "One from the Hart." He said hed already played a young kept man in the film The Heiresswith Olivia De Havilland, and in real life with his relationship with older singer Libby Holman. 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: After his final film S.O.B., Holden declined to star in Jason Miller's film That Championship Season.[37]. That should make the young blond Paramount actress-turned-script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson) the virgin in the virgin/whore dynamic that film noir so often (and happily) deals in. 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. In July 1941, he married 25-year old actress Brenda Marshall, who commanded five times his income. Around this time he also appeared in 21 Hours at Munich (1976). )[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. At Columbia, he starred in film noirs, The Dark Past (1948), The Man from Colorado (1949) and Father Is a Bachelor (1950). They thought the actors made it up as they went along. From the right angle, the camera could shoot the reflected image in the mirror without ever going underwater itself. Billy Wilder originally approached William Haines to play one of Norma's bridge partners. Hedda Hopper: at the top of the stairwell as Norma descends toward the cameras. He contributed to Altvariety, Chiseler, Smashpipe, and other magazines. The two men never worked together again. And like the title, Holden seemed to have the looks and muscular build Hollywood craved. While Hollywood Blvd. 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 starred in Sam Peckinpahs masterwork Western The Wild Bunch. Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard took the tinsel out of Tinseltown, the gild off the golden boy, and the cover off a forgotten murder. Marlon Brando was considered, but the producers thought he was too much of an unknown as a film actor. 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. 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. Norma Desmond promised she would never desert her audience again. 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. She turns out to be a multimillionaire silent screen icon played by the legendary Gloria Swanson and she leaves him all her money, which shes already spent, and face down in a pool. 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. Oh, and while were at it, Wilder didnt submerge any cameras to get that underwater shot. Joes voice even starts to take on more and more of her theatrical flourish after too much exposure. Swanson argued that a woman like Norma would have been obsessed with her appearance and would have done her utmost not to look old. It was largely from his association with Wilder that Holden would enjoy the greatest acting successes of his career in the 1950s. Free shipping for many products! [35] Holden starred in The Earthling,[36] as a loner dying of cancer at the Australian outback and accompanying an orphan boy (Ricky Schroder). ", 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.". Sometimes its interesting to see just how bad, bad writing can be. Sunset Boulevard DVD (2007) William Holden, Wilder (DIR) cert PG Amazing Value. The "fee" for renting the Jean Paul Getty mansion was for Paramount to build the swimming pool, which features so memorably. In 1972, Holden began a nine-year relationship with actress Stefanie Powers and sparked her interest in animal welfare. As the camera cranes up into the apartment, we can see it's the Alto Nido. Ironically, the last films that Gloria Swanson made for Paramount were not at this famous facility. 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. 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. Our friendship never waned. in 1911 when the Nestor Film Company moved from New. 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. "Waxwork" Buster Keaton was in reality an excellent bridge player, always in demand at Hollywood bridge parties. 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. 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. William Haines turned down an offer to appear in the film but attended the Hollywood premiere with Joan Crawford. So funny that it took away from the rest of the picture. In subsequent years, two lawsuits have been filed against Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, claiming that Sunset Blvd. Gene Kelly was then approached, but MGM refused to loan him out. Vega subsequently confirmed that this was a reference to Holden.[50]. His deal was considered one of the best ever for an actor at the time, with him receiving 10% of the gross, which earned him over $2.5 million, however, Holden stipulated that he should only receive a maximum of $50,000 per year from the film. Holden turned the tables on Lucille Ball when he appeared as a guest star on I Love Lucy at The Brown Derby. Westmore and director Billy Wilder agreed with this so William Holden was made up to look younger than he was. #7. The others were Union Station (1950), Force of Arms (1951), and Submarine Command (1951). [47], President Ronald Reagan released a statement: "I have a great feeling of grief. The next decade saw Holden's career flourish. Initially, writer-director Wilder envisioned the movie as a straightforward comedy, and the famously saucy West seemed like a perfect fit. Brackett thought it was too mean while Wilder felt it was necessary. At the end, they stood and cheered for Gloria Swanson's return. When Norma Desmond visits her old friend at Paramount, she affectionately calls him "Mr. DeMille" (not Cecil or C.B. But that wasnt good enough for Hollywood. 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,. The clips in Sunset Boulevard were the first American audiences had seen of it. Microphones would catch the last gurgles, and Technicolor would photograph the red, swollen tongues. She produced and starred in Sadie Thompson and The Love of Sunya. Ballard, who used to impersonate Norma descending the stairs. Please, don't let it be true, it must be some mistake," per her memoir. When Joe and Betty stroll around the studio back lot they pass through the Washington Square set that was used in The Heiress (1949). 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. Just us and the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark! Norma Desmond didnt need dialogue, she can say whatever she wants with her eyes. 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. It was not particularly successful. But as commentator Steve Sailer points out, more than one contemporary source mentions it as an inspiration. Charles Brackett and Wilder were just as adamant that nothing in their scripts should be changed, and nothing new added. Every time I go to L.A., which isn't too often, I look at these palm-bemused, once smart stucco facades, and wonder if a Norma Desmond from a later era might be hiding from the world inside them, buttressed by cable TV (AMC or TCM, no doubt), a poodle named FiFi or Sir Francis, walk-in closets full of leopard-print Capri pants that haven't fit in decades, and a world class liquor cabinet that has seen heads of state under the table on a good night. 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. 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. 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. [12] Swanson later said, "Bill Holden was a man I could have fallen in love with. 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. All I know is that she's meshuggah, that's all. William Holden had a similar trajectory as a young artist in Hollywood. Watch Sunset Boulevard: Centennial Collection, 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, When Max is telling Joe about directing Madam's first pictures, there is a bad dub of the word "sixteen". In 1973, Holden starred with Kay Lenz in a movie directed by Clint Eastwood called Breezy, which was considered a box-office flop. Wilder won the argument and privately told friends that he would not be making any more films with Brackett.

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