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For the Broadway production see: Sunset Boulevard (musical).

Sunset Boulevard (also known as Sunset Blvd.) is a 1950 film noir motion picture drama, containing elements of horror and black comedy. Directed and cowritten by Billy Wilder, it was named for the street, Sunset Boulevard, in Los Angeles.

It stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a faded movie star who entraps the unsuspecting Gillis into her fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. Supporting roles are played by Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, Lloyd Gough and Jack Webb. The director, Cecil B. DeMille, and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper portray themselves, and the film includes cameo appearances by leading figures of silent films, Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson.

Praised by many critics when first released, it was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and won three. It has become widely accepted as a classic, with many critics citing it as one of the most noteworthy films of American cinema. Deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress, in 1989 Sunset Boulevard was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1998, it was ranked number twelve on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best American films of the 20th century.

Plot

Template:Spoiler The opening scenes reveal that a man has been killed, and he is first seen as a corpse floating face down in a swimming pool. The dead man, who narrates the rest of the movie explains who he was — Joe Gillis, an unsuccessful film writer. As he commences his story, the film fades into flashback. He describes trying to escape two repossession agents. Fleeing from them, he seeks refuge in what he believes to be an empty mansion on Sunset Boulevard. He meets its occupants, a German butler and an eccentric older woman who mistakes him for an undertaker, visiting to arrange the funeral for her recently deceased pet monkey. He recognizes her as Norma Desmond, formerly one of the great stars of the silent screen. She offers him a job reading a script she has been writing for her planned return to the screen, and seizing the rare opportunity to make some money, he agrees. After some time he assumes the role of a "kept man", but is horrified when Norma reveals to him on New Year's Eve that she is in love with him. Rejecting her advances, he drives to a friend's house, where a party is underway. He speaks with a young woman, Betty, who is interested in his writing. Inspired to continue with his writing, he phones the Desmond house to say he is leaving but is told that Norma has attempted suicide. He rushes back to the mansion, where he comforts her and stays.

The two appear to be relatively contented, and Norma continues working on her script, finally sending it to Paramount Studios. When she receives calls from the studio she assumes Cecil B. De Mille is interested in filming the project and goes to the studio to meet with him. Gillis and the butler learn that the studio wants to hire Norma's vintage car for use in a film, and has no interest in her script, but the men keep this from her. Joe begins secretly meeting with Betty, to work on a screenplay, and they fall in love. When Norma discovers this she phones Betty and insinuates what sort of man Joe really is. Joe returns to the house in time to hear what Norma said, and takes the phone from her. He tells Betty to come to the house, where he explains his side of the situation but sends Betty away. Misundertanding his actions, Norma is grateful to Joe, but he brushes her away and begins packing to leave. Norma threatens to shoot him, but he does not take her seriously. As he walks away, she follows him, and as he walks away from the house, she shoots him several times before he falls dead into the pool.

Having explained how Joe Gillis met his death, the film returns to the present where Norma Desmond appears to be lost in fantasy. News cameras arrive to film her, but she believes she is on the set of her new film. She descends her grand staircase, and after making a speech declaring her happiness at making a new film, she reaches for the camera. As she moves closer to it, the screen fades to white, and the narrator concludes that Norma's dream of performing for the cameras has, in an unexpected way, come true for her. Template:Mn

Background

The street, Sunset Boulevard, has been associated with Hollywood film production since 1911, when the town's first film studio opened on Sunset Boulevard. The film workers lived modestly in the neighborhood that grew nearby, but during the 1920s as profits and salaries rose to unprecedented levels, so too did the development of the "star system" along with star homes noted for their often incongruous grandeur. As new areas were developed, large Italianate palaces were built alongside imposing Tudor castles. The stars themselves were the subject of public fascination throughout the world as magazines and newspapers reported the excesses of their lives.

As a young man in Warsaw, Poland, Billy Wilder was interested in American culture, with much of his interest fuelled by American films. By the late 1940s many of the grand Hollywood houses remained, and Wilder, now a Los Angeles resident, found they were part of his everyday world. Many of the famous stars of the silent era still lived in those palaces, although most of them were no longer involved in the film business. Wilder wondered how they spent their time now that "the parade had passed them by" and began to imagine the story of a star who has lost her celebrity and box-office appeal. Template:Mn

Casting

In 1948, Wilder discussed the Norma Desmond character with Greta Garbo, who had not made a movie since 1941, in the hope that she might return to the screen; however, she expressed little interest. The role was then offered to Mae West who declared herself too young to play a former silent-movie star. Wilder recalled that he and Brackett, "in a bout of insanity", visited Mary Pickford. She was interested but cautious and, when she disagreed with the storyline, was ruled out. They also approached Pola Negri who "threw a tantrum at the mere suggestion of playing a has-been" and refused the role.Template:Mn

George Cukor suggested Gloria Swanson. Wilder later commented that they had not considered her because they believed she was "somehow unattainable". Swanson had been one of the most feted actresses of the silent-screen era, known for her beauty, talent and extravagant lifestyle. At the peak of her career in 1925, she was said to have received 10,000 fan letters in a single week, and had lived on Sunset Boulevard in an elaborate Italianate palace from 1920 until the early 1930s. In many ways she resembled the Norma Desmond character, and like Desmond, she had been unable to make a smooth transition into talking pictures. The similarities ended there, however, as Swanson accepted the end of her film career and in the early 1930s moved to New York City, where she worked in radio and television. Although she was not seeking a comeback, she was intrigued when Wilder discussed the role with her. Template:Mn

Swanson was chagrined at the notion of submitting to a screen test, and said that she had "made twenty films for Paramount. Why do they want me to audition?" Her reaction was later echoed in the screenplay when Norma Desmond declares that "without me there wouldn't be any Paramount". In her memoir, Swanson recalled asking Cukor if it was unreasonable of her to refuse the screen test, and he replied that Norma Desmond was the role for which she would be remembered. "If they ask you to do ten screen tests, do ten screen tests, or I will personally shoot you", Cukor said. His enthusiasm convinced Swanson to participate. Template:Mn In a 1975 interview, Wilder recalled Swanson's initial reaction with the observation, "there was a lot of Norma in her, you know".Template:Mn

Montgomery Clift was signed to play Joe Gillis but withdrew, and Fred MacMurray declined the role. William Holden, who had made an impressive debut in Golden Boy (1939), before spending the next decade in second-rate films, accepted the part.

Erich von Stroheim, a leading film director of the 1920s who had directed Swanson, was signed to play Max, the faithful servant and Norma's protector. For the role of Betty Schaeffer, Wilder wanted a newcomer who could project a wholesome and ordinary image to contrast with Swanson's flamboyant Desmond. He chose Nancy Olson, who had recently been considered for the role of Delilah in Samson and Delilah. Template:Mn

Writing

Wilder and Brackett began working on the script in 1948, producing a storyline that did not completely satisfy them. In August 1948, D.M. Marshman Jr., formerly a writer for Life Magazine, was hired to help develop the storyline after Wilder and Brackett were impressed by a critique he provided of their film The Emperor Waltz (1948).

In an effort to keep the full details of the story from Paramount Studios, and to stymie the restrictive censorship of the Breen Code, scripts were submitted almost on a page-by-page basis. The Breen Office insisted that certain "unacceptable" lines be rewritten, such as Gillis's "I'm up that creek and I need a job", which became "I'm over a barrel. I need a job". Paramount executives accepted that Wilder was adapting a story called A Can of Beans, although the story did not exist, and allowed him relative freedom to proceed as he saw fit. Filming began in early May 1949 with only the first third of the script written, and Wilder unsure how the film would end. The remainder was written as filming progressed. Template:Mn

The script contains numerous references to Hollywood and to screenwriters, with most of the cynical comments being made by the Joe Gillis character. He sums up his film writing career with the remark, "The last one I wrote was about Okies in the dust bowl. You'd never know because when it reached the screen, the whole thing played on a torpedo boat". In another exchange Betty comments to Gillis, "I'd always heard that you had some talent". He replies, "That was last year. This year I'm trying to make a living." Template:Mn

Several of Swanson's lines, such as "All right Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up" and "I am big. It's the pictures that got small", are widely known and quoted. Much of the film's wit is contained in Norma Desmond's deadpan comments which are often followed by Gillis's sarcastic retorts, sometimes mumbled as asides. Gillis's response to Desmond's assertion that "the pictures got small" is a muttered reply, "I knew there was something wrong with them". Occasionally Wilder varies the structure, allowing Desmond to take Gillis's comments seriously and reply accordingly. An example is the exchange between the two discussing the overwrought script Desmond has been creating. "They'll love it in Pomona", observes Gillis. "They'll love it everyplace", replies Desmond. Template:Mn

In an essay about the screenplay, the film writer Richard Corliss described Sunset Boulevard as "the definitive Hollywood horror movie" and noted that almost everything in the script is "ghoulish". He commented that the story is narrated by a dead man who Norma Desmond first mistakes for an undertaker, and most of the film takes place "in an old, dark house that only opens its doors to the living dead". He compared Von Stroheim's character, Max, with The Phantom of the Opera, and Norma Desmond with Dracula, and noted that as she seduces Joe Gillis, the camera tactfully withdraws with "the traditional directorial attitude taken towards Dracula's jugular seductions". He wrote that the narrative contains an excess of "cheap sarcasm" but ultimately congratulated the writers for attributing this dialogue to Joe Gillis, who was therefore assumed to be little more than a hack writer. Template:Mn

Wilder preferred to leave analysis of his screenplays and films to others. Asked if Sunset Boulevard was a black comedy, he replied, "No, just a picture". Template:Mn

Key creative personnel

The dark and shadowy black-and-white film noir cinematography style of the film was the work of John F. Seitz. Wilder had worked with him several times before and trusted his judgment and allowed him the freedom to make his own decisions. Seitz recalled asking Wilder what he required for the scene of the pet monkey's funeral, and Wilder replied, "you know, just your standard monkey funeral shot". For some interior shots, Seitz sprinkled dust in front of the camera before filming to suggest the "mustiness" of the place, a trick he had also used during production of Double Indemnity (1944).

Wilder was adamant that he wanted the corpse of Joe Gillis to be seen from the bottom of the pool; however, creating the desired effect proved difficult. The camera was placed inside a specially made box and lowered underwater, but the result disappointed Wilder, who insisted on further experimentation. The shot was finally achieved by placing a mirror on the bottom of the pool and filming Holden's reflection from above, with the distorted image of the policemen standing around the pool forming a backdrop. Template:Mn

The film historian Tom Stempel wrote of Seitz's cinematography: "In both Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard, Seitz does something that has always impressed me. Both are films noir, and he finesses the fact that both are set in the sunniest of locales, Los Angeles... he brings together the light and the dark in the same film without any seams showing... he brings together the realistic lighting of Joe Gillis out in the real world with the gothic look of Norma Desmond's mansion. Again with no seams showing." Template:Mn

Edith Head designed the costumes. Wilder, Head and Swanson agreed that Norma Desmond would have kept relatively up to date with fashion trends, so Head designed costumes closely resembling the Dior and Chanel look of the mid-1940s. Embellishments were added to personalize them and to reflect Norma Desmond's taste. Swanson recalled in her biography that the costumes were only "a trifle outdated, a trifle exotic". Template:Mn Head later described her assignment as "the most challenging of my career", and explained her approach with the comment, "Because Norma Desmond was an actress who had become lost in her own imagination, I tried to make her look like she was always impersonating someone". Head later said that she had relied on Swanson's expertise because "she was creating a past that she knew and I didn't." Template:Mn

Head also designed the costumes for William Holden and the minor characters, but for authenticity, Wilder instructed Von Stroheim and Nancy Olson to wear their own clothing.

The musical score was created by Franz Waxman. His theme for Norma Desmond was based around tango music, inspired by her reference to dancing the tango with Rudolph Valentino, and this style was contrasted with Joe Gillis' bebop theme. Waxman also used distorted arrangements of popular film music styles of the 1920s and 1930s to suggest Norma Desmond's state of mind. The film's soundtrack was released on compact disc for the first time in 2002.

The overstated decadence of Norma Desmond's home was created by the set designer Hans Dreier, whose career extended back to the silent era, and who also had provided the interior design for some movie stars' residences, including that of Mae West. William Haines, an interior designer and former actor, later defended criticism of Dreier's set design with the observation that "Bebe Daniels, Norma Shearer and Pola Negri all had homes with ugly interiors like that". Template:Mn

During filming, considerable publicity was given to the youthful appearance of the health conscious Gloria Swanson, which did not sufficiently contrast with the mature appearance of William Holden. Wilder insisted that the age difference be delineated, and instructed the makeup supervisor, Wally Westmore, to make Swanson look older. She argued that a woman of Norma Desmond's age, with her considerable wealth and devotion to self, would not necessarily look old, and suggested that makeup be applied to Holden to make him appear younger. Wilder agreed and Westmore was assigned the task of making Holden appear younger, allowing Swanson to portray Norma Desmond as a more sophisticated and glamorous figure than Wilder had originally anticipated. Template:Mn

Touches of authenticity

In dissecting the "world of illusion" of Hollywood, Wilder carefully placed the story within as authentic a setting as possible and made use of Hollywood's history. Norma Desmond's name was believed to have been inspired by William Desmond Taylor, who had been murdered in 1922, and his close associate Mabel Normand, whose career was ruined by the murder. It was also suggested that Norma was also named partly for Norma Shearer, who by 1949 had retired from films, and was rumored to amuse herself with various young men who were seeking a career in films.

Swanson was considered to be a fitting representative of Hollywood's past, remembered nostalgically by older fans, but unknown by many younger movie viewers. Her collection of photographs was used to decorate the set for Norma Desmond's home, thereby allowing Desmond's fictional past to resemble Swanson's authentic career. Template:Mn

The script makes reference to real films such as Gone With the Wind, and real people such as Darryl F. Zanuck, D. W. Griffith, Tyrone Power, Alan Ladd, Rod La Rocque, Vilma Banky John Gilbert, Mabel Normand, Bebe Daniels, Marie Prevost, Betty Hutton and Barbara Stanwyck as well as the Black Dahlia murder case. Norma Desmond declares her admiration for Greta Garbo. Template:Mn

Wilder extends his Hollywood references to the cast. As Max, Erich von Stroheim, a leading director of the silent era, watches a film with Norma Desmond. Briefly shown is a scene from Queen Kelly (1928) which he directed with Swanson in the title role. Cecil B. De Mille, often credited as the person most responsible for making Swanson a star, plays himself, and was filmed on the set of his current film Samson and Delilah at Paramount Studios. He calls Norma "young fellow", which was the name he had called Swanson, a tiny detail of authenticity suggested by de Mille.

Norma's friends who came to play bridge with her, though not named in the film as anything more than "The Waxworks", are played by Swanson's contemporaries Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson and H. B. Warner, and it is left for the viewer to decide if they are playing themselves. Hedda Hopper plays herself reporting on Norma Desmond's downfall in the film's final scenes. Template:Mn

In a comic scene, Norma Desmond performs a pantomime for Joe Gillis as a Mack Sennett "Bathing Beauty", an homage to Swanson's earliest film roles. She also performs a Charles Chaplin impersonation, identical to one she performed in the film Masquerade (1924).

Beyond Norma Desmond's world, Wilder also made use of authentic locales. Joe Gillis's home in the Alto-Nido apartments was a real apartment block, located near Paramount Studios, and often populated by struggling writers. The scenes of Gillis and Betty Schaefer on Paramount's backlot were filmed on the actual backlot, while the interior of the drugstore "Schwab's" was carefully recreated for several scenes. The exterior scenes of the Desmond house were filmed near the real "Sunset Boulevard" in an old home built in the 1920s, which by 1949 was owned by the former wife of J. Paul Getty. Template:Mn

Reaction to the film

Nervous about a major screening in Hollywood, Wilder and Brackett elected to have the film preview in Evanston, Illinois. The original edit opened with a scene inside a morgue with the assembled corpses discussing how they had come to be there. Joe Gillis was one of the corpses and began telling about his murder. The audience reacted with laughter, and seemed unsure whether to view the rest of the film as a drama or a comedy. After a similar reaction during its second screening, the opening scene was deleted. In Poughkeepsie, New York, the new edit was well received.

In Hollywood, Paramount arranged a private screening for the heads of the various studios and specially invited guests. After viewing the film Barbara Stanwyck bowed to kiss the hem of Gloria Swanson's skirt. Swanson later remembered looking for Mary Pickford only to be told, "She can't show herself, Gloria. She's too overcome. We all are". Louis B. Mayer berated Wilder before the crowd of celebrities with "You have disgraced the industry that made and fed you. You should be tarred and feathered and run out of Hollywood". The actress Mae Murray, a contemporary of Swanson's, was offended by the film and commented, "None of us floozies was that nuts". Template:Mn

Sunset Boulevard attracted a range of positive comments from critics. TIME magazine described it as a story of "Hollywood at its worst told by Hollywood at its best" Template:Mn, while Boxoffice Review wrote "the picture will keep spectators spellbound". Template:Mn James Agee, writing for Sight and Sound, praised the film and said that Wilder and Brackett were "beautifully equipped to do the cold, exact, adroit, sardonic job they have done". Good Housekeeping described Swanson as a "great lady spans another decade with her magic", Template:Mn while Look Magazine praised her "brilliant and haunting performance". Template:Mn

Some critics accurately prophesized the lasting appeal of the film. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that future generations would "set themselves the task of analyzing the durability and greatness" of the film, while the magazine Commonweal said that in the future "the Library of Congress will be glad to have in its archives a print of Sunset Boulevard". Template:Mn

Among the rare negative comments were those from the The New Yorker which described the film as "a pretentious slice of Roquefort", containing only "the germ of a good idea". Template:Mn Thomas M. Pryor for the New York Times wrote that the plot device of using the dead Joe Gillis as narrator was "completely unworthy of Brackett and Wilder, but happily it does not interfere with the success of Sunset Boulevard". Template:Mn

After a seven-week run at Radio City Music Hall, Variety magazine reported that it had grossed "around $1,020,000" making it one of Radio City Music Hall's most successful pictures. Variety also noted that while it was "breaking records in major cities, it is doing below average in ... the sticks". To promote the film, Gloria Swanson traveled by train throughout the United States visiting 33 cities in a few months. The publicity helped attract patrons to the cinemas, but in many provincial areas it was considered to be less than a "hit".Template:Mn

Awards

Sunset Boulevard won Academy Awards in the categories of:

• Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White (Hans Dreier, John Meehan, Sam Comer and Ray Moyer)
• Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Franz Waxman)
• Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D.M. Marshman Jr.)

It was also nominated in the categories of:

• Best Picture
• Best Director (Billy Wilder)
• Best Actor in a Leading Role (William Holden)
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Erich von Stroheim)
• Best Actress in a Leading Role (Gloria Swanson)
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Nancy Olson)
• Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (John F. Seitz)
• Best Film Editing (Arthur P. Schmidt and Doane Harrison) Template:Mn

Sunset Boulevard's eleven nominations were only exceeded by the fourteen nominations received by All About Eve, which won six awards including "Best Picture" and "Best Director". Many critics wrote that the "Best Actress" award would be given to Gloria Swanson or Bette Davis for All About Eve. Many were surprised that the recipient was Judy Holliday, a newcomer to films, for Born Yesterday. In an interview years later, Davis bluntly stated that she and Swanson "cancelled each other out". Template:Mn Swanson recalled the reaction of the press following Holliday's win, writing "It slowly dawned on me that they were asking for a larger-than-life scene, or better still, a mad scene. More accurately they were trying to flush out Norma Desmond". Template:Mn

Other awards won by Sunset Boulevard include Golden Globe awards for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Motion Picture Actress (Swanson), Best Motion Picture Director, and Best Motion Picture Score. Wilder and Brackett won a Writer's Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama, while the Director's Guild of America nominated Wilder for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. The National Board of Review voted it Best Picture and Swanson, Best Actress.

After Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard was the last collaboration between Wilder and Brackett, their relationship reportedly damaged by disputes over filming the montage scenes of Norma preparing to return to the screen. It marked the approximate midpoint of the years of Wilder's greatest success.

Charles Brackett's Hollywood career declined rapidly after his split with Wilder. He wrote Niagara, which was the breakthrough film for Marilyn Monroe as a dramatic actress. It was Wilder, however, who realized her comedic abilities in The Seven Year Itch and Some Like it Hot.

William Holden began to receive more important parts and his career rose. In 1953, he won the Best Actor Oscar for Stalag 17 (also directed by Wilder), and in 1956 he was the number one box-office attraction in the United States.

Gloria Swanson was not able to extend her movie career following her return. Although offered scripts, she felt that they all were poor imitations of Norma Desmond. Imagining a career that would eventually result in her playing "a parody of a parody," she virtually retired from films. Template:Mn

In 1957, Swanson initiated discussions with Paramount Studios to adapt Sunset Boulevard into a musical to be called Boulevard! In her version, the romance between Gillis and Shaefer was allowed to blossom, and rather than shoot Gillis at the end, Norma gave the couple her blessing and sent them on their way to live "happily ever after." Swanson employed a songwriter, and several songs were completed. Paramount Studios, who owned the copyright, encouraged Swanson to continue, but withdrew its consent in 1959, saying that it would not permit an interpretation that would damage the existing and future reputation of the film. It allowed television productions to be made for Lux Video Theatre with Miriam Hopkins, and Robert Montgomery Presents with Mary Astor and Darren McGavin, because the storyline remained faithful to the original script. Template:Mn

Sunset Boulevard was shown in New York City in 1960, and drew such a positive response that Paramount arranged for a limited release in theaters throughout the United States. It is arguably best known to modern audiences as a result of its television screenings since the 1960s. Template:Mn

The film's current stature

In 1989, the film was among the first group of 25 films deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Template:Mn

Polls conducted by the American Film Institute have demonstrated the lasting appeal of Sunset Boulevard and the esteem in which it is held by the modern filmmakers who respond to these polls. In 1998 it was ranked number twelve on a list of "100 Greatest Films". Template:Mn In 2004 two quotes from Sunset Boulevard were included in their poll of "Greatest Movie Quotes" — "All right, Mr. De Mille. I'm ready for my close-up" at number seven, and "I am big. It's the pictures that got small" at number 24. Template:Mn As of 2005, Franz Waxman's score has been nominated as one of the "Greatest Film Scores", with the result to be announced in September 2005. Template:Mn

Roger Ebert has praised the acting of Holden and von Stroheim, and has described Swanson's as "one of the all time greatest performances". He says it "remains the best drama ever made about the movies because it sees through the illusions". Template:Mn Pauline Kael described Sunset Boulevard as "almost too clever, but at its best in its cleverness", Template:Mn and also wrote that it was common to "hear Billy Wilder called the world's greatest director". Template:Mn When Wilder died many obituaries singled out Sunset Boulevard for comment, describing it as one of his most significant works along with Double Indemnity (1944) and Some Like it Hot (1959). Template:Mn

By the late 1990s, most Sunset Boulevard prints were in poor condition, and as the film was one of the last to be filmed on cellulose nitrate filmstock, much of the original negative had perished. Paramount Studios, believing that the film merited the effort of a full restoration, mounted an expensive project to have the film digitally restored. The restored version was released on DVD in 2002. Template:Mn A 2003 BBC review of the restored film described it as "the finest movie ever made about the narcissistic hellhole that is Hollywood". Template:Mn

Other films about Hollywood

While Hollywood had been making films about itself since the 1920s, many of them, such as It's a Great Feeling (1949), were good natured and fun. Others, such as What Price Hollywood? (1932) and A Star is Born (1937), hinted at the darker side of Hollywood without explicitly showing it. Sunset Boulevard is considered to be the first to employ such extreme cynicism in its depiction. It was soon followed by The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Singin' in the Rain (1952) and the musical remake of A Star is Born (1954), and though none of them was as harshly self critical, they each depicted the ease and cruelty with which Hollywood could discard a movie star past his or her prime.

Sunset Boulevard was followed by other films which varied the story of an older actress desperately clinging to her past glory, such as Bette Davis in The Star (1952) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?(1962), Joan Crawford in Torch Song (1953), Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), Susan Hayward in Valley of the Dolls (1967) and Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest (1981). The scenario of an older woman with a gigolo was also used as a storyline without the Hollywood setting in such films as The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) which starred Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty, while Katharine Hepburn's descent into madness in Suddenly Last Summer (1959) has been compared to Norma Desmond's final scene. The Day of the Locust (1975) and The Last Tycoon (1976) depict Hollywood in bitter terms and, like Sunset Boulevard, make use of real backstage settings.

Among the more recent films to discuss Sunset Boulevard in their screenplays, or which imitate scenes or dialogue, are Soapdish (1991), The Player (1992), Gods and Monsters (1998) and Mulholland Drive (2001). Template:Mn

The musical version

A musical version, also titled Sunset Boulevard, with music by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, opened in London, England, in 1993. The production closely followed the film story, retained much of the dialogue and attempted to present similar set designs. Billy Wilder commented, "I congratulate on something very ingenious — they left the story alone. A woman comes forward and says, 'I am big, it's the pictures that got small'. I was very much astonished when I heard the words, many of them retained and some of them to music. I'm not an expert on music but it sounded good to me." The show opened on Broadway the following year. Among the actresses to play Norma Desmond were Patti Lupone, Elaine Paige, Betty Buckley and Petula Clark in London, and Glenn Close and Betty Buckley in New York. Template:Mn

In July 2005, Lloyd-Webber's Really Useful Group announced that a film version, starring Glenn Close and Ewan McGregor, was to be produced with an expected release date of 2006. Template:Mn

References

Template:Mnb Corliss, Richard : Talking Pictures. Screenwriters in the American Cinema. Penguin Books, 1975. ISBN 0879511591
Template:Mnb Hadleigh, Boze : Bette Davis Speaks. Barricade Books, 1996. ISBN 1569800669
Template:Mnb Kael, Pauline : 5001 Nights at the Movies. Zenith Books, 1982. ISBN 0099335506
Template:MnbPerry, George: Sunset Boulevard, From Movie to Musical. Pavilion, 1994. ISBN 1857932080
Template:MnbStaggs, Sam: Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond and the Dark Hollywood Dream. St. Martin's Griffin Books, 2002. ISBN 0312302541
Template:MnbSwanson, Gloria: Swanson on Swanson, The Making of a Hollywood Legend. Hamlyn, 1981. ISBN 0600204960
Template:MnbWiley, Mason and Bona, Damien: Inside Oscar, The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards. Ballantine Books, 1987. ISBN 0345344537
Template:Mnb Sunset Boulevard script. dated March 21, 1940, by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D.M. Marshman, Jr. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, award nominations for Sunset Boulevard. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb American Film Institute 100 Years, 100 Movies - America's Greatest Movies. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb American Film Institute 100 Years, 100 Stars - Greatest Film Quotes. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb American Film Institute 100 Years, 100 Stars nomination list for Greatest Film Scores. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb Box Office Movie Review Review dated April 22, 1950. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb Roger Ebert review June 27, 1999. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb BBC review. Adrian Hennigen, March 13, 2003. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb Billy Wilder - "About Film Noir. Interview July 1975. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb London Review of Books, review Conversations with Wilder by Cameron Crowe. Michael Wood. March 2, 2000. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb Los Angeles Times - Billy Wilder obituary. Myrna Oliver. March 28, 2002. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb American Museum of the Moving Image, Sunset Boulevard program notes. Excerpts from New York Times, Thomas M. Pryor, August 11, 1950, and On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder by Ed Sikov (New York: Hyperion, 1998). Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb List of selected films 1989-2004. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
Template:Mnb Announcement of 2006 musical film. July 10, 2005. Retrieved July 27, 2005.
Template:Mnb The Digital Bits article about the restoration of Sunset Boulevard Written by Robert A. Harris, November 15, 2002. Retrieved August 3, 2005.

• Template:MnbDetroit News Billy Wilder obituary. Anthony Breznican for Associated Press, March 28, 2002.Retrieved August 4, 2005.

External links

• ''Sunset Boulevard at IMDb
• View original 1950 trailer - British Film Institute
• Movie Review Query Engine - Links to period and contemporary reviews for Sunset Boulevard
• Sunset Boulevard movie website
• Senses of Cinema - Billy Wilder biography
• Gloria Swanson tribute site
• Reel Classics - William Holden biography
• Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) National Film Registry Site

• 1950 films
• Films by Billy Wilder
• Best Picture Oscar Nominee
• Best Actor Oscar Nominee (film)
• Best Actress Oscar Nominee (film)
• Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nominee (film)
• Paramount films
• Films noir
• United States National Film Registry