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Gloria Swanson Signed Artist Serigraph Autograph 1021/1250 Limited 1980

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (809) 97.1%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US, Item: 176316222034 GLORIA SWANSON SIGNED ARTIST SERIGRAPH AUTOGRAPH 1021/1250 LIMITED 1980. GLORIA SWANSON SIGNED ARTIST SERIGRAPH LIMITED TO 1021/1250 FROM 1980  MEASURING APPROXIMATEL 8 1/2 X 10 3/4 INCHES  AUTOGRAPH BY THIS ACTRESS  Gloria Josephine Mae Swanson was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 turn in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, which also earned her a Golden Globe Award. 

Gloria Josephine Mae Swanson[1] (March 27, 1899 – April 4, 1983) was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 turn in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, which also earned her a Golden Globe Award. Swanson was born in Chicago and raised in a military family that moved from base to base. Her infatuation with Essanay Studios actor Francis X. Bushman led to her aunt taking her to tour the actor's Chicago studio. The 15-year-old Swanson was offered a brief walk-on for one film, beginning her life's career in front of the cameras. Swanson was soon hired to work in California for Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios comedy shorts opposite Bobby Vernon. She was eventually recruited by Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount Pictures, where she was put under contract for seven years and became a global superstar. She starred in a series of films about society, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, including Male and Female (1919). She continued as a successful movie star in The Affairs of Anatol (1921) and Beyond the Rocks (1922). She also starred in critically acclaimed performances such as Zaza (1923) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1925). In 1925, Swanson joined United Artists as one of the film industry's pioneering women filmmakers. She produced and starred in the 1928 film Sadie Thompson, earning her a nomination for Best Actress at the first annual Academy Awards. Her sound film debut performance in 1929's The Trespasser, earned her a second Academy Award nomination. Queen Kelly (1928–29) was a box office disaster, but is remembered as a silent classic. After almost two decades in front of the cameras, her film success waned during the 1930s. Swanson received renewed praise for her return to the screen in her role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950). She made only three more films, but guest starred on several television shows, and acted in road productions of stage plays. Early life Swanson was born in a small house in Chicago in 1899, the only child of Adelaide (née Klanowski) and Joseph Theodore Swanson (né Svensson), a soldier.[2] She was raised in the Lutheran faith. Her father was a Swedish American and her mother was of German, French, and Polish ancestry.[3][4] Because of her father's attachment to the U.S. Army, the family moved frequently. She spent some of her childhood in Key West, Florida, where she was enrolled in a Catholic convent school,[5] and in Puerto Rico, where she saw her first motion pictures.[6] Career 1914–1918: Essanay/Keystone/Triangle Black and white photo of a young man, a young woman, and a dog Bobby Vernon with Gloria Swanson and Teddy the Dog in Teddy at the Throttle (1917) Her family once again residing in Chicago, the adolescent Gloria developed a crush on actor Francis X. Bushman and knew he was employed by Essanay Studios in the city. Swanson later recalled that her Aunt Inga brought her at the age of 15 to visit Bushman's studio, where she was discovered by a tour guide. Other accounts have the star-struck Swanson herself talking her way into the business. In either version, she was soon hired as an extra.[7] The movie industry was still in its infancy, churning out short subjects, without the advantage of today's casting agencies and talent agents promoting their latest find. A willing extra was often a valuable asset. Her first role was a brief walk-on with actress Gerda Holmes, that paid an enormous (in those days) $3.25.[8] The studio soon offered her steady work at $13.25 (equivalent to $403 in 2023) per week.[9][10] Swanson left school to work full-time at the studio.[9] In 1915, she co-starred in Sweedie Goes to College with her future first husband Wallace Beery.[11] Portrait (1917) Swanson's mother accompanied her to California in 1916 for her roles in Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios comedy shorts opposite Bobby Vernon and directed by Clarence G. Badger. They were met at the train station by Beery, who was pursuing his own career ambitions at Keystone.[12] Vernon and Swanson projected a great screen chemistry that proved popular with audiences. Director Charley Chase recalled that Swanson was "frightened to death" of Vernon's dangerous stunts.[13] Surviving movies in which they appear together include The Danger Girl (1916), The Sultan's Wife (1917), and Teddy at the Throttle (1917).[14][15] Badger was sufficiently impressed by Swanson to recommend her to the director Jack Conway for Her Decision and You Can't Believe Everything in 1918.[14][16] Triangle had never put Swanson under contract, but did increase her pay to $15 a week. When she was approached by Famous Players–Lasky to work for Cecil B. DeMille, the resulting legal dispute obligated her to Triangle for several more months. Soon afterward, Triangle was in a financial bind and loaned Swanson to DeMille for the comedy Don't Change Your Husband.[17][15] Swanson in Male and Female (1919) 1919–1926: Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount Pictures Swanson in the 1920s At the behest of DeMille, Swanson signed a contract with Famous Players–Lasky on December 30, 1918, for $150 a week, to be raised to $200 a week, and eventually $350 a week.[18] Her first picture under her new contract was DeMille's World War I romantic drama For Better, for Worse.[19] She made six pictures under the direction of DeMille,[20] including Male and Female[21] (1919) in which she posed with a lion as "Lion's Bride".[22] While she and her father were dining out one evening, the man who would become her second husband, Equity Pictures president Herbert K. Somborn, introduced himself, by inviting her to meet one of her personal idols, actress Clara Kimball Young.[23] Black and white photo of a man and woman embracing Swanson and Rudolph Valentino in a scene from Beyond the Rocks (1922) Why Change Your Wife?, Something to Think About (both 1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921) soon followed.[24] She next appeared in 10 films directed by Sam Wood,[25] starting with The Great Moment (1921) and including Beyond the Rocks in 1922 with her longtime friend Rudolph Valentino.[26][27] Valentino had become a star in 1921 for his appearance in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but Swanson had known him since his days as an aspiring actor getting small parts, with no apparent hope for his professional future. She was impressed by his shy, well-mannered personality, the complete opposite of what his public image would become.[28] After her films with Wood, she appeared in Zaza (1923) directed by Allan Dwan. During her time at Famous Players–Lasky, seven more of her films were directed by Dwan.[29] In 1925, Swanson starred in the French-American comedy Madame Sans-Gêne, directed by Léonce Perret.[30] Filming was allowed for the first time at many of the historic sites relating to Napoleon. While it was well received at the time, no prints are known to exist and it is considered to be a lost film.[31] Swanson appeared in a 1925 short produced by Lee de Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process.[32] She made a number of films for Paramount, including The Coast of Folly (1925), Stage Struck (1925) and The Untamed Lady (1926).[33] Before she could produce films with United Artists, she completed Fine Manners with Paramount and turned down an offer to make The King of Kings with DeMille.[34] 1925–1933: United Artists Swanson on the March 7, 1925, cover of Liberty magazine She turned down a one-million-dollar-a-year (equivalent to $17,500,000 in 2023)[10] contract with Paramount in favor of joining the newly created United Artists partnership on June 25, 1925, accepting a six-picture distribution offer from president Joseph Schenck.[35] At the time, Swanson was considered the most bankable star of her era.[36] United Artists had its own Art Cinema Corporation subsidiary to advance financial loans for the productions of individual partners.[37] The partnership agreement included her commitment to a buy-in of $100,000 of preferred stock subscription.[35] Swanson Producing Corporation The Swanson Producing Corporation was set up as the umbrella organization for her agreement with United Artists.[38] Under that name, she produced The Love of Sunya with herself in the title role.[39] The film, co-starring John Boles, was directed by Albert Parker, based on the play The Eyes of Youth by Max Marcin and Charles Guernon.[38] The production was a disaster, with Parker being indecisive and the actors not experienced enough to deliver the performances she wanted. The film fell behind in its schedule, and by the time of its release, the end product had not lived up to Swanson's expectations.[40] While it did not lose money, it was a financial wash, breaking even on the production costs.[41] Portrait of Gloria Swanson by Milena Pavlović-Barili Gloria Swanson Productions Main article: Sadie Thompson (film) She engaged the services of director Raoul Walsh in 1927 and together they conceived of making a film based on W. Somerset Maugham's short story "Miss Thompson".[42] Gloria Swanson Productions proposed to film the controversial Sadie Thompson about the travails of a prostitute living in American Samoa, a project that initially pleased United Artists president Joseph Schenck.[43] As she moved forward with the project, association members urged Schenck to halt the production due to its subject matter. The members took further steps by registering their discontent with Will H. Hays, Chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.[44] Walsh previously had his own battles with the Hays office, having managed to skirt around censorship issues with What Price Glory? [45] By bringing him to the table, literally over breakfast in her home, Hays and Swanson developed a working relationship for the film.[46] Hays was enthusiastic about the basic story, but did have specific issues that were dealt with before the film's release.[46] The project was filmed on Santa Catalina Island, just off the coast of Long Beach, California.[47] Gross receipts slightly exceeded $850,000 (equivalent to $14,900,000 in 2023).[10][41] At the first annual Academy Awards, Swanson received a nomination for Best Actress for her performance, and the film's cinematographer George Barnes was also nominated.[48] Gloria Productions Swanson (left) in Indiscreet By the end of 1927, Swanson was in dire financial straits, with only $65 in the bank.[49] Her two productions had generated income, but too slowly to offset her production loan debts to Art Cinema Corporation.[41][50] Swanson had also not made good on her $100,000 subscription for preferred United Artists shared stock.[41] She had received financial proposals from United Artists studio head Joseph Schenck, as well as from Bank of America, prior to engaging the services of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. as her financial advisor.[51] He proposed to personally bankroll her next picture and conducted a thorough examination of her financial records.[52] Kennedy advised her to shut down Swanson Producing Corporation. She agreed to his plan for a fresh start under the dummy corporate name of Gloria Productions, headquartered in Delaware.[52] Upon his advice, she fired most of her staff and sold her rights for The Love of Sunya and Sadie Thompson to Art Cinema Corporation.[53] Kennedy then created the position of "European director of Pathé" to put her third husband Henry de La Falaise on the payroll.[54] Sound films were already becoming popular with audiences, most notably the films of singer Al Jolson, who had success with The Jazz Singer released in 1927 and The Singing Fool in 1928.[55] Kennedy, however, advised her to hire Erich von Stroheim to direct another silent film, The Swamp, subsequently retitled Queen Kelly. She was hesitant to hire Stroheim, who was known for being difficult to deal with and who was unwilling to work within any budget. Kennedy, nevertheless, was insistent and was able to get Stroheim released from contractual obligations to producer Pat Powers.[56] Stroheim worked for several months on writing the basic script.[55] Filming of Queen Kelly began in November.[57] His filming was slow, albeit meticulous, and the cast and crew suffered from long hours. Shooting was shut down in January, and Stroheim fired, after complaints by Swanson about him and about the general direction the film was taking.[58] Swanson and Kennedy tried to salvage it with an alternative ending shot on November 24, 1931, directed by Swanson and photographed by Gregg Toland.[59][60] Only two other films were made under Gloria Productions.[25] The Trespasser in 1929 was a sound production, and garnered Swanson her second Oscar nomination.[61] Written by Edmund Goulding, with Laura Hope Crews fine-tuning the dialogue, Kennedy approved funding for the go-ahead on the production.[62] The film was a melodrama, complete with musical numbers sung by Swanson and completed in 21 days.[63] The world premiere was held in London, the first American sound production to do so. Swanson was mobbed by adoring fans. Before leaving London, she sang at a concert carried over the BBC.[64] What a Widow! in 1930 was the final film for Gloria Productions.[65][66] United Artists stars on the radio Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks hosted the March 29, 1928, episode of the Dodge Hour radio program, originating from Pickford's private bungalow at United Artists, and broadcast to audiences in American movie theaters. The brainchild of Joseph Schenck, it was a promotional come-on to attract audiences into movie theaters to hear the voices of their favorite actors, as sound productions became the future of commercial films.[67] On hand were Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, John Barrymore, Dolores del Río and D. W. Griffith.[68] Gloria Swanson British Productions Ltd. Swanson and John Boles in Music in the Air (1934) Swanson and Laurence Olivier in Perfect Understanding (1933) Before she began filming Perfect Understanding as Gloria Swanson British Productions Ltd., she finished a two-film package production for Art Cinema, which included Indiscreet and Tonight or Never (1931).[69] Perfect Understanding, a 1933 sound production comedy, was the only film produced by this company.[70] Made entirely at Ealing Studios, it co-starred Laurence Olivier as Swanson's on-screen husband.[71] United Artists bought back all of her stock with them, in order to provide her financing to make this film, and thereby ending her relationship with the partnership.[69] The film was panned by the critics upon its release and failed at the box office.[72] 1938–1950: Creating new paths When she made the transition to sound films as her career simultaneously began to decline, Swanson moved permanently to New York City in 1938.[73] Swanson starred in Father Takes a Wife for RKO in 1941.[74] She began appearing in stage productions and starred in The Gloria Swanson Hour on WPIX-TV in 1948.[75] Swanson threw herself into painting and sculpting and, in 1954, published Gloria Swanson's Diary, a general newsletter.[76] She toured in summer stock, engaged in political activism, designed and marketed clothing and accessories, and made personal appearances on radio and in movie theaters.[74][77] 1950 – 1977: Later career Sunset Boulevard Main article: Sunset Boulevard (film) Swanson and William Holden in Sunset Boulevard (1950) “It should be pointed out that Gloria Swanson was not Norma Desmond. Unlike her delusional screen counterpart, Swanson was fiercely realistic. She lived in the present –not in the past– and pursued many interests with passionate zeal. She was also a good actress. Judging by the number of people who think she was Norma Desmond, maybe a little too good.” – Biographer Lon Davis in Silent Lives: 100 Biographies of the Silent Film Era. (2008).[78] The film Sunset Boulevard was conceived by director Billy Wilder and screenwriter Charles Brackett, and came to include writer D. M. Marshman Jr.[79] They bandied about the name of Mae West, whose public persona even in her senior years was as a sex symbol, but she objected to playing a has-been.[80] Mary Pickford was also considered for the lead role of Norma Desmond.[81] It was director George Cukor who suggested Swanson, noting that she was once such a valuable asset to her studio that she was, "...carried in a sedan chair from her dressing room to the set".[80] The storyline of the film follows a faded silent movie actress Norma Desmond (Swanson), in love with a failed screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden).[82] She lives at the mansion with her former-husband-director-turned-butler Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim), who personally disliked the role and only agreed to it out of financial need.[83] A clip from Queen Kelly was used for the scene where Joe and Norma are watching one of her silent films, and she declares, "... we didn't need dialogue, we had faces".[84] Norma plays a card game of bridge with a group of actors also known as "the Waxworks". They included Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson.[85] During the scene leading up to Cecil B. DeMille's cameo, where Max chauffeurs Joe and Norma to the studio, her Isotta Fraschini luxury automobile was towed from behind the camera, because Stroheim had never learned how to drive.[86] Norma's dreams of a comeback are subverted, and when Gillis tries to break up with her, she threatens to kill herself, but instead kills him. She becomes delusional by the time the police and news media arrive. Max sets up the studio lighting towards her on the staircase and directs her down towards the waiting police and news cameras,[87] where she says, "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."[88] Although Swanson had objected to enduring a screen test for the film, she had been glad to be making much more money than she had been in television and on stage.[80] She found the overall experience of making the movie a pleasure, and later stated, "I hated to have the picture end ... When Mr. Wilder called ‘Print it!’ I burst into tears...”[89] She was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award, but lost to Judy Holliday.[90] Final films Swanson received several acting offers following the release of Sunset Boulevard, but turned most of them down, saying they tended to be pale imitations of Norma Desmond.[91] Her last major Hollywood motion picture role was also her first color film, the poorly received 3 for Bedroom C in 1952.[92] Nationally syndicated columnist Suzy called it "one of the worst movies ever made."[93] In 1956, Swanson made Nero's Mistress, an Italian film shot in Rome, which starred Alberto Sordi, Vittorio de Sica and Brigitte Bardot.[94] Her final screen appearance, in 1974, was as herself in Airport 1975.[95] Television and theatre Black and white photo of a man and woman looking at each other Swanson with Fred MacMurray in the promo of My Three Sons (1965) Swanson hosted The Gloria Swanson Hour, one of the first live television series in 1948 in which she invited friends and others to be guests.[75] Swanson later hosted Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson, a television anthology series in which she occasionally acted.[96] Through the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, Swanson appeared on many different talk and variety shows such as The Carol Burnett Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to recollect her movies and to lampoon them as well.[97][98] On The Carol Burnett Show in 1973, Swanson reprised her impersonation of Charlie Chaplin from both Sunset Boulevard and Manhandled.[99][100] She was the "mystery guest" on What's My Line.[101] She acted in "Behind the Locked Door" on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1964 and, in the same year, she was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance in Burke's Law.[102][103] She made a guest appearance on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1970; a guest on the same show as Janis Joplin.[104] She made a notable appearance in a 1966 episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, in which she plays herself.[102] In the episode, the Clampetts mistakenly believe Swanson is destitute and decide to finance a comeback movie for her – in a silent film.[105] After near-retirement from movies, Swanson appeared in many plays throughout her later life, beginning in the 1940s.[106] Actor and playwright Harold J. Kennedy, who had learned the ropes at Yale and with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre, suggested Swanson do a road tour of "Reflected Glory", a comedy that had run on the Broadway stage with Tallulah Bankhead as its star.[107] Kennedy wrote the script for the play A Goose for the Gander, which began its road tour in Chicago in August 1944.[108][109][110] Swanson also toured with Let Us Be Gay.[111] After her success with Sunset Boulevard, she starred on Broadway in a revival of Twentieth Century with José Ferrer, and in Nina with David Niven.[112] Her last major stage role was in the 1971 Broadway production of Butterflies Are Free at the Booth Theatre.[113] Kevin Brownlow and David Gill interviewed her for Hollywood, a television history of the silent era.[114] Personal life Gloria Swanson in her home Swanson in her New York City apartment (1972) Swanson was a vegetarian and an early health food advocate[115] who was known for bringing her own meals to public functions in a tin box.[101] In 1975, Swanson traveled the United States and helped to promote the book Sugar Blues written by her husband, William Dufty.[116] He also ghostwrote Swanson's 1981 autobiography Swanson on Swanson, which became a commercial success.[117][118] The same year, she designed a stamp cachet for the United Nations Decade for Women, which was her last creative project.[119] She was a pupil of the yoga guru Indra Devi and was photographed performing a series of yoga poses, reportedly looking much younger than her age, for Devi to use in her book Forever Young, Forever Healthy; but the publisher Prentice-Hall decided to use the photographs for Swanson's book, not Devi's. In return, Swanson, who normally never did publicity events, helped to launch Devi's book at the Waldorf-Astoria in 1953.[120] As a Republican she supported the 1940 and 1944 campaigns for president of Wendell Willkie and the 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater.[103] In 1980, she chaired the New York chapter of Seniors for Reagan-Bush.[121] In 1964, Swanson spoke at a "Project Prayer" rally attended by 2,500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.[122] The gathering, which was hosted by Anthony Eisley, a star of ABC's Hawaiian Eye series, sought to flood the United States Congress with letters in support of mandatory school prayer, following two decisions in 1962 and 1963 of the United States Supreme Court, which struck down mandatory prayer as conflicting with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[123][124] Joining Swanson and Eisley at the Project Prayer rally were Walter Brennan, Lloyd Nolan, Rhonda Fleming, Pat Boone, and Dale Evans. Swanson declared "Under God we became the freest, strongest, wealthiest nation on earth. Should we change that?"[125] Marriages and relationships Wallace Beery Wallace Beery and Swanson married on her 17th birthday on March 27, 1916, but by her wedding night she felt she had made a mistake and saw no way out of it.[126][127] She did not like his home or his family and was repulsed by him as a lover. After becoming pregnant, she saw her husband with other women and learned he had been fired from Keystone.[128] Taking medication given to her by Beery, purported to be for morning sickness, she miscarried the fetus and was taken unconscious to the hospital.[129] Soon afterwards, she filed for divorce, which was finalized on December 12, 1918.[130] Under California law in that era, after a divorce was granted, there was a one-year waiting period before it became finalized so that either of the parties could remarry.[131] Herbert K. Somborn She married Herbert K. Somborn on December 20, 1919.[132] He was at that time president of Equity Pictures Corporation and later the owner of the Brown Derby restaurant.[133] Their daughter, Gloria Swanson Somborn, was born on October 7, 1920.[134][135] In 1923, she adopted one-year-old Sonny Smith, whom she renamed Joseph Patrick Swanson after her father.[136] During their divorce proceedings, Somborn accused her of adultery with 13 men, including Cecil B. DeMille and Marshall Neilan.[137] The public sensationalism led to Swanson having a "morals clause" added to her studio contract.[138] Somborn was granted a divorce in Los Angeles, on September 19, 1923.[139] Henri de la Falaise Swanson and Henri de la Falaise leaving Los Angeles for New York, July 1925 My marriage to Henri gave me the only real peace and happiness I had ever known—or have ever known since. Of my five marriages this one came the nearest to being what I, in my haus-frau heart, have always wanted a marriage to be. He was then and he remains in memory a more delightful companion than any I have known.[140] Gloria Swanson, 1950 During the production of Madame Sans-Gêne, Swanson met her third husband, Henri, Marquis de la Falaise (commonly known as Henri de la Falaise),[141] who had been hired to be her translator during the film's production.[142] Though Henri was a Marquis and related to the famous Hennessy cognac family, he had no personal wealth.[143] She had conceived a child with him before her divorce from Somborn was final, a situation that would have led to a public scandal and possible end of her film career. She had an abortion, which she later regretted.[144] They married on January 28, 1925, after the Somborn divorce was finalized.[141] Following a four-month recuperation from her abortion, they returned to the United States as European nobility. Swanson now held the title of Marquise.[145] She received a huge welcome home with parades in both New York and Los Angeles. He became a film executive representing Pathé (USA) in France.[146] This marriage ended in divorce in 1930.[147] In spite of the divorce they remained close, and Falaise became a partner in her World War II efforts to aid potential scientist refugees fleeing from behind Nazi lines.[148] Swanson described herself as a "mental vampire", someone with a searching curiosity about how things worked, and who pursued the possibilities of turning those ideas into reality.[73] In 1939, she created Multiprises, an inventions and patents company; Henri de la Falaise provided a transitional Paris office for the scientists and gave written documentation to authorities guaranteeing jobs for them.[149] Viennese electronics engineer Richard Kobler, chemist Leopold Karniol, metallurgist Anton Kratky, and acoustical engineer Leopold Neumann, were brought to New York and headquartered in Rockefeller Center.[150] The group nicknamed her "Big Chief".[151] Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. While still married to Henri, Swanson had a lengthy affair with the married Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., father of future President John F. Kennedy.[152] He became her business partner, and their relationship was an open secret in Hollywood. He took over all of her personal and business affairs and was supposed to make her millions.[52] Kennedy left her after the disastrous Queen Kelly.[153] Michael Farmer After the marriage to Henri and her affair with Kennedy was over, Swanson became acquainted with Michael Farmer, the man who would become her fourth husband. They met by chance in Paris when Swanson was being fitted by Coco Chanel for her 1931 film Tonight or Never. Farmer was a man of independent financial means who seemed not to have been employed. Rumors were that he was a gigolo. Swanson began spending time with him,[154] during which she discovered a breast lump and also became pregnant, but was not yet divorced from Henri.[155] She was not interested in marrying Farmer, but he did not want to break off the relationship. When Farmer found out she was pregnant, he threatened to go public with the news unless she agreed to marry him, something she did not want to do. Her friends, some of whom openly disliked him, thought she was making a mistake.[156] They married on August 16, 1931, and separated 2 years later.[157][158] Because of the possibility that Swanson's divorce from La Falaise had not been finalized at the time of the wedding, she was forced to remarry Farmer the following November, by which time she was four months pregnant with Michelle Bridget Farmer, who was born on April 5, 1932.[159] Herbert Marshall Swanson and Farmer divorced in 1934 after she became involved with married British actor Herbert Marshall. The media reported widely on her affair with Marshall.[160][161][162] After almost three years with the actor, Swanson left him once she became convinced he would never divorce his wife Edna Best, for her. In an early manuscript of her autobiography written in her own hand decades later, Swanson recalled "I was never so convincingly and thoroughly loved as I was by Herbert Marshall."[163] William M. Davey Davey was a wealthy investment broker whom Swanson met in October 1944 while she was appearing in A Goose for the Gander. They married January 29, 1945.[164] Swanson had initially thought she was going to be able to retire from acting, but the marriage was troubled by Davey's alcoholism from the start. Erratic behavior and acrimonious recriminations followed. Swanson and her daughter Michelle Farmer visited an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and gathered AA pamphlets, which they placed around the apartment.[165][166] Davey moved out.[165] In the subsequent legal separation proceedings, the judge ordered him to pay Swanson alimony. In an effort to avoid the payments, Davey unsuccessfully filed for divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty. He died within a year, not having paid anything to Swanson, and left the bulk of his estate to the Damon Runyon Cancer Memorial Fund.[167][168] William Dufty Swanson's final marriage occurred in 1976 and lasted until her death. Her sixth husband William Dufty was a writer who worked for many years at the New York Post, where he was assistant to the editor from 1951 to 1960. He was the co-author (ghostwriter) of Billie Holiday's autobiography Lady Sings the Blues, the author of Sugar Blues, a 1975 best-selling health book still in print, and the author of the English version of Georges Ohsawa's You Are All Sanpaku.[169] They met in the mid-1960s and moved in together.[170][171] Swanson shared her husband's enthusiasm for macrobiotic diets, and they traveled widely together to speak about nutrition.[116] Swanson and her husband first got to know John Lennon and Yoko Ono because they were fans of Dufty's work.[172] Swanson testified on Lennon's behalf at his immigration hearing in New York City, which led to his becoming a permanent resident.[173] Besides her Fifth Avenue apartment, she and Dufty spent time at their homes in Beverly Hills, California; Colares, Portugal; Croton-on-Hudson, New York; and Palm Springs, California.[174] After Swanson's death, Dufty returned to his former home in Birmingham, Michigan. He died of cancer in 2002.[169] Death Swanson died of a heart ailment at the New York Hospital on April 4, 1983, having recently returned from her home on the Portuguese Riviera.[175][176] Her body was cremated and her ashes interred at the Church of the Heavenly Rest on Fifth Avenue in New York City, attended by a small number of family members.[177] After Swanson's death, there was a series of auctions from August to September 1983 at William Doyle Galleries in New York. Collectors bought her furniture and decorations, jewelry, clothing, and memorabilia from her personal life and career.[178] Honors and legacy In 1960, Gloria Swanson was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 6750 Hollywood Boulevard, and another for television at 6301 Hollywood Boulevard.[179] In 1955 and 1957, Swanson was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film,[180][181] and in 1966, the museum honored her with a career film retrospective, titled A Tribute to Gloria Swanson, which screened several of her movies.[182] In 1974, Swanson was one of the honorees of the first Telluride Film Festival.[183] A parking lot by Sims Park in downtown New Port Richey, Florida, is named after the star, who is said to have owned property along the Cotee River.[184] In 1982, a year before her death, Swanson sold her archives of over 600 boxes for an undisclosed sum, including photographs, artwork, copies of films and private papers, including correspondence, contracts, and financial dealings, to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Upon her death in 1983, much of the remainder of her holdings was purchased by UT-Austin at an auction held at the Doyle New York gallery. An undisclosed amount of memorabilia was also gifted to the HRC Center between 1983 and 1988.[174] In 1989, the Library of Congress chose Sunset Boulevard, along with 24 other films, "to be preserved in the permanent collection of the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as culturally, historically, and aesthetically important".[185] Portrayals Swanson has been played both on television and in film by the following actresses: 1971: Carol Burnett on The Carol Burnett Show[186] 1984: Diane Venora in The Cotton Club[187] 1990: Madolyn Smith in The Kennedys of Massachusetts[188] 1991: Ann Turkel in White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd[189] 2008: Kristen Wiig in Saturday Night Live[190] 2013: Debi Mazar in Return to Babylon[191] Stage Note: The list below is limited to New York Broadway theatrical productions. Broadway credits of Gloria Swanson Title Date Role Ref(s) A Goose for the Gander January 23, 1945 – February 3, 1945 Katherine [192] Bathsheba March 26, 1947 – April 19, 1947 [193] Twentieth Century December 24, 1950 – June 2, 1951 Lily Garland [194] Nina December 5, 1951 – January 12, 1952 Nina [195] Butterflies Are Free September 7, 1971 – July 2, 1972 Mrs. Baker [196] Filmography Key † Denotes a lost or presumed lost film. Shorts Short subject Title Year Role Notes Studio/Distributor Ref(s) The Song of the Soul † 1914 Unconfirmed [197] The Misjudged Mr. Hartley † 1915 Maid [198] At the End of a Perfect Day † 1915 Hands Bouquet to Holmes Uncredited, actual release date of January 26, 2015 [197] The Ambition of the Baron 1915 Bit part Essanay Film starring Francis X. Bushman [199] His New Job 1915 Stenographer Essanay Film Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin [198] The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket † 1915 Farina, Elvira's Daughter Credited as Gloria Mae Essanay Film [198] Sweedie Goes to College † 1915 College Girl Wallace Beery played Sweedie in a series of shorts Essanay Film [200] The Romance of an American Duchess † 1915 Minor Role Uncredited Essanay Film [201] The Broken Pledge † 1915 Gloria Essanay Film [202] A Dash of Courage † 1916 Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger [203] Hearts and Sparks † 1916 Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger [204] A Social Cub † 1916 Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger [205] The Danger Girl 1916 Reggie's madcap sister Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger [206] Haystacks and Steeples † 1916 Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger [207] The Nick of Time Baby 1916 Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger [208] Teddy at the Throttle 1917 Gloria Dawn, His Sweetheart Uncredited with Bobby Vernon Keystone/Triangle directed by Clarence G. Badger [209] Baseball Madness † 1917 Victor Film/Universal [210] Dangers of a Bride † 1917 Keystone/Triangle directed by Clarence G. Badger [15] Whose Baby? 1917 Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger [15] The Sultan's Wife 1917 Gloria Keystone/Triangle with Bobby Vernon directed by Clarence G. Badger [15] The Pullman Bride 1917 The Girl Paramount-Mack Sennett directed by Clarence G. Badger [211] A Trip to Paramountown 1922 Herself Paramount [212] Features Feature film credits of Gloria Swanson Title Year Role Notes Studio/Distributor Ref(s) Society for Sale † 1918 Phylis Clyne Triangle Film Corporation [213] Her Decision † 1918 Phyllis Dunbar Triangle Film Corporation directed by Jack Conway [214] You Can't Believe Everything † 1918 Patricia Reynolds Triangle Film Corporation directed by Jack Conway [215] Station Content 1918 Kitty Manning Triangle Film Corporation directed by Arthur Hoyt One reel survives [215] Everywoman's Husband 1918 Edith Emerson Triangle Film Corporation directed by Gilbert P. Hamilton [215] Shifting Sands 1918 Marcia Grey Triangle Film Corporation directed by Albert Parker [216] The Secret Code † 1918 Sally Carter Rand Triangle Film Corporation directed by Albert Parker [215] Wife or Country † 1918 Sylvia Hamilton Triangle Film Corporation directed by E. Mason Hopper [215] Don't Change Your Husband 1919 Leila Porter Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille [216] For Better, for Worse 1919 Sylvia Norcross Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille [215] Male and Female 1919 Lady Mary Lasenby Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille [217] Why Change Your Wife? 1920 Beth Gordon Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille [217] Something to Think About 1920 Ruth Anderson Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille [217] The Affairs of Anatol 1921 Vivian Spencer – Anatol's Wife Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Cecil B. DeMille [217][218] The Great Moment † 1921 Nada Pelham/Nadine Pelham Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [217] Under the Lash † 1921 Deborah Krillet Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [219] Don't Tell Everything † 1921 Marian Westover Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [220] Her Husband's Trademark 1922 Lois Miller Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [220] Her Gilded Cage † 1922 Suzanne Ornoff Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [220] Beyond the Rocks 1922 Theodora Fitzgerald Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [220] The Impossible Mrs. Bellew † 1922 Betty Bellew Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [220] My American Wife † 1922 Natalie Chester Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [221] Prodigal Daughters † 1923 Swifty Forbes Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [222] Bluebeard's 8th Wife † 1923 Mona deBriac Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sam Wood [222] Hollywood † 1923 Cameo role Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount [223] Zaza 1923 Zaza Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan [222] The Humming Bird 1924 Toinette Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Sidney Olcott [222] A Society Scandal † 1924 Marjorie Colbert Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan [222] Manhandled 1924 Tessie McGuire Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan [222] Her Love Story † 1924 Princess Marie Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan [224] Wages of Virtue † 1924 Carmelita Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan [224] Madame Sans-Gêne † 1925 Madame Sans-Gêne Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Léonce Perret [224] The Coast of Folly † 1925 Joyce Gathway/Nadine Gathway Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan [224] Stage Struck 1925 Jennie Hagen Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Allan Dwan [224] The Untamed Lady † 1926 St. Clair Van Tassel Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Frank Tuttle [225] Fine Manners 1926 Orchid Murphy Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount directed by Richard Rosson [225] The Love of Sunya 1927 Sunya Ashling Swanson Producing Corporation/United Artists directed by Albert Parker [225] Sadie Thompson 1928 Sadie Thompson Gloria Swanson Productions/United Artists directed by Raoul Walsh [225] Queen Kelly 1928 Kitty Kelly/Queen Kelly Joseph P. Kennedy/United Artists directed by Erich von Stroheim [225] The Trespasser 1929 Marion Donnell Gloria Productions/United Artists directed by Edmund Goulding Released in two versions, one silent, and the other with sound [65] What a Widow! † 1930 Tamarind Brook Gloria Productions/United Artists directed by Allan Dwan [226] Indiscreet 1931 Geraldine "Gerry" Trent Feature Productions, Inc. A DeSylva, Brown & Henderson Production directed by Leo McCarey [226] Tonight or Never 1931 Nella Vago Feature Productions, Inc./United Artists directed by Mervyn LeRoy [226] Perfect Understanding 1933 Judy Rogers Gloria Swanson British Productions, Ltd./United Artists directed by Cyril Gardner [227] Music in the Air 1934 Frieda Hotzfelt Erich Pommer Productions/Fox Film directed by Joe May [228] Father Takes a Wife 1941 Leslie Collier Osborne Marcus Lee/RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. directed by William Dorfman [228] Sunset Boulevard 1950 Norma Desmond Charles Brackett/Paramount directed by Billy Wilder [228] 3 for Bedroom "C" 1952 Ann Haven/costume designer Brenco Pictures Corporation/Warner Bros. directed by Milton H. Bren [229] Nero's Weekend (aka Nero's Mistress) 1956 Agrippina Les Films Marceau and Titanus/Manhattan Films International directed by Steno [95] Airport 1975 1974 Herself Universal Pictures directed by Jack Smight [95] Television Television Title Year Role Notes Ref(s) The Gloria Swanson Hour 1948 Hostess Variety show [230] The Peter Lind Hayes Show 1950 Herself Episode #1.1 sitcom show [231] Hollywood Opening Night 1953 Episode: "The Pattern" [232] Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson 1954–1955 Hostess 25 episodes [96] The Steve Allen Show 1957 Norma Desmond Episode #3.8 [233] Straightaway 1961 Lorraine Carrington Episode: "A Toast to Yesterday" [234] Dr. Kildare 1963 Julia Colton Episode: "The Good Luck Charm" [102] Burke's Law 1963–1964 Various roles 2 episodes [102] Kraft Suspense Theatre 1964 Mrs. Charlotte Heaton Segment: "Who Is Jennifer?" [102] The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 1964 Mrs. Daniels Episode: "Behind the Locked Door" [102] My Three Sons 1965 Margaret McSterling Episode: "The Fountain of Youth" [102] Ben Casey 1965 Victoria Hoffman Episode: "Minus That Rusty Old Hacksaw" [102] The Beverly Hillbillies 1966 Herself Episode: "The Gloria Swanson Story" [102] The Eternal Tramp Special 1972 Narrator aka Chaplinesque, My Life and Hard Times [235] The Carol Burnett Show 1973 Herself Episode #7.3 [99] Killer Bees 1974 Madame Maria von Bohlen Television movie [236] The Great Debate 1974 Herself Canadian interview show with James Bawden [237] Hollywood 1980 Herself Television documentary [238] Awards and nominations Awards and nominations of Gloria Swanson Year Award Result Category Film or series Ref(s) 1929 Academy Award Nominated Best Actress Sadie Thompson [48] 1931 The Trespasser [61] 1951 Sunset Boulevard [239] 1951 Golden Globe Award Won Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama [240] 1964 Nominated Best TV Star – Female Burke's Law [102] 1951 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Won Best Actress – Foreign Film (Migliore Attrice Straniera) Sunset Boulevard [241] 1951 Jussi Award Won Best Foreign Actress [242] 1950 National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Won Best Actress [243] 1980 Career Achievement Award - [244] 1975 Saturn Award Won Special Award - [245] Sunset Boulevard (styled in the main title on-screen as SUNSET BLVD.) is a 1950 American black comedy[1][2] film noir[3] directed by Billy Wilder and co-written by Wilder and Charles Brackett. It was named after a major street that runs through Hollywood. The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her deranged fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. Erich von Stroheim plays Max von Mayerling, her devoted butler, and Nancy Olson, Jack Webb, Lloyd Gough, and Fred Clark appear in supporting roles. Director Cecil B. DeMille and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper play themselves, and the film includes cameo appearances by silent-film stars Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson. Praised by many critics when first released, Sunset Boulevard was nominated for 11 Academy Awards (including nominations in all four acting categories) and won three. It is often ranked among the greatest movies ever made. As it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the U.S. Library of Congress in 1989, Sunset Boulevard was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[4] In 1998, it was ranked number 12 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best American films of the 20th century, and in 2007, it was 16th on their 10th Anniversary list. Plot At a mansion on Sunset Boulevard, a group of police officers and photographers discover the body of Joe Gillis floating face down in the swimming pool. In a flashback, Joe relates the events leading to his death. Six months earlier, Joe is a down-on-his-luck screenwriter trying to interest Paramount Pictures in a story he submitted. Script reader Betty Schaefer harshly critiques it, unaware that Joe is listening. Later, while fleeing from repo men seeking his car, Joe turns into the driveway of a seemingly deserted mansion inhabited by forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond. Learning that Joe is a writer, Norma asks his opinion of a script she has written for a film about Salome. She plans to play the role herself in her return to the screen. Joe finds her script abysmal, but flatters her into hiring him as a script doctor. Joe moves into Norma's mansion at her insistence, and sees that Norma refuses to accept that her fame has evaporated. Her butler Max secretly writes all of the fan mail that she receives in order to maintain the illusion. At her New Year's Eve party, Joe realizes that she has fallen in love with him. He tries to let her down gently, but Norma slaps him and retreats to her room, distraught. Joe visits his friend Artie Green and again meets Betty, who thinks a scene in one of Joe's scripts has potential. When he phones Max to have him pack his things, Max tells him Norma has cut her wrists with his razor. Joe then returns to Norma, and their relationship becomes romantic. Norma has Max deliver the edited Salome script to her former director Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. She starts getting calls from Paramount executive Gordon Cole but refuses to speak to anyone except DeMille. Eventually, she has Max drive her and Joe to Paramount in her 1929 Isotta Fraschini. DeMille welcomes her affectionately and treats her with great respect, tactfully evading her questions about the script. Max then learns that Cole only called her because he wants to rent her Isotta Fraschini for use in a film. Preparing for her imagined comeback, Norma undergoes rigorous beauty treatments. Joe secretly works nights in Betty's office, collaborating on an original screenplay. His moonlighting is discovered by Max, who then reveals that he was once a respected film director who discovered Norma, made her a star, and was her first husband. After she divorced him, he abandoned his career to become her servant. Norma discovers a manuscript with Joe's and Betty's names on it and phones Betty, insinuating that Joe is not the man he seems. Overhearing the call, Joe invites Betty to the mansion to see his situation for herself. When she arrives, he pretends that he is satisfied being a kept man so that she can be with Artie. However, after she tearfully leaves, he packs for a return to his old newspaper job in Dayton, Ohio. He bluntly informs Norma that there will be no comeback, that Max writes all of her fan mail, and that she has been forgotten. He disregards Norma's threat to kill herself as she brandishes a gun; as he leaves the house, Norma shoots him three times, and he collapses into the pool. The flashback ends and the film returns to the present day, with Desmond about to be arrested for murder. The mansion is overrun with police and reporters with newsreel cameras, which she believes are there to film Salome instead. Max, who Norma now believes is DeMille, positions himself among the cameras to "direct" her, and the police play along. As the cameras roll, Norma descends the grand staircase for her close-up. Overcome with emotion, she stops and makes an impromptu speech about how happy she is to be making a film again. She then continues walking towards the camera, a look of insanity in her eyes, with her descent into madness now complete. Cast William Holden as Joe Gillis (Joseph C. Gillis) Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond Erich von Stroheim as Max von Mayerling Nancy Olson as Betty Schaefer Fred Clark as Sheldrake, film producer Lloyd Gough as Morino, Joe's agent Jack Webb as Artie Green Franklyn Farnum as undertaker Larry J. Blake as finance man #1 Charles Dayton as finance man #2 Jack Warden as New Year's Eve party guest Cecil B. DeMille as himself Hedda Hopper as herself Sidney Skolsky as himself Buster Keaton as himself (bridge player) Anna Q. Nilsson as herself (bridge player) H. B. Warner as himself (bridge player) Ray Evans (pianist at Artie's party) Jay Livingston (pianist at Artie's party) Robert O'Connor as Jonesy (older guard at Paramount gate) Henry Wilcoxon as actor on DeMille's Samson and Delilah set (uncredited) Production Background The street known as Sunset Boulevard has been associated with Hollywood film production since 1911, when the town's first film studio, Nestor, opened there. The film workers lived modestly in the growing neighborhood, but during the 1920s, profits and salaries rose to unprecedented levels. With the advent of the star system, luxurious homes noted for their often incongruous grandeur were built in the area. As a young man living in Berlin in the 1920s, Billy Wilder was interested in American culture, with much of his interest fueled by the country's films. In the late 1940s, many of the grand Hollywood houses remained, and Wilder, then a Los Angeles resident, found them to be a part of his everyday world. Many former stars from the silent era still lived in them, although most 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 imagining the story of a star who had lost her celebrity and box-office appeal.[5] The character of Norma Desmond mirrors aspects of the twilight years of several real-life faded silent-film stars, such as the reclusive existences of Mary Pickford and Pola Negri and the mental disorders of Mae Murray, Valeska Surratt, Audrey Munson and Clara Bow. Dave Kehr has asserted that Norma Talmadge is "the obvious if unacknowledged source of Norma Desmond, the grotesque, predatory silent movie queen" of the film.[6] The most common analysis of the character's name is that it is a combination of the names of silent film actress Mabel Normand and director William Desmond Taylor, a close friend of Normand's who was murdered in 1922 in a never-solved case sensationalized by the press.[7] Writing Gloria Swanson and Billy Wilder Wilder and Brackett began working on a script in 1948, but the result did not completely satisfy them. In August 1948, D. M. Marshman Jr., formerly a writer for Life, 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 Pictures and avoid the restrictive censorship of the Breen Code, they submitted the script a few pages at a time. The Breen Office insisted certain 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 thought Wilder was adapting a story called A Can of Beans (which did not exist) and allowed him relative freedom to proceed as he saw fit. Only the first third of the script was written when filming began in early May 1949, and Wilder was unsure how the film would end.[7] The fusion of writer-director Billy Wilder's biting humor and the classic elements of film noir make for a strange kind of comedy, as well as a strange kind of film noir. There are no belly laughs here, but there are certainly strangled giggles: at the pet chimp's midnight funeral, at Joe's discomfited acquiescence to the role of gigolo; at Norma's Mack Sennett-style "entertainments" for her uneasy lover; and at the ritualized solemnity of Norma's "waxworks" card parties, which feature such former luminaries as Buster Keaton as Norma's has-been cronies.[8] Wilder preferred to leave analysis of his screenplays and films to others. When asked if Sunset Boulevard was a black comedy, he replied: "No, just a picture".[9] Casting Wilder considered many actors for the lead roles, but chose Swanson and Holden. According to Brackett, Wilder and he never considered anyone except Gloria Swanson for the role of Norma Desmond. Wilder, however, recalled first wanting Mae West and Marlon Brando for the leads. West rejected the offer outright. West portrayed herself as a sex symbol through her senior years, and was offended that she should be asked to play a Hollywood has-been.[10] The filmmakers approached Greta Garbo, whom they had worked with previously on Ninotchka (1939), but she was not interested. Wilder contacted Pola Negri by telephone, but had a difficult time understanding her heavy Polish accent. He then reached out to Clara Bow, the famed "It girl" of the 1920s, but she declined citing that she had no interest in engaging in the film industry again due to how hard it was for her during the transition of sound films and that she'd prefer to remain in seclusion with her husband and sons while leaving her previous life behind her. They also offered the part of Norma Desmond to Norma Shearer, but she rejected the role due to both her retirement and distaste for the script. They were considering Fred MacMurray to play opposite her as Joe. Wilder and Brackett then visited Mary Pickford, but before even discussing the plot with her, Wilder realized she would consider a role involving an affair with a man half her age an insult, so they departed. They had considered pairing Montgomery Clift with her.[11] According to Wilder, he asked George Cukor for advice, and he suggested Swanson, one of the most fêted actresses of the silent-screen era, known for her beauty, talent, and extravagant lifestyle. In many ways, she resembled the Norma Desmond character, and like her, had been unable to make a smooth transition into talking pictures. The similarities ended there; Swanson made a handful of talking pictures. She accepted the end of her film career and, in the early 1930s, moved to New York City, where she worked in radio. In the mid-1940s, she worked in television and on the New York stage and had last appeared in the 1941 film Father Takes a Wife. Though Swanson was not seeking a movie comeback, she became intrigued when Wilder discussed the role with her.[5] Swanson was glad for the opportunity to earn a greater salary than she had been making in television and on stage.[10] However, she was chagrined at the notion of submitting to a screen test, saying she had "made 20 films for Paramount. Why do they want me to audition?" Her reaction was echoed in the screenplay when Norma Desmond declares, "Without me there wouldn't be any Paramount studios." In her memoir, Swanson recalled asking Cukor if it was unreasonable to refuse the screen test. He replied that since 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." His enthusiasm convinced Swanson to participate,[12] and she signed a contract for $50,000 (equivalent to $630,000 in 2023).[13] In a 1975 interview, Wilder recalled Swanson's reaction with the observation, "There was a lot of Norma in her, you know."[14] Wilder harks back to Swanson's silent film career when Norma shows Joe the film Queen Kelly, an earlier Gloria Swanson film directed by Erich von Stroheim, who himself portrays Norma's butler and former director and husband Max von Mayerling. Queen Kelly was not released in the United States for over 50 years after Swanson walked off the set.[12][15] Montgomery Clift was signed to play Joe Gillis for $5,000 per week for a guaranteed twelve weeks, but withdrew just before the start of filming, claiming his role of a young man involved with an older woman was too close to the one he had played in The Heiress (1949), in which he felt he had been unconvincing. An infuriated Wilder responded, "If he's any kind of actor, he could be convincing making love to any woman."[16] Clift himself was having an affair with a much older woman, the singer Libby Holman, which was suggested as his real reason for withdrawing from the film.[17][18] Forced to consider the available Paramount contract players, Wilder and Brackett focused on William Holden, who had made an impressive debut a decade earlier in Golden Boy (1939). Following an appearance in Our Town (1940), he served in the military in World War II, and his return to the screen afterward had been moderately successful. Holden was enthusiastic about the script and eager to accept the role. He did not know at the time that his salary of $39,000 (equivalent to $490,000 in 2023) was much less than had been offered to Clift.[19] For the role of Betty Schaefer, Wilder wanted a newcomer who could project a wholesome and ordinary image to contrast with Swanson's flamboyant and obsessive Desmond. He chose Nancy Olson, who had recently been considered for the role of Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah.[7] DeMille, often credited as the person most responsible for making Swanson a star, plays himself, with his scenes filmed on the set of Samson and Delilah at Paramount Studios. He calls Norma "young fella", which had been his nickname for Swanson. Norma's friends who come to play bridge with her, referred to by Joe as "the waxworks", were Swanson's silent-era contemporaries Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson, and H. B. Warner, portraying themselves. Hedda Hopper also played herself, reporting on Norma Desmond's downfall in the film's final scenes.[7] Cinematography and design The film's dark, shadowy black-and-white cinematography was the work of John F. Seitz. Wilder had worked with Seitz on several projects before, and trusted his judgment, allowing him to make his own decisions. Seitz recalled asking Wilder what he required for the pet chimpanzee's funeral scene, to which 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 "mustiness," a technique he had also used for Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944).[20] The film had the option to be shot in color, but it was instead shot in black and white to be more reflective of the noir genre.[21] Duration: 3 minutes and 14 seconds.3:14 Trailer for the film Wilder was adamant that the corpse of Joe Gillis be seen from the bottom of the pool, but creating the effect was difficult. The camera was placed inside a specially constructed box and lowered under water, but the result disappointed Wilder, who insisted on further experiments. 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 police officers standing around the pool forming a backdrop.[7] Film historian Tom Stempel writes: "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."[7] Edith Head designed the costumes. Wilder, Head, and Swanson agreed that Norma Desmond would have kept somewhat up-to-date with fashion trends, so Head designed costumes closely resembling the Dior look of the mid-1940s. Embellishments were added to personalize them and reflect Norma Desmond's taste.[22] Swanson recalled in her biography that the costumes were only "a trifle outdated, a trifle exotic."[12] 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 she relied on Swanson's expertise because "she was creating a past that she knew and I didn't."[7] Head also designed the costumes for William Holden and the minor characters, but Wilder instructed von Stroheim and Nancy Olson to wear their own clothing.[23] The overstated decadence of Norma Desmond's home was created by set designer Hans Dreier, whose career extended back to the silent era. He had also been commissioned to complete the interior design for the homes of movie stars, including the house of Mae West. William Haines, an interior designer and former actor, later rebutted criticism of Dreier's set design with the observation, "Bebe Daniels, Norma Shearer, and Pola Negri all had homes with ugly interiors like that."[7] The bed in the shape of a boat in which Norma Desmond slept had been owned by the dancer Gaby Deslys, who died in 1920. It had originally been bought by the Universal prop department at auction after Deslys's death. The bed appeared in The Phantom of the Opera (1925) starring Lon Chaney. Wilder also made use of authentic locales. Joe's apartment is in the Alto Nido, a real apartment block in central Hollywood that was often populated by struggling writers. It is located at 1851 Ivar Ave. and Franklin Ave west of the Hollywood Freeway. The scenes of Gillis and Betty Schaefer on Paramount's back lot were filmed on the actual studio back lot, and the interior of Schwab's Drug Store was carefully recreated for several scenes. The exterior scenes of the Desmond house were filmed at a house on Wilshire Boulevard built during the 1920s by the millionaire William O. Jenkins. Jenkins and his family lived in it for only one year before then leaving it abandoned for more than a decade, which earned it the nickname "Phantom House".[24] By 1949, it was owned by the former wife of J. Paul Getty. The house was later featured in Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955). It was demolished by the Gettys in 1957 to allow construction of an office building .[25][26] During filming, considerable publicity was given to the health-conscious Gloria Swanson's youthful appearance, which made her look the same age as Holden. Wilder insisted that the age difference between the characters be delineated, and instructed makeup supervisor Wally Westmore to make Swanson look older. Swanson argued that a woman of Norma Desmond's age, with her considerable wealth and devotion to self, would not necessarily look old, and suggested Holden be made up to appear younger. Wilder agreed, and Westmore was assigned this task, which allowed Swanson to portray Norma Desmond as more glamorous a figure than Wilder had originally imagined.[7] Score Main article: Sunset Boulevard (film score) Franz Waxman's musical score was the final element added to Sunset Boulevard.[27] His theme for Norma was based on tango music, inspired by her having danced the tango with Rudolph Valentino. This style was contrasted with Joe's bebop theme. Waxman also used distorted arrangements of popular film-music styles from the 1920s and 1930s to suggest Norma Desmond's state of mind. The film's score was recorded for compact disc by the Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Joel McNeely, and released in 2002.[28] The surviving parts of the original score were released in 2010.[29] Original release and responses Previews and revision Wilder and Brackett, nervous about a major screening in Hollywood, held a preview in Evanston, Illinois, in late 1949. The original edit opened with a scene inside a morgue, with the assembled corpses discussing how they came to be there. The story began with the corpse of Joe Gillis recounting his murder to the others. The audience reacted with laughter and seemed unsure whether to view the rest of the film as drama or comedy. After a similar reaction during its second screening in Poughkeepsie, New York, and a third in Great Neck, the morgue opening was replaced by a shorter poolside opening,[30] using footage filmed on January 5, 1950.[31] In Hollywood, Paramount arranged a private screening for the various studio heads and specially invited guests. After viewing the film, Barbara Stanwyck knelt 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, saying, "You have disgraced the industry that made and fed you! You should be tarred and feathered and run out of Hollywood!" Upon hearing of Mayer's slight, Wilder strode up to the mogul and retorted with a vulgarity that one biographer said was allegedly because Mayer, who was Jewish, suggested that Wilder, who was also Jewish, would be better off being sent back to Germany, an extraordinary sentiment so soon after the war and the Holocaust, in which Wilder's family perished.[32][33] In 2020 Olson recounted that friends who had attended the screening told her that Wilder had simply told Mayer "Go yourself."[23] The few other criticisms were not so venomous. According to one often-told but later discredited anecdote,[34] actress Mae Murray, a contemporary of Swanson, was offended by the film and commented, "None of us floozies was that nuts."[35] Premiere and box-office receipts Sunset Boulevard had its official world premiere at Radio City Music Hall on August 10, 1950.[36] After a seven-week run, Variety magazine reported the film had grossed "around $1,020,000", ($12,917,178 in 2023 dollars [37]) making it one of that theater'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 people to the cinemas, but in many areas away from major cities it was considered less than a hit.[7] The film earned an estimated $2,350,000 at the U.S. box office in 1950 ($29,760,166 in 2023 dollars [37]).[38] Critical response Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 98% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 112 reviews, with an average rating of 9.5/10. The critical consensus states: "Arguably the greatest movie about Hollywood, Billy Wilder's masterpiece Sunset Boulevard is a tremendously entertaining combination of noir, black comedy, and character study."[39] Contemporary Sunset Boulevard attracted a range of positive reviews from critics. Time described it as a story of "Hollywood at its worst told by Hollywood at its best",[40] while Boxoffice Review wrote "the picture will keep spectators spellbound."[41] James Agee, writing for Sight & Sound, praised the film and said 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 [who] spans another decade with her magic,"[7] while Look praised her "brilliant and haunting performance."[40] Some critics accurately foresaw the film's lasting appeal. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that future generations would "set themselves the task of analyzing the durability and greatness" of the film, while Commonweal said that in the future "the Library of Congress will be glad to have in its archives a print of Sunset Boulevard."[7] In a rare negative review of the film, The New Yorker deemed it "a pretentious slice of Roquefort" containing only "the germ of a good idea".[7] Despite praising it as a "great motion picture" with "memorable" acting, Thomas M. Pryor wrote in The New York Times that the use of the dead Joe Gillis as narrator was a plot device "completely unworthy of Brackett and Wilder".[42] Retrospective In 1999, Roger Ebert described Swanson as giving "one of the all time greatest [acting] performances", but singled out von Stroheim's performance as "hold[ing] the film together".[43] He included it in his Great Movies list, calling it "the best drama ever made about the movies because it sees through the illusions."[43] Pauline Kael described the film as "almost too clever, but at its best in its cleverness",[44] and also wrote that it was common to "hear Billy Wilder called the world's greatest director."[45] When Wilder died in 2002, obituaries singled out Sunset Boulevard for comment, describing it as one of his most significant works, along with Double Indemnity and Some Like It Hot.[46] Film writer Richard Corliss describes Sunset Boulevard as "the definitive Hollywood horror movie", noting that almost everything in the script is "ghoulish". He remarks that the story is narrated by a dead man whom Norma Desmond first mistakes for an undertaker, while most of the film takes place "in an old, dark house that only opens its doors to the living dead". He compares von Stroheim's character Max with the concealed Erik, the central character in The Phantom of the Opera, and Norma Desmond with Dracula, noting that, as she seduces Joe Gillis, the camera tactfully withdraws with "the traditional directorial attitude taken towards Dracula's jugular seductions". He writes that the narrative contains an excess of "cheap sarcasm", but ultimately considers it a valuable part of Joe's characterization as a hack writer.[47] David Thomson notes the irony of having Gillis tell the story: "The man who can't dream up a viable story line becomes the best pitch he'll ever hear. He is the story and it is Billy Wilder's sour valedictory to let the ghost of Gillis tell the story, facedown in the gelid swimming pool exactly the Hollywood reward that Joe gets only in his dreams. And so this breathtaking portrait of Hollywood failure is wrapped up in rueful, ruined success."[48] Awards and nominations Award Category Nominee(s) Result Academy Awards[49] Best Motion Picture Charles Brackett (for Paramount Pictures) Nominated Best Director Billy Wilder Nominated Best Actor William Holden Nominated Best Actress Gloria Swanson Nominated Best Supporting Actor Erich von Stroheim Nominated Best Supporting Actress Nancy Olson Nominated Best Story and Screenplay Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D. M. Marshman Jr. Won Best Art Direction-Set Decoration – Black-and-White Hans Dreier, John Meehan, Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer Won Best Cinematography – Black-and-White John F. Seitz Nominated Best Film Editing Arthur P. Schmidt and Doane Harrison Nominated Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Franz Waxman Won Blue Ribbon Awards Best Foreign Film Billy Wilder Won Bodil Awards Best American Film Won Cahiers du Cinéma Best Film Nominated Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Nominated DVD Exclusive Awards Best Overall New Extra Features – Library Release John Barbour (for the "Special Collector's Edition") Nominated Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama Won Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Gloria Swanson Won Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Erich von Stroheim Nominated Best Director – Motion Picture Billy Wilder Won Best Screenplay – Motion Picture Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D. M. Marshman Jr. Nominated Best Original Score – Motion Picture Franz Waxman Won Best Cinematography – Black and White John F. Seitz Nominated Jussi Awards Best Foreign Actress Gloria Swanson Won Nastro d'Argento Best Foreign Director Billy Wilder Won Best Foreign Actress Gloria Swanson Won National Board of Review Awards Best Film Won Top Ten Films 2nd Place Best Actress Gloria Swanson Won National Film Preservation Board National Film Registry Inducted New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Film Nominated Best Director Billy Wilder Nominated Best Actress Gloria Swanson Nominated Online Film & Television Association Awards Hall of Fame – Motion Picture Won Picturegoer Awards Best Actor William Holden Nominated Best Actress Gloria Swanson Nominated Writers Guild of America Awards Best Written American Drama Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D. M. Marshman Jr. Won Of the various films that have attracted Academy Award nominations in all four acting categories, Sunset Boulevard is one of only three not to win in any category, the others being My Man Godfrey (1936) and American Hustle (2013). At the time its eleven Oscar nominations were exceeded only by the fourteen received by All About Eve, which won six awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Many critics predicted that the Best Actress award would be given to Gloria Swanson or Bette Davis for All About Eve and were surprised that the recipient was newcomer Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday.[12] Bette Davis believed that her and Swanson's comparable characters effectively "cancelled each other out", allowing Holliday to win.[50] Swanson recalled the press's reaction following Holliday's win: "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."[40] Sunset Boulevard was dramatized as an hour-long radio play on the September 17, 1951, broadcast of Lux Radio Theater with Gloria Swanson and William Holden in their original film roles.[51] Recognition since 1989 In 1989, the film was among the first group of 25 deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[52] The Village Voice ranked the film at No. 43 in its Top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list in 1999, based on a poll of critics.[53] The film was included in "The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made" in 2002.[54] In January 2002, the film was voted at No. 87 on the list of the "Top 100 Essential Films of All Time" by the National Society of Film Critics.[55][56] Sunset Boulevard received 33 votes in the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound polls, making it the 63rd greatest film of all time in the critics' poll and 67th in the directors' poll.[57] In the earlier 2002 Sight & Sound polls the film ranked 12th among directors.[58] The Writers Guild of America ranked the film's screenplay (written by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder and D.M. Marshman Jr.) the 7th greatest ever.[59] In a 2015 poll by BBC Culture, film critics ranked Sunset Boulevard the 54th greatest American film of all time.[60] American Film Institute included the film on these lists: 1998 – AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies – #12 2003 – AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes and Villains: Norma Desmond – Nominated Villain 2005 – AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." – #7 "I am big, it's the pictures that got small!" – #24 2005 – AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – #16 2007 – AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – #16 Aftermath Sunset Boulevard was the last collaboration between Wilder and Brackett. They parted amicably and did not publicly air any grievances for the rest of their lives. In later years, Brackett confided in screenwriter/director Garson Kanin that he had not anticipated the split, or had ever understood exactly what happened or why. He described it as "an unexpected blow" from which he never recovered fully; when asked to respond to Brackett's comments, Wilder remained silent.[61] The two men briefly reunited in October 1951 to face charges that they had plagiarized Sunset Boulevard. Former Paramount accountant Stephanie Joan Carlson alleged that in 1947 she had submitted to Wilder and Brackett, at their request, manuscripts of stories, both fictional and based on fact, she had written about studio life. She claimed that one in particular, Past Performance, served as the basis for the Sunset script, and sued the screenwriters and Paramount for $100,000 in general damages, $250,000 in punitive damages, $700,000 based on the box office returns, and an additional $350,000 for good measure, for a total of $1,400,000. Carlson's suit was dismissed after two and a half years. In 1954, a similar suit was filed by playwright Edra Buckler, who claimed material she had written had been the screenplay's source. Her suit was dismissed the following year.[62] Brackett's Hollywood career continued after his split with Wilder. He won an Academy Award for his screenplay for Titanic (1953), and wrote Niagara (1953), the breakthrough film for Marilyn Monroe as a dramatic actress. It was Wilder, however, who realized Monroe's comedic abilities in The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot. Brackett's career waned by the end of the decade, though he did produce the Oscar-nominated film The King and I (1956). He received an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1958. William Holden began receiving more important parts and his career rose. He won the Best Actor Oscar for Stalag 17 (1953), also directed by Wilder, and by 1956 he was the top box-office attraction in the United States. Before the film was released, Nancy Olson had grown disenchanted with film as a career partly because the themes of Sunset Boulevard resonated with her, and also because she had become engaged to songwriter Alan Jay Lerner and decided to move to New York with him. Nevertheless, Olson's pairing with William Holden was considered a success, and she appeared opposite him in several films during the 1950s, although none of them repeated their earlier success; she returned to Hollywood to make several other films, including The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and Son of Flubber (1963), in which she was paired with Fred MacMurray.[23] Holden and Wilder also rejoined forces for Fedora (1978), another film critical of Hollywood. Similarly, Gloria Swanson was not able to leverage her own success in Sunset Boulevard. Although offered scripts, she felt that they all were poor imitations of Norma Desmond. Imagining a career that would eventually reduce her to playing "a parody of a parody," she virtually retired from films.[5] Sunset Boulevard was shown again in New York City in 1960, and drew such a positive response that Paramount arranged for a limited re-release in theaters throughout the United States. Films that discuss Sunset Boulevard in their screenplays or pay homage in scenes or dialogue include Soapdish (1991), The Player (1992), Gods and Monsters (1998), Mulholland Drive (2001),[7] Inland Empire (2006) and Be Cool (2005). The ending of Cecil B. Demented (2000) is a parody of Sunset Boulevard's final scene. Restoration and home media By the late 1990s, most Sunset Boulevard prints were in poor condition, and as the film was shot using cellulose nitrate filmstock, much of the original negative had perished. Paramount Studios, believing the film merited the effort of a complete restoration, mounted an expensive project to have it digitally restored. This restored version was released on DVD in 2002.[63][64] In 2012, the film was digitally restored by Paramount Pictures for Blu-ray Disc debut. Frame-by-frame digital restoration by Prasad Corporation removed dirt, tears, scratches and other defects.[65][66] Musical adaptations Stapley and Hughes From around 1952 to 1956, Gloria Swanson herself worked with actor Richard Stapley (aka Richard Wyler) and cabaret singer/pianist Dickson Hughes on an adaptation titled Boulevard! (at first Starring Norma Desmond). Stapley and Hughes first approached Swanson about appearing in a musical revue they had written, About Time (based on Time). Swanson stated that she would return to the stage only in a musical version of her comeback film. Within a week, Stapley and Dickson had written three songs which Swanson approved.[67] In this version, the romance between Gillis and Schaefer was allowed to blossom, and rather than shoot Gillis at the end, Norma gave the couple her blessing, sending them on their way to live "happily ever after." Although Paramount gave verbal permission to proceed with the musical, there was no formal legal option. In the late 1950s, Paramount withdrew its consent, leading to the demise of the project. In 1994, Dickson Hughes incorporated material from Boulevard! into a musical Swanson on Sunset, based on his and Stapley's experiences in writing Boulevard!. This attempt is chronicled in the 2021 documentary Boulevard! A Hollywood Story. Other failed attempts Stephen Sondheim briefly considered turning Sunset Boulevard into a musical until meeting Billy Wilder at a cocktail party, who told him that the film would be better adapted as an opera rather than a musical.[68] Hal Prince later approached Sondheim to adapt the film as a musical with Angela Lansbury playing Norma Desmond.[69] John Kander and Fred Ebb were also approached by Hal Prince to write a musical of Sunset Boulevard.[70] Andrew Lloyd Webber and Black & Hampton Main article: Sunset Boulevard (musical) A musical adaptation with book and lyrics written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber was staged in 1993 in London, with Patti LuPone playing Norma Desmond. It closely followed the film story, retained much of the dialogue and attempted to present similar set designs. It reached Broadway in 1994, with Glenn Close playing Norma Desmond. The production staged 17 previews beginning November 1, 1994, and played 977 performances at the Minskoff Theatre from November 17, 1994, through March 22, 1997.[71] It was named Best Musical at the 1995 Tony Awards. In 2016, Close reprised the role in London's West End, followed by a 12-week run at the Palace Theater in New York City from February 2 to June 25, 2017. Sunset Boulevard played one night at the Royal Albert Hall on December 3, 2021. The production was directed by Jordan Murphy and conducted by Alex Parker, and it starred Mazz Murray. In 2023 Nicole Scherzinger revived the role of Norma Desmond in a 16-week run from September at London's Savoy Theatre, in a production directed by Jamie Lloyd. A film adaptation of the musical, with Close and Lloyd Webber producing, and Close playing Norma, is in development at Paramount Pictures, with Rob Ashford directing and Tom MacRae writing. Filming was originally set to begin in late 2019, but was delayed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Paramount putting the project on hold as of October 2021.[72][73][74] In popular culture Television The film was parodied on The Carol Burnett Show in a recurring sketch called "Sunnyset Boulevard" in which Carol Burnett played the insane "Nora Desmond" and Harvey Korman her servant Max. The Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Sepulveda Boulevard" is a parody of the film. In the episode of American Dad! entitled "Star Trek", the plot revolves around the downfall of stardom and pays tribute by replicating the opening scene of the movie. The plot of the episode "A Star is Reborn" is also based on the film. The Archer season 7 finale and segue to the film noir Archer: Dreamland season 8 recreate the pool scene from the opening of the film. The Season 11 premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm, entitled "The Five-Foot Fence", begins with Larry David finding a home invader's corpse floating face-down in his pool. The Twin Peaks character Gordon Cole is named after the Sunset Boulevard character. A scene from the film itself appears in Part 15 of Twin Peaks: The Return. In the scene, being viewed by Dale Cooper, the name "Gordon Cole" is spoken, which stirs Cooper's buried memory of his time in the FBI. The 3rd Rock from the Sun episode "Fifteen Minutes of Dick" (season 2, ep. 23) features a spoof on the film, wherein Sally, suddenly famous, spirals into Norma-esque despair as her celebrity wanes. The early episodes of Desperate Housewives (2004) have numerous allusions to Sunset Boulevard, including the use of a dead person as a narrator, and another character's fondness for Billy Wilder movies. In the movie Hick, Luli (Chloe Grace Moretz) can be found in her room reciting the movie in the mirror. Moretz revealed that she was the one who suggested the quote be implemented. In the scene where Robin Williams first tries on his drag outfit in Mrs. Doubtfire, he quotes Swanson's famous line "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille". Literature Sunset Boulevard is frequently referenced in the book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell, which documents Sestero's relationship with director and actor Tommy Wiseau and the making of Wiseau's film The Room. Quotes from Sunset Boulevard are used as epigraphs for several of the book's chapters.[75] In a 2017 interview, Sestero stated that "I saw a lot of similarities with my story, especially when Tommy lived in a place that had a pool and wanted to make his own vanity project."[76] Politics Donald Trump has cited the film as one of his personal favorites, and screened it multiple times at the White House Family Theater during his presidency. The press subsequently brought up an analogy between Trump's Mar-a-Lago and Norma Desmond's Sunset Boulevard mansion.[77] Popular music The song "Antarctica Starts Here" by John Cale, from his 1973 album Paris 1919, describes a "paranoid great movie queen" that Cale said was inspired by the character of Norma Desmond.[78] The song "Floating" on the album Outskirts by Canadian country-rock band Blue Rodeo references the movie in its chorus line 'I feel like William Holden floating in a pool.' The album's liner notes explain the connection to the film. The 1996 song Sunset Boulevard by the Spanish songwriter Javier Álvarez includes the verses Los años de papel te vuelven a cegar / Como a Norma Desmond en Sunset Boulevard ("The paper years blind you again / as [they blinded] Norma Desmond in 'Sunset Boulevard'".)[79]
  • Condition: Used
  • Artist: GLORIA SWANSON
  • Type: Print
  • Year of Production: 1980
  • Theme: Nature
  • Production Technique: SERIGRAPH
  • Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
  • Subject: SPACE

PicClick Insights - Gloria Swanson Signed Artist Serigraph Autograph 1021/1250 Limited 1980 PicClick Exclusive

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