To shoot Joe and Norma dancing together at her New Year's Eve party, cameraman John F. Seitz used a dance dolly---a wheeled platform attached to the camera. And so tonight, my golden boy, you got your wish". The magnifying glass in Normas beauty makeover scene shows the skin of a young ingnue, not an aging crone. Buster Keaton appears only in the bridge party scene and utters the word "Pass" twice. 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. X. Holden never lost his stride as cinema changed. 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. The actor-turned-director bitched about that goddamned butler role for the rest his life. His body was found four days later. Holden had his most widely recognized role as "Commander" Shears in David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) with Alec Guinness,[25] a huge commercial success. Salome was a wonderful part for Norma Desmonds celluloid comeback. read file from blob storage c#; ted dwane and isabel soden; best seats at belk theater charlotte; my rabbit ate ibuprofen 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). A new 4K high-definition scan was done in 2008 for the film's release on Blu-ray disc. Initially, writer-director Wilder envisioned the movie as a straightforward comedy, and the famously saucy West seemed like a perfect fit. At one point Norma mentions working with Mabel Normand and Marie Prevost. 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. Billy Wilder originally wanted another silent star, Pola Negri, to take the part of Norma Desmond. The black studs on Joe's shirt front were probably onyx, black opals, or even black pearls. Mrs. Getty divorced her millionaire husband and received custody of the house; it was she who rented it to Paramount for the filming. Hollywood was known for its excesses long before Michael Jackson hit town. 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). Holden had a supporting role in Ashanti (1979) and was third-billed in another disaster film, When Time Ran Out (1980), which was a flop. 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. "Twin Peaks" also features characters named Chester Desmond and Norma Jennings, in reference to Norma Desmond. But in 1957, Paramount formally asked Desmond to stop, the studio bosses having decided not to grant permission after all. In accordance with his wishes, no funeral or memorial services were conducted. 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. 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. A neglected house gets an unhappy look. . 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. While in Italy in 1966, Holden was responsible for the death of another driver in a drunk-driving incident near Pisa. Wilder was no fan of improvisation and was very protective of his words. Wilder and his co-writers reversed several elements, and there was no official connection between the movie and Waugh's book. According to reports, Taylor went to the feds for help filing charges against Normands cocaine suppliers. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett almost came to blows over the montage depicting Norma's preparations for her comeback. A few years later, Stephen Sondheim became interested in writing a musical version of his own, working with writer Burt Shevelove (with whom he ended up writing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum). Principal photography took place from 11 April to 18 June 1949. The four films were released between August 1950 and November 1951. Well, they kissed, and kissed, and kept kissing, and the crew began to snicker, and finally Marshall's voice rang out: "Cut, dammit!" [38], Holden maintained a home in Switzerland and also spent much of his time working for wildlife conservation as a managing partner in an animal preserve in Africa. He played Rafts kid brother, who was following in his gangster footsteps and needed to be set straight. 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! Jay Livingston, Ray Evans: The Paramount songwriting duo is seen at the piano at Artie Green's New Year's Eve party. Mary Pickford lived in seclusion, away from the public eye, while both Mae Murray and Clara Bow had well documented struggles with mental illness. This ushered in the peak years of Holden's stardom. Joe could have slept with Norma and loved Betty, and owned the pool that would be his final resting place. [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]. preppy-3 15 March 2008. 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. 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. This was the last major Hollywood feature film to be shot on nitrate stock. Sunset Boulevard, the 1950 film noir classic directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, did a lot to change that and other myths of old Hollywoodlike the real-life murder at the heart of the story. On the Columbia lot is an assistant director and scout named Harold Winston. Co-writer D.M. Holden did a sports film at Columbia, Boots Malone (1952), then returned to Paramount for The Turning Point (1952). This was the actual set of Samson and Delilah (1949), which de Mille was making at the time. After his final film S.O.B., Holden declined to star in Jason Miller's film That Championship Season.[37]. 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). The veteran actress particularly wanted to see what Mary Pickford felt and was disappointed to see that she had left. 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. Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard is one of his three or four masterpieces, a seminal Hollywood black comedy-satire, which unlike most films keeps improving with the passage of time.. Benfiting from a glorious and iconic cast, the film concerns a faded silent film star, played by Gloria Swanson (in a variation of her own onscreen persona), who lives in the past with her butler (and former . 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). Neither did Toward the Unknown (1957), the one film Holden produced himself. The exterior shots were of a house located not on Sunset but Irving Boulevard, near the corner of Wilshire, owned by the J. Paul Getty family. See production, box office & company info. It was George Cukor who suggested Gloria Swanson for the role of Norma Desmond. When Norma is telling Joe about how rich she is, she mentions a beach house and downtown real estate. "Waxwork" Buster Keaton was in reality an excellent bridge player, always in demand at Hollywood bridge parties. Holden starred in the 20th Century Fox film Apartment for Peggy (1948). They are singing a parody of their song "Buttons and Bows," from The Paleface (1948), for which they won an Oscar in 1949, the year this film was made. William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 November 12, 1981) was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. producer Music by Franz Waxman Cinematography by John F. Seitz . The structure in the film required a tennis court, or rather the ghost of a tennis court, with faded markings and a sagging net. Both Keaton and Hopper died the same day, on February 1, 1966, at the ages of 70 and 80 respectively, both in Los Angeles. That's a reference to the traditional grey morning suit worn by the groom at a formal wedding. but Holden's wife, Ardis (Brenda Marshall), who happened to be on set that day. "Variety" ran a front-page review, and this led to a belated release of Swanson's version in 1957 (the year of Stroheim's death). The other line, "I am big! After the. [16] Holden recalls their romance:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, Before I even met her, I had a crush on her, and after I met her, just a day later, I felt as if we were old friends, and I was rather fiercely protective of her, though not in a possessive way. The audience left 20 years ago. . Holden, who was at this point dependent on alcohol, said, "I really was in love with Audrey, but she wouldn't marry me. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! He was a genuine star. We all are." The Homicide Squad, complete with detectives and newspapermen, are responding to a call about a murder from one of those great big houses in the ten thousand block of Sunset Boulevard, a 22-mile block that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown LA to the Pacific Ocean. Art director John Meehan experimented until he came up with the idea to shoot the scene through a mirror at the bottom of the studio water tank. The Den of Geek quarterly magazine is packed with exclusive features, interviews, previews and deep dives into geek culture. Norma's bed originally belonged to French actress/singer Gaby Deslys. Norma's "gondola bed" was originally white, and was featured in Twentieth Century (1934) with Carole Lombard and John Barrymore. We were close friends for many years. At the time this movie was made, the incident was still quite recent. Some, including Holden himself and one of his close confidants, could foresee the death (per The Huntsville Item). The mansion was torn down in 1957, and a large office building for Getty Oil built on the site still stands on the spot. Normands career never recovered after word of her addiction leaked out and she died of tuberculosis on Feb. 23, 1930. As day breaks. In fact, a pivotal plot point in the Showtime limited series of Twin Peaks (2017) includes a scene from "Sunset Boulevard" in which the character's name is mentioned. Ready? Norma is at the edge of insanity through the whole movie, but that doesnt mean shes not fun. When filming began, William Holden was 31 and Gloria Swanson was 50, the same stated age as her character. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson. There were three young directors who showed promise in those early days of silent film, D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. Gloria Swanson became so identified with the demanding, irascible Norma that later generations of fans were startled to discover her serene, easy-going, naturalist personality in real life. Betty and Joe fall in love after they sneak off to the studio backlot by moonlight to collaborate on a screenplay. [47], President Ronald Reagan released a statement: "I have a great feeling of grief. The car William Holden drives is a P15 Plymouth Special DeLuxe convertible, a model that was produced from 1945-49. Gloria Swanson's career was not revitalized by this film. Florabel Muir, the New York Daily News Hollywood correspondent, thought Peavey was the murderer and tried to ambush him into a confession. Reluctantly, Wilder met with William Holden, who hadn't done much after the great Hollywood innovator Rouben Mamoulian's Golden Boy (1939). Although a registered Republican, he never involved himself in politics. At Paramount, he did another Western, Streets of Laredo (1949). 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. This promised to go the limit. Holden's films after that time had not impressed Wilder (in the 1940s Holden's movies were decidedly mediocre). 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. Technically the address was 641 S Irving Blvd but the estate lay at the corner of Irving and Wilshire Blvd. These include Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Rudolph Valentino, Rod La Rocque, Vilma Bnky, Mabel Normand, Marie Prevost, Pearl White, and Douglas Fairbanks. Not everyone felt the same way, however. The Academy Award-winning actor William Holden, born William Beedle Jr., on April 17, 1918, in O'Fallon, Illinois, began his career with 1939s "Golden Boy," per Britannica. Carol Burnett spoofed the film several times on her TV variety show. The home was built in 1923 for businessman William O. Jenkins. They eventually worked together on several films and became close friends. She offered Peavey 10 dollars to identify Taylors grave in the Hollywood Park Cemetery and had someone wait there in a white sheet to scare it out of him. They had faces. The only film to be nominated for Best Actor and Actress Oscars that year. 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. William Haines turned down an offer to appear in the film but attended the Hollywood premiere with Joan Crawford. The part was only Nancy Olson's third film appearance. You see, this is my life, she promised. It is also one of the most frequently misquoted movie lines, usually given as, "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. (1950), as a way of "art imitating life." Swanson was told "She can't show herself, Gloria, she's too overcome. The script (which was to be a vehicle for her comeback) was submitted to Cecil B. DeMille who sent it back. Gillis smokes unfiltered cigarettes in the film. 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. He received an eight-month suspended sentence for vehicular manslaughter. When Max picks up the discarded headpiece during the tango scene, his expression hints at concern for the mental issues Norma suffers from. It's kind of sweet, actually. Studs and cufflinks were inserted into the shirt holes to secure the garment. 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.. Was the inspiration for Metallica's 1997 song "The Memory Remains". The pool was used in its empty condition in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Hola Elige tu direccin Pelculas y Series de TV. She produced and starred in Sadie Thompson and The Love of Sunya. She burst into tears upon completion of the scene. Swanson supplemented many of the costumes with her own accessories and jewelry. But attempts to turn the movie into a stage musical began almost immediately, spearheaded by none other than Gloria Swanson. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's 17th and final screenplay collaboration. Norma Desmond says that she paid $28,000 for the Isotta-Fraschini car in 1929. The older actor prided himself on needling people and he needled the shit out of Holden on the first movie, and the second movie was worse because Holden started dating Audrey Hepburn during filming. Only 950 were made from 1924 to 1931. Everyone had a good laugh, though the record doesn't reflect whether Marshall joined in. 10060 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA. And, of course, a pool. You used to be in silent pictures. The name "Norma Desmond" was chosen from a combination of silent-film star Norma Talmadge and silent movie director William Desmond Taylor, whose still-unsolved murder is one of the great scandals of Hollywood history. . The restoration was performed at Lowry Digital by Barry Allen and Steve Elkin. On the last day of shooting, Swanson drove back to the house she, her mother and daughter shared during production, announcing "there were only three of us in it now, meaning that Norma Desmond had taken her leave.". 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. Among the many past associations embedded in Sunset Blvd. (1940) followed by the role of George Gibbs in the film adaptation of Our Town (1940), done for Sol Lesser at United Artists.[8]. Norma Shearer turned down the role of Norma Desmond as she didn't want to come out of retirement and also found the part to be highly distasteful. She can be seen talking and giggling on the phone during the party. It was largely from his association with Wilder that Holden would enjoy the greatest acting successes of his career in the 1950s. "[13] Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950). 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. Movie audiences in the nave early days of film sometimes didnt know that somebody had to sit down and write a movie. But even to show a chair with her name on it, Lamarr wanted $10,000. 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. Wilder used real names like Darryl Zanuck, Tyrone Power, and Alan Ladd. Oh, wake up, Norma. They swore each other off over the montage where Norma struggles to lose weight for her comeback. But it originally began in the L.A. county morgue, with toe-tagged corpsesincluding Joe'sspeaking to each other (in voiceover) about how they died. Sunset Boulevard is no. Holden's first starring role was in Golden Boy (1939), costarring Barbara Stanwyck, in which he played a violinist-turned-boxer. After the completion of his film, Wilder shocked his longtime collaborator by announcing that he wished to dissolve their partnership; this was the result of a fierce quarrel over a montage scene in the film. Louis B. Mayer's reaction is well documented but Mae Murray also found the film offensive. Sunset Boulevard is a noir film and like many of the post-World War II dark classics, it is covered with a thick sheen of cynicism. 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. 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. Director Cecil B. DeMille, silent film actors Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson played waxy versions of themselves. 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. He was perfection on and off-screen. Holden was a bit of an anti-hero, or at least a very flawed hero. However, he knew that her arch-rival Hedda Hopper had trained as an actress and would therefore be more convincing onscreen. These actors were bigger than life. Throughout Hollywood history many film stars, and/or single films, were responsible for saving ailing studios. Paramount was more than happy to be the subject of the film, and didn't ask for the studio to be disguised. 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). When Norma visits DeMille at Paramount, he's in the midst of shooting Samson and Delilah, which really is what he was up to at the time. Haines declined and fellow screen veteran H.B. 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. Columbia teamed him with Lucille Ball for Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), and the sequel to Dear Ruth, Dear Wife (1949). William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 - November 12, 1981) was an American actor and murderer, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. The car with the massive chrome grill that the repo men drive is a 1948 DeSoto Custom Club Coupe. We'll hear two of his visits to Suspense, beginning with the New Orleans jazz . [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. was voted #6 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by "Premiere" magazine in 2007. The next decade saw Holden's career flourish. [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. When producer Sheldrake offers to turn Gillis' script into a Betty Hutton story, the desperately poor writer inexplicably turns him down. He had made Swanson a star by. For added meta-truthfulness, Wilder wanted to have that film's lead actress, Hedy Lamarr, be there too, so that DeMille could ask her to let Norma sit in her chair (you know, those behind-the-scenes chairs that have the star's name on them). (as Arthur Schmidt) Saltar al contenido principal.com.mx. Wilder asked how much shed charge just to shoot the chair and Lamarr said $10,000. William Holden returns to find that Gloria Swanson has tried to slash her wrists in 'Sunset Boulevard', directed by Billy Wilder. Sunset Boulevard told an old familiar story. 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. Swanson and von Stroheim are playing themselves in that scene. Billy Wilder wanted Hedy Lamarr to appear in a cameo in the scene where Norma and Joe visit Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. The film and actors was excellent and lived up to our expectations. ", 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.". Strange? He played an older version of Joe in Sidney Lumets classic Network (1976), written by the cynical Paddy Chayefsky. 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. Westmore and director Billy Wilder agreed with this so William Holden was made up to look younger than he was. It's the *pictures* that got small. Principal photography took place from 11 April to 18 June 1949. Gloria Swanson does a famous impression of Charles Chaplin as the "Little Tramp," but Chaplin's name is never mentioned. He stayed true to his word. He rejects her. [15] Holden and Hepburn became romantically involved during the filming, unbeknownst to Wilder: "People on the set told me later that Bill and Audrey were having an affair, and everybody knew. Holden acted in Executive Suite (1954), The Country Girl (1954) with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly, The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), and Picnic (1955). [35] Holden starred in The Earthling,[36] as a loner dying of cancer at the Australian outback and accompanying an orphan boy (Ricky Schroder). His co-star Barbara Stanwyck, a screen veteran and one of the greatest actors of all time, coached and promoted Holden personally. A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. [27] He played an American Civil War military surgeon in John Ford's The Horse Soldiers (1959) opposite John Wayne, which was a box-office disappointment. Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, and Greta Garbo turned down the role. Location scenes at Norma Desmond's mansion were shot not on Sunset Boulevard but on Wilshire Boulevard. There were no shortage of suspects. He always wished that I would get an Oscar. Holden earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for the role.[11]. In the opening scene of the 1950 film "Sunset Boulevard," the cynical screenwriter turned gigolo Joe Gillis lies floating in a swimming pool, blood seeping from his lifeless body. The studio needed an actor who the audience could believe wrote a story about Okies in the Dust Bowl that played on a torpedo boat by the time it hit the screen. It was a the kind of a place crazy movie people built in the crazy 20s. It was widely known as a top Hollywood hangout for many actors, directors, writers and producers. His killer was never identified. For the first industry screening, Paramount executives invited several silent-film stars. (A few months later, Hepburn met Mel Ferrer, whom she later married and with whom she had a son Sean Hepburn Ferrer. Universal bought it on her death in 1920 and it was used in several movies, most notably in The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Besides Tyrone Power, other stars mentioned when Joe Gillis is pitching his "baseball" picture to the producer are Alan Ladd, William Demarest and Betty Hutton. and was "a loner," according to Edwards, who wasn't surprised that Holden's body went so long without being discovered. Holman was reportedly worried the film would parody their relationship and told Clift she would commit suicide if he played the role. This is a reference to the now-mad Norma's final possession by the character of Salome, with whom she'd been so obsessed. 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. When two more test audiences reacted the same way, Wilder cut the scene and the movie was saved. These towns were favored because they were on the way to Palm Springs where, after collecting the audience reaction cards, studio personnel would then go to relax and determine what changes should be made to the previewed films. When he appeared in the innovative Hollywood director Rouben Mamoulian's Golden Boy (1939), he was hailed as exactly that, but had seen his stock fall, largely through his problems with alcohol and a string of unmemorable films in the 1940s. This car has been on display at the National Automobile Museum in Turin, Italy since 1972. 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. 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. Erich von Stroheim could not drive in real life. When Norma Desmond visits her old friend at Paramount, she affectionately calls him "Mr. DeMille" (not Cecil or C.B. As the band plays 'Diane', we also see Desmond ascending her staircase. His death certificate makes no mention of cancer. About 10 minutes later, Holden passed out and died from blood loss. William Haines, along with fellow silent screen veterans Buster Keaton and Anna Q. Nilsson, was approached to play one of Gloria Swanson's bridge partners. Mrs. Getty's home had to be completely re-decorated to give it the oversized grandeur needed for the film. Cecil B. DeMille: at the studio during Norma's visit. 12 Sep. WILLIAM HOLDEN: At some point, "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) played at The Silver Screen. 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.