In the early 1960s I met Miss Swanson at a party and at one point we were seated next to each other on a couch; during our conversation she did the staircase scene for me with those incredible hand gestures; I was mesmerized. When she finished she said your friends must think I'm crazy. I replied Oh no Miss Swanson, they think you're wonderful. Which was true of course.
Is perhaps one of the best films ever made! An hommage to the history of silent movies. Gloria Swanson is really gourgeos in this film and became one of greatest actresses of Hollywood. She is the link between the old silent cinema and the modern one.
we don't get films like this today--all we get our sequels, violence, adult cartoons,--Wilder had a huge gift for writing and used it well--he made films which still withstand the test of time
Recently had the opportunity to see Sunset Boulevard on a huge screen, part of the TMC presentation of great films back in the theaters again. To see it larger than your home TV screen (no matter how big it might be), just couldn't compare with seeing it on The Big Screen. The final scene with Norma descending the staircase and the final Close-Up simply took your breath away!
Shhhh,I want to go with,but it's over... Well I did get to see The wizard of Oz on the big screen when it came back to the movie theater cuz I like the witch so much
It's almost impossible to look good, with grease in your hair, and swim trunks up past your navel. But William Holden DID look good, despite all that. So, I suppose that made him miraculously attractive.
I disagree. These two films are equally great. Both feature brilliant scripts and "too good to be true" casting. Both are distinguished by excellent camera work, costuming and set decoration. I would have been hard put to choose between the two had I been a member of the Academy that year.
That last famous scene where she asks permission from Mr. Demille to speak, supposedly right after they wrapped up that infamous scene which wrapped up the movie, Gloria cried on the set right after...... She was so happy and overcome with emotion because she gave soo much to her art, her art she adored soo much and was very happy and grateful to be able to show it in this picture!!!😀😂
We need a Billy Wilder type in movies today. I am so sick of the crap in theatres nowadays. Anytime I'm considering going to the theatre and I look at what's out, it's all just lame and awful so I end up just watching older movies instead. It's just remakes/sequels/lame crap that is all effects, no care for character development or telling a story.
Films are based on Language and Culture, the way Western culture has been destroyed and still is, no wonder there are no stories left to tell. In todays movies 10 minutes into it the leading lady is in her birthday suit, tell me what remains after that....😕
For the most part, old movies had the same problems as the new movies: CIGARETTES and PROPAGANDA. Smoking made most of the old films very tense and unpleasant experiences to watch. And most films were filled, after the "League of Decency" came into power, with what Rome wanted Americans to think (along with any government-mandated propaganda, and plenty of the Frankfurt School ideology favored by my coreligionists.) So, movies were about training the Gentiles to fritter-away their lives with drinking, smoking, and dancing, while also conditioning Protestants (the paying audience, but also the perceived enemy of the two groups controlling Hollywood) to hate themselves, hate their parents, hate each other, and see themselves as naturally subservient to peoples of Mediterranean origins. One wonderful thing about Sunset Boulevard (and Baby Jane) was that it gave audiences a break from the almost-nonstop brainwashing coming out of Hollywood.
there are an awful lot of good films being made. True there are a lot more awful ones which seem to the ones shown in the large commercial cinemas; Sequels, rip offs, star vehicles. If you look carefully and in more modest places, like independent cinemas (if you have them where you are) you may find some.thoughtful and original films. 'The Guernsey book and potato pie club' was good. I just watched 'I Kill Giants' and 'Hidden Figures' on dvd recently, well made, thoughtful. No supervillians, heroes, swearing or nudity in them.
@Stephen Jones Right. Right! I go further: All good stories/plots(for the masses resp.profitable box-office), are filmed.Similar to (pop)-music.All interesting melodies and chord-combinations are written.Maybe it even can be proved mathematically
Someone commented that Bette Davis was robbed of the Oscar that year. I happen to think Gloria Swanson was robbed of it. I do have to admit though. Judy Halliday was brilliant. It seems to me Judy had to reach out of herself to pull that role off so successfully. Bette and Gloria were on somewhat familiar territory. In my mind though, Sunset Boulevard was superior to All About Eve.
I think Billy Wilder may well have been the greatest director ever to work in Hollywood. I have never seen such an incredible range. From Sunset Blvd to Double Indemnity to Some Like it Hot to Witness for the Prosecution to The Apartment, he covered everything from comedy to drama to thrillers, laughter, tears, and chills.
Gloria's gestures, postures and facial expressions are priceless!! That's the training that comes with having been a silent film actress who didn't get to rely on words, words AND MORE WORDS!!!
My Favourite movie.....they are all lying to each each other.....Joe to Norma, Max to Norma & Joe, Joe to Betty....and of course Norma is lying to herself......you couldn't write that kind of script if you had not seen what that industry did to people.....as Bill Holden once said of Billy Wilder.....his mind was full of razor blades......
Really enjoyed this short film on a masterpiece. Love Gloria Swanson- she was a grounded lady of great talent who had an edge about her- not a crazy edge like ND! Am enjoying reading Gloria's 1980 auto-biography at the moment "Swanson on Swanson."
I first saw this film when I was 16 in 1998 and it spoke to me.... thrilled me. It is one of my favorites. That final scene gives me goosebumps every time.
Of all great thefts in the world, I’ll always believe Gloria Swanson’s loss of Best Actress to be right up there. This performance is exquisite, and so from the heart. It’s an epic loss for us all that in 1950, a 51 year old actress of her caliber couldn’t continue making great movies.
That great Moorish mansion that served as the exterior for the film was razed in 1957 and boy does that irk me. It was such a wonderful structure.
6 років тому+5
Never get tired of watching this S-B. It's a film about bitterness / disappointment and not being able to let go of the past. It's also about Aging and not coming to terms with it.
I prefer Sunset Blvd than All abt Eve. It was in the 90's the 1rst time I've seen this movie, it's a kind of movie that you never forget and can watch over and over.
Oh My Gosh, for days I have been trying to think of this movie and what Norma said at the end, "Mr De Mille, I am ready for my close up! Ted Cruz reminds me of her every time he gets in front of the camera, he seems to be on skit, like, I'm ready for the camera! He seems so fake whenever he is filmed!!! Like it has been all rehearsed.
1 of my ALL thime favorite movies...I saw it for the first time last yr. & instantly fell in love with it...I love old movies & I always said I wanted to see this movie & I got my chance to see it last yr. on a channel that shows old movies...thank you Billy Wilder for making such a great movie...it beats any movie I've seen in modern day, plus it's a timeless film & is very relevent for todays fading celebs.
Great documentary. I watched this film for the first time about a year ago, and afterwards felt ashamed that I had never seen it before, such a masterpiece - the acting, directing, lighting and scenery. Since then I've watched it twice more and will watch it again and again. I don't think any other actress could have played the role of Norma Desmond so perfectly except for Swanson, she was absolutely mesmerizing.
I first saw this movie while onboard the Queen Mary 2 from NY to Southampton . Loved it . Needless to say I walked around the ship saying i'm ready for my closeup ;)
I think that sunset boulevard with Gloria Swanson is fantastic. I actually met her and she was so sweet to me. She was down to earth and very helpful and kind. Such a talented actress
***** yeah happy 65th birthday sunset boulevard, i love this movie, i walked down sunset boulevard for the first time earlier this year, this is one of the greatest movies ever made
i saw this, and streetcar named desire--both for the first time--in consecutive nights. both kind of disturbing movies, both totally different in how they were done and presented, but both really good. i have to say, i might have liked this one better.
One of the brilliant things about this movie is how much is implied without ever being said and how you know there is one hell-of-a backstory to almost everything you learn about Norma. You know that she and Max had to have had one of the wildest and most turbulent relationships ever, one that began when she was an adolescent, one that saw both of them become godlike figures, one that was probably characterized by all kinds of outrageous behavior on both sides, and during which he did something sufficiently bad that he feels he must be a penitent for the rest of his life, even assisting her relationships with other men. You'd love to know more about that, and about the other husbands, what happened that took her from a woman who danced on a table when Lindbergh landed to a near total recluse (other silent stars certainly weren't reclusive), what had happened before that Max knew to make up the chauffeur's room. You even want to know more about the chimp. It was as if Wilder and Brackett had taken advice from Mama Rose on screenwriting: "Make them beg for more, and then don't give it to them."
I learned that Swanson was even more famous than I'd thought when I was employed at a university with a co-worker named Greta Swanson. You wouldn't believe just how many millennials would ask to see or speak with Gloria Swanson! Then would follow an awkward exchange; they'd at first not realize their error, and would then be confused, saying they'd never heard of Gloria Swanson - did they really say that? An example of "collective cultural memory/knowledge," or something like it.
I love all about eve too, but not like sunset boulevard...I never get tired of watching that movie...as a matter of fact I could watch it everyday for the rest of my life...can't believe all about eve beat it out for best picture...but like they said that just goes to show how much Hollywood was hating & didn't wanna face the bare facts that Hollywood is a tough place especially to the ''fading'' star.
As good as "All About Eve" was , I always thought that Sunset Boulevard should have won the Oscar for best picture, but then again it"s a matter of individual taste
Hector Salvador- I think it’s also about the time it was filmed too. The McCarthy Hearings were going on, people in Hollywood we’re afraid of losing their jobs, seeing their coworkers turn in their fellow co workers to keep their jobs. Such a vastly different time. I’m just grateful it was made at all.
Does anyone know when this documentary was made? Nancy Olson looks so young. She was superb in SB. She was so convincing in the part, a nice foil for the sinister atmosphere of the film, and looked like she was born to wear the outfits and hair styles of that era.
Several of the classic Hollywood films stars, like Garbo and Dietrich also had live theater/cabaret experience and/or worked in silent films before the advent of the talkies. Maybe its one of the reasons why so much of their acting in the early days of talking pictures appears to us today as being so over- the- top or "stagey"? They actually had to learn or re-learn how to"act" and talk at the same time in their movies. The best ones survived and prospered and became screen gods and goddesses, others e.g John Gilbert, et.al. not so much. Norma Desmond's chilling final walk down that staircase is the epitome of what "acting" used to be.
Swanson was able to use her face very effectively here, a skill she learned as a silent movie actress, Crawford had the same skill, also from starting out in silent films.
Even tho this film was made decades ago it is so timeless especially in the day n age of the ''reality star''...alot of these reality stars are ''fading'' celebs from yesteryear but they can't ever get enough of the ''roar of the crowd''...they will come outta hiding just to be on some crazy ass reality show...and they'll stop at nothing to make themselves stick out...it's like they never get enough of the so-called ''love of the ppl'' or the fans...all of them should be made to watch this movie, maybe then they'd rethink their decisions to go on t.v. & make an utter fool of themselves.
Re ageing actors (and sports stars),, You have to understand that there is more to it than pubic adoration: When you are a part of a creative enterprise - a film or a show - that goes on for months, it is a huge high - you form friendships and relationships with people you see every day, you bare your soul to everyone sharing that enterprise.. and then suddenly it is over.. one day it is there, and the next it is gone: I think older performers just want to experience that high again, that camaraderie.. closing a show or film is like losing a lover.. there is an enormous emptiness, and most would crawl over broken glass to experience that just one more time.. craving the public adoration is pretty valid too, but I don't think it is the main motivation..
This documentary was produced in 2002, but when were Nancy Olson's comments made? She was born in 1928, which would make 74, but she looks way too young.
I got to go to a screening sitting on the law at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery ON Sunset Blvd. they shown t on the side of a mausoleum. It was one of the best nights of my life. The audience was so reactive and appreciative. A once in a lifetime experience!
I also love this being William Holden fan. It's great. But I have to say I like All About Eve the best. Bette Davis was robbed. Judy Holiday is good but she's no Bette Davis. Swanson played the mad Norma well. I'm sorry but Gloria was scary Looking in SB when I first saw it as a child(I am now 65) and when I watch it now, I still find her scary Looking. And I don't scare easily. Gloria Is quite ugly.
When Nancy Olson describes the tossing of pumice dust into the air for the interior shots, to give a quality of aging (corners became dusty). It harks me back to the early mountain films with Leni Riefenstahl, where they shot with the lens wide open, which gave the sense of air to the shots. Check them out. Artistry prevails in cinema....and black and white seems to show it's elegance the best.
You want to see what drop-dead gorgeous is, just google "Gloria Swanson" and stroll through her early pictures. Puts Monroe, Taylor, Wood, Johansson, Belluci, Fox...all of them to shame.
It made me think that probably every one of us have a "butler" in our minds that protects us from the bitter truths about life and about OUR particular life. Beginning from the fact that we are here for such a short time, we will lose all our beloved ones and we will die too...But of course, the more aware, honest and vigilant we are about ourselves, the more we can make something out of this brief time on earth.That's why I thought this movie was a great reminder. How interesting : when we see it in the example of Norma, we all find it kind of tragicomic and we don't identify ourselves with her at all. But indeed, in the lives of every one of us, there are truths we don't want to face. Self delusion has no limits...
Great film! I read somewhere , that during the last scene when Swanson came down the stairs she wanted to be looking straightforward. In order to do this, she had to be able to feel the steps as she came down, so she did the scene barefoot . The "reporters" were strategically placed on the stair case to catch Swanson in case she missed a step and fell.
Hollywood cruel and opportunist? Please. Welcome to the real world. Hollywood is no different than fashion modeling, professional sports, the art world, the music industry, etc. Don't ever feel sorry for anyone paid a million dollars a film.
+Monty_Magic No way in the world could "anyone have played Norman Desmond or Margo Channing". These are two of the greatest performances by any actors ever filmed. Signature roles. Performances we're still discussing all these decades later. I agree Holliday never quite got the aclaim her comedic skills deserved, but it doesn't have to be at the expense of two landmark performances. What a year for film 1950 was. As great as 1939 in my opinion.
Monty_Magic Oh, my yes!! I've read so many Hollywood autobiographies, so many first hand accounts of events but to have been there in person...my favorite fantasy!
Fascinating! Such an intelligent, articulate discussion about one of the best movies ever made. My own acting experience wouldn't fill a thimble but this documentary makes me want to act again and to do work that is serious and worthwhile. It would be a joy to do something of substance instead of another musical comedy and to truly work with a director to understand and know how to play a character.
I watched Sunseet Boulevаrd full moooovie herе twitter.com/c9a1f94a7213c3914/status/822767559481036800 Billy Wilder s Sunset Bоoоouleevаrd a lоok back deutsсh untertiteelt
Check out when Gloria Swanson and Janis Joplin were both on the Dick Cavett show. There's a hilarious misunderstanding between the 3 of them, which starts when Swanson (referring to the fact that she'd like to sculpture a bust of him) says to Cavett "I'd like to do your head."
+Ferdinand Celine Seen it a couple times. Amazing combo. But jeez...Gloria looked amazing. She was a big health food fan. And it showed. There was a Tiffany jewelry show in a San Francisco museum about three years ago...even had the artwork for making the pieces...lots of photos, etc. But Gloria had the best stuff. Given to her but princes, moolahs, etc. (I have no idea how to spell moolah) Astonishing predeco and deco bracelets...pins, necklaces, etc.
"Poor Janis looked like she slept in her clothes." weird moment when Janis Joplin told Gloria Swanson she looked like a "silver devil" - she was probably on drugs - Joplin actually overdosed shortly after the interview - the vibe got weird there for a moment
EXCELLENT Documentary about The Best Film EVER MADE. ... Billy Wilder's story-telling ability was so Shakespearean I doubt that any filmmaker will EVER approach his level. .... Kubrick was just as technically and intellectually brilliant but he never really told Actors how to express their dialogue because he lacked the emotional intelligence to do so and create deeply sympathetic characters like Nora Desmond and Joe Gillis. ... Wilder was ULTRA specific about what the characters should be feeling as they spoke EVERY SINGLE WORD. ... amazing.
Dissent here. Yes, this film is crafted well and acted superbly in a sort of creepy gothic way. But as is always the case in Hollywood either praise or criticism comes from places of agenda pushing. Billy Wilder the immigrant and Jewish dude. Those two categories alone would get him fans even if he filmed a swimming contest in that pool. Then too as one of the yappers in this doc said, the cynicism is so modern and that too garners praise from fashionably cynical modernist types. It is NOT an homage to silent film but just the opposite. The REAL silent film actors, including the genius Keaton are called "her waxworks". The mansion set is described in demeaning terms as excessive "Crazy stuff" the stars of the 1920's built. The Swanson character, a real silent film actress, is written and directed as a crazy loon. The only positive character is the young script writing woman, meant to symbolize 1950 Hollywood, free of all that past pantomime. Pantomime we can now safely laugh at. If that is a tribute to the stars and directors of the silent era, I'd hate to see a put-down. The picture got mixed reviews and was only a moderate success at the box office. Louis Mayer stalked out and cursed Wilder after a screening. America's sweetheart as she was called, and the first grand female star of Hollywood Mary Pickford was said to have wept and left the screening room in tears. She got it. it was a big sneer at stars like her, demeaned as forgotten has-beens.
I honestly hate that Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve came out the same year. Gloria Swanson and Bette Davis, respectively, gave career-defining performances in these two films and they each deserved their Oscar nod. Had either Sunset Boulevard or All About Eve been released in 1949 or 1951, I haven't the slightest doubt that Miss Swanson or Miss Davis would have taken home the golden statuette for Best Actress of their year. It was a neck-and-neck race between these two women, and they were each touted as winners by columnists in their corners. Judy Holliday, a relative newcomer to the scene, took the award, however, for her iconic comedic performance in Born Yesterday. I think everyone thought someone was going to vote for either Swanson or Davis, and they decided to vote for Holliday, the poor underdog no one was going to vote for. So they thought. It all backfired and neither of the two best performances by American actresses in Hollywood's classic era were recognized for their work at the Academy Awards. It's a shame.
Sunset Blvd. Should have won the Oscar. I've seen All about Eve and was mildly disappointed after having heard what a great movie it was and it won the Oscar, blah, blah, blah..... Sunset Blvd. really is one of a kind
An amazing thing about director Billy Wilder he got other directors who were considered very autocratic to appear as actors in his films : Cecil B DeMille , Otto Preminger and Eric von Stroheim . Mr Wilder must have a tough one not be intimated .
What I think is it's full of oxymoron .sunset Blvd a dark house . She is old all though the movie I thought she was like 70 lol at the end he says once again your old you are 50 lol omg 😂😂😂😂 I mean ???
Even Bette Davis (Who was not one to dish out compliments) said Swanson gave "a heavenly performance"
wow
And NO mention of Franz Waxman's masterful score, which really makes the final scene on the stairs work.
In the early 1960s I met Miss Swanson at a party and at one point we were seated next to each other on a couch; during our conversation she did the staircase scene for me with those incredible hand gestures; I was mesmerized. When she finished she said your friends must think I'm crazy. I replied Oh no Miss Swanson, they think you're wonderful. Which was true of course.
Schuyler Johnson What a fabulous story; I am a child of Hollywood, live far, faraway now and I relish these stories.
Wow!
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.. of COURSE you were there and of COURSE she did that.... HOGWASH!
@@hankaustin7091 you would know OF COURSE
@@katiezee2 here's what I know.. you're a freaking idiot
Nancy Olsen, a perfect role model of how to age naturally instead of ending up looking like a freak!
that's so true! I would follow her regimen to the letter, she looks fantastic.
I can't believe "Sunset" and "Eve" came out the same year... what a year for cinema.
SmittenKitten It was a year second only to 1939.
+michelle stein-evers frankl SO true. It's nice to know that there are people still watching older movies. :)
@michelle Yup, 1939: Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind.
Old Hollywood Rocks!!! Today's Hollywood produces more crap than quality!
Agreed! I'm watching _Double Indemnity_ as I type this!
"I am big it's the pictures that got small". How true.
one of the best movie lines, ever!
I quote that line all the time. It's just to poignant.
Is perhaps one of the best films ever made! An hommage to the history of silent movies. Gloria Swanson is really gourgeos in this film and became one of greatest actresses of Hollywood. She is the link between the old silent cinema and the modern one.
👍💯👍
Yes
Nancy Olson still looks beautiful.
we don't get films like this today--all we get our sequels, violence, adult cartoons,--Wilder had a huge gift for writing and used it well--he made films which still withstand the test of time
i never get tired of this movie! a classic! Perfection!
I never get tired of watching Swanson. She was brilliant!
Ditto !
I can't find it on UA-cam
Recently had the opportunity to see Sunset Boulevard on a huge screen, part of the TMC presentation of great films back in the theaters again. To see it larger than your home TV screen (no matter how big it might be), just couldn't compare with seeing it on The Big Screen. The final scene with Norma descending the staircase and the final Close-Up simply took your breath away!
Shhhh,I want to go with,but it's over... Well I did get to see The wizard of Oz on the big screen when it came back to the movie theater cuz I like the witch so much
The movie still is big. It’s the screens that got small.
William Holden was one good looking sexy man back in his day
As Nancy Olson put it: "He is exquisite."
It's almost impossible to look good, with grease in your hair, and swim trunks up past your navel. But William Holden DID look good, despite all that. So, I suppose that made him miraculously attractive.
I agree. He has a masculinity that's missing in Hollywood's current leading men.
"All about Eve is a great film, but is not as riviting as Sunset boulevard was.
I disagree. These two films are equally great. Both feature brilliant scripts and "too good to be true" casting. Both are distinguished by excellent camera work, costuming and set decoration. I would have been hard put to choose between the two had I been a member of the Academy that year.
emma duncan
Emma, that's very true.
What I wouldn't give to have been on the set of the last scene when Miss, Swanson walks down that staircase, PRICELESS..
That last famous scene where she asks permission from Mr. Demille to speak, supposedly right after they wrapped up that infamous scene which wrapped up the movie, Gloria cried on the set right after...... She was so happy and overcome with emotion because she gave soo much to her art, her art she adored soo much and was very happy and grateful to be able to show it in this picture!!!😀😂
Total classic. And Gloria Swanson proved why she was who she was. Introduced her to a whole new generation.
We need a Billy Wilder type in movies today. I am so sick of the crap in theatres nowadays. Anytime I'm considering going to the theatre and I look at what's out, it's all just lame and awful so I end up just watching older movies instead. It's just remakes/sequels/lame crap that is all effects, no care for character development or telling a story.
Films are based on Language and Culture, the way Western culture has been destroyed and still is, no wonder there are no stories left to tell. In todays movies 10 minutes into it the leading lady is in her birthday suit, tell me what remains after that....😕
For the most part, old movies had the same problems as the new movies: CIGARETTES and PROPAGANDA. Smoking made most of the old films very tense and unpleasant experiences to watch. And most films were filled, after the "League of Decency" came into power, with what Rome wanted Americans to think (along with any government-mandated propaganda, and plenty of the Frankfurt School ideology favored by my coreligionists.) So, movies were about training the Gentiles to fritter-away their lives with drinking, smoking, and dancing, while also conditioning Protestants (the paying audience, but also the perceived enemy of the two groups controlling Hollywood) to hate themselves, hate their parents, hate each other, and see themselves as naturally subservient to peoples of Mediterranean origins. One wonderful thing about Sunset Boulevard (and Baby Jane) was that it gave audiences a break from the almost-nonstop brainwashing coming out of Hollywood.
there are an awful lot of good films being made. True there are a lot more awful ones which seem to the ones shown in the large commercial cinemas; Sequels, rip offs, star vehicles. If you look carefully and in more modest places, like independent cinemas (if you have them where you are) you may find some.thoughtful and original films. 'The Guernsey book and potato pie club' was good. I just watched 'I Kill Giants' and 'Hidden Figures' on dvd recently, well made, thoughtful. No supervillians, heroes, swearing or nudity in them.
@Stephen Jones Right.
Right! I go further: All good stories/plots(for the masses resp.profitable box-office), are filmed.Similar to (pop)-music.All interesting melodies and chord-combinations are written.Maybe it even can be proved mathematically
Allen M. Quinn True. He was a very versatile and intelligent director!
Nancy Olsen is so animated and looks amazing for ANY age. What vigor!
Someone commented that Bette Davis was robbed of the Oscar that year. I happen to think Gloria Swanson was robbed of it. I do have to admit though. Judy Halliday was brilliant. It seems to me Judy had to reach out of herself to pull that role off so successfully. Bette and Gloria were on somewhat familiar territory.
In my mind though, Sunset Boulevard was superior to All About Eve.
Swanson deserved the Oscar for her creation of Norma Desmond
I think Billy Wilder may well have been the greatest director ever to work in Hollywood. I have never seen such an incredible range. From Sunset Blvd to Double Indemnity to Some Like it Hot to Witness for the Prosecution to The Apartment, he covered everything from comedy to drama to thrillers, laughter, tears, and chills.
I totally agree. There is a reason we still talk about the movies he made as "Billy Wilder films".
The Very BEST.
ace in the hole
I think if I had to pick one favorite movie it would have to be DOUBLE INDEMNITY.
Sunset Boulevard movie here => twitter.com/f88aaadeb5eb1d788/status/822767559481036800
Gloria's gestures, postures and facial expressions are priceless!! That's the training that comes with having been a silent film actress who didn't get to rely on words, words AND MORE WORDS!!!
Indeed!
"We had faces!"
One of the best motion picture, ever !!!
My Favourite movie.....they are all lying to each each other.....Joe to Norma, Max to Norma & Joe, Joe to Betty....and of course Norma is lying to herself......you couldn't write that kind of script if you had not seen what that industry did to people.....as Bill Holden once said of Billy Wilder.....his mind was full of razor blades......
amazing movie ..,one of my favourite...its dark ,funny ,intelligent... disturbing .. with a fascinating and mega talented cast and characters
This film is such a masterpiece
I heartily concur !!
What a great great video. Thanks for posting! Sunset Boulevard is one of my all-time favorites and I just love this behind-the-scenes stuff.
I love these behind-the-scenes-of-films documentaries ! there's a good one about All Above Eve, too
One of my favorite movies.
One of the greatest movies of all time- still relevant today
As I do when I take off my hat, you make a good point !!
Really enjoyed this short film on a masterpiece. Love Gloria Swanson- she was a grounded lady of great talent who had an edge about her- not a crazy edge like ND! Am enjoying reading Gloria's 1980 auto-biography at the moment "Swanson on Swanson."
I first saw this film when I was 16 in 1998 and it spoke to me.... thrilled me. It is one of my favorites. That final scene gives me goosebumps every time.
Of all great thefts in the world, I’ll always believe Gloria Swanson’s loss of Best Actress to be right up there. This performance is exquisite, and so from the heart. It’s an epic loss for us all that in 1950, a 51 year old actress of her caliber couldn’t continue making great movies.
That great Moorish mansion that served as the exterior for the film was razed in 1957 and boy does that irk me. It was such a wonderful structure.
Never get tired of watching this S-B. It's a film about bitterness / disappointment and not being able to let go of the past. It's also about Aging and not coming to terms with it.
That was really well put together...thanks for posting. SB was a great picture.
A great masterpiece
Andre Nadra - INDEED!!!
I prefer Sunset Blvd than All abt Eve. It was in the 90's the 1rst time I've seen this movie, it's a kind of movie that you never forget and can watch over and over.
Oh My Gosh, for days I have been trying to think of this movie and what Norma said at the end, "Mr De Mille, I am ready for my close up! Ted Cruz reminds me of her every time he gets in front of the camera, he seems to be on skit, like, I'm ready for the camera! He seems so fake whenever he is filmed!!! Like it has been all rehearsed.
Sunset boulevard : Billy Wilder's masterpiece !!!
No doubt about it ...
One of his masterpiece he has a few .what a talented man ❤
1 of my ALL thime favorite movies...I saw it for the first time last yr. & instantly fell in love with it...I love old movies & I always said I wanted to see this movie & I got my chance to see it last yr. on a channel that shows old movies...thank you Billy Wilder for making such a great movie...it beats any movie I've seen in modern day, plus it's a timeless film & is very relevent for todays fading celebs.
Great documentary.
I watched this film for the first time about a year ago, and afterwards felt ashamed that I had never seen it before, such a masterpiece - the acting, directing, lighting and scenery.
Since then I've watched it twice more and will watch it again and again.
I don't think any other actress could have played the role of Norma Desmond so perfectly except for Swanson, she was absolutely mesmerizing.
Excellent movie .
I first saw this movie while onboard the Queen Mary 2 from NY to Southampton . Loved it . Needless to say I walked around the ship saying i'm ready for my closeup ;)
Golly Nancy Olsen must have been 9 when the movie was filmed.
Seen this movie at my mothers invitation a long, long time ago. Glad I accepted . I’ve now seen it over twenty times, at least. Amazing cinema.
I think that sunset boulevard with Gloria Swanson is fantastic. I actually met her and she was so sweet to me. She was down to earth and very helpful and kind. Such a talented actress
Happy 65th Sunset Blvd! xo
***** yeah happy 65th birthday sunset boulevard, i love this movie, i walked down sunset boulevard for the first time earlier this year, this is one of the greatest movies ever made
This and Citizen Kane are the two best pictures ever made.
it would have been stupid with Mae West!
Really!!! My chin literally dropped when I heard that. That would have been the biggest miscast in cinematic history.
I've never seen this movie but now I must.
yes you must - it's fantastic!!
Lisa T I agree!
i saw this, and streetcar named desire--both for the first time--in consecutive nights. both kind of disturbing movies, both totally different in how they were done and presented, but both really good. i have to say, i might have liked this one better.
One of the brilliant things about this movie is how much is implied without ever being said and how you know there is one hell-of-a backstory to almost everything you learn about Norma.
You know that she and Max had to have had one of the wildest and most turbulent relationships ever, one that began when she was an adolescent, one that saw both of them become godlike figures, one that was probably characterized by all kinds of outrageous behavior on both sides, and during which he did something sufficiently bad that he feels he must be a penitent for the rest of his life, even assisting her relationships with other men. You'd love to know more about that, and about the other husbands, what happened that took her from a woman who danced on a table when Lindbergh landed to a near total recluse (other silent stars certainly weren't reclusive), what had happened before that Max knew to make up the chauffeur's room. You even want to know more about the chimp. It was as if Wilder and Brackett had taken advice from Mama Rose on screenwriting: "Make them beg for more, and then don't give it to them."
I learned that Swanson was even more famous than I'd thought when I was employed at a university with a co-worker named Greta Swanson. You wouldn't believe just how many millennials would ask to see or speak with Gloria Swanson! Then would follow an awkward exchange; they'd at first not realize their error, and would then be confused, saying they'd never heard of Gloria Swanson - did they really say that? An example of "collective cultural memory/knowledge," or something like it.
"All About Eve" and "Sunset Boulevard" are two greats dealing with the ugly side of theatre and film.
I love all about eve too, but not like sunset boulevard...I never get tired of watching that movie...as a matter of fact I could watch it everyday for the rest of my life...can't believe all about eve beat it out for best picture...but like they said that just goes to show how much Hollywood was hating & didn't wanna face the bare facts that Hollywood is a tough place especially to the ''fading'' star.
As good as "All About Eve" was , I always thought that Sunset Boulevard should have won the Oscar for best picture, but then again it"s a matter of individual taste
Agree, it has more depth, and more unique and artistic.
Hector Salvador- I think it’s also about the time it was filmed too. The McCarthy Hearings were going on, people in Hollywood we’re afraid of losing their jobs, seeing their coworkers turn in their fellow co workers to keep their jobs. Such a vastly different time. I’m just grateful it was made at all.
Does anyone know when this documentary was made? Nancy Olson looks so young. She was superb in SB. She was so convincing in the part, a nice foil for the sinister atmosphere of the film, and looked like she was born to wear the outfits and hair styles of that era.
Several of the classic Hollywood films stars, like Garbo and Dietrich also had live theater/cabaret experience and/or worked in silent films before the advent of the talkies. Maybe its one of the reasons why so much of their acting in the early days of talking pictures appears to us today as being so over- the- top or "stagey"? They actually had to learn or re-learn how to"act" and talk at the same time in their movies. The best ones survived and prospered and became screen gods and goddesses, others e.g John Gilbert, et.al. not so much. Norma Desmond's chilling final walk down that staircase is the epitome of what "acting" used to be.
Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve are BOTH great movies. What a year that was!!
They really were!! Of Course All about Eve Had to win because with Sunset, Hollywood’s “strap was showin” wasn’t it!😂✌️
Swanson was able to use her face very effectively here, a skill she learned as a silent movie actress, Crawford had the same skill, also from starting out in silent films.
Great film! The finale always knocks me out!
Even tho this film was made decades ago it is so timeless especially in the day n age of the ''reality star''...alot of these reality stars are ''fading'' celebs from yesteryear but they can't ever get enough of the ''roar of the crowd''...they will come outta hiding just to be on some crazy ass reality show...and they'll stop at nothing to make themselves stick out...it's like they never get enough of the so-called ''love of the ppl'' or the fans...all of them should be made to watch this movie, maybe then they'd rethink their decisions to go on t.v. & make an utter fool of themselves.
Re ageing actors (and sports stars),, You have to understand that there is more to it than pubic adoration: When you are a part of a creative enterprise - a film or a show - that goes on for months, it is a huge high - you form friendships and relationships with people you see every day, you bare your soul to
everyone sharing that enterprise.. and then suddenly it is over.. one day it is there, and the next it is gone: I think older performers just want to experience that high again, that camaraderie.. closing a show or film is like losing a lover.. there is an enormous emptiness, and most would crawl over broken glass to experience that just one more time.. craving the public adoration is pretty valid too, but I don't think it is the main motivation..
This documentary was produced in 2002, but when were Nancy Olson's comments made? She was born in 1928, which would make 74, but she looks way too young.
She had good genes. I don't think she had work done either. Donna Mills is 73 right now and look at her.... It happens 😉
It's her Swedish ancestry. Swedish women are famous for aging well.
your right !
I got to go to a screening sitting on the law at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery ON Sunset Blvd. they shown t on the side of a mausoleum. It was one of the best nights of my life. The audience was so reactive and appreciative. A once in a lifetime experience!
Hollywood Forever Cemetery is on Santa Monica blvd. right behind Paramount Studios
I also love this being William Holden fan. It's great. But I have to say I like All About Eve the best. Bette Davis was robbed. Judy Holiday is good but she's no Bette Davis. Swanson played the mad Norma well. I'm sorry but Gloria was scary Looking in SB when I first saw it as a child(I am now 65) and when I watch it now, I still find her scary Looking. And I don't scare easily. Gloria Is quite ugly.
When Nancy Olson describes the tossing of pumice dust into the air for the interior shots, to give a quality of aging (corners became dusty). It harks me back to the early mountain films with Leni Riefenstahl, where they shot with the lens wide open, which gave the sense of air to the shots. Check them out. Artistry prevails in cinema....and black and white seems to show it's elegance the best.
Stunning performance by Gloria Swanson, a towering performance as the Queen of Babylon
William Holden was so handsome with a very hairy chest .
You want to see what drop-dead gorgeous is, just google "Gloria Swanson" and stroll through her early pictures. Puts Monroe, Taylor, Wood, Johansson, Belluci, Fox...all of them to shame.
So true. In her youth, Swanson was stunningly beautiful.
Absorbing. Full of insights!
It made me think that probably every one of us have a "butler" in our minds that protects us from the bitter truths about life and about OUR particular life. Beginning from the fact that we are here for such a short time, we will lose all our beloved ones and we will die too...But of course, the more aware, honest and vigilant we are about ourselves, the more we can make something out of this brief time on earth.That's why I thought this movie was a great reminder. How interesting : when we see it in the example of Norma, we all find it kind of tragicomic and we don't identify ourselves with her at all. But indeed, in the lives of every one of us, there are truths we don't want to face. Self delusion has no limits...
I always thought Sunset Blvd was a comedy. So over the top. A fantastic movie.
Great film! I read somewhere , that during the last scene when Swanson came down the stairs she wanted to be looking straightforward. In order to do this, she had to be able to feel the steps as she came down, so she did the scene barefoot . The "reporters" were strategically placed on the stair case to catch Swanson in case she missed a step and fell.
didn't know that...
Hollywood cruel and opportunist? Please. Welcome to the real world. Hollywood is no different than fashion modeling, professional sports, the art world, the music industry, etc. Don't ever feel sorry for anyone paid a million dollars a film.
Wonderful classic. Enjoyable gossip about the movie ❤
Fabulous movie. Still one of my favorites. Bill Holden gave a superb performance. Loved it.
"Sunset Boulevard" is perhaps the creepiest film I've ever seen. It's a magnificent film, but also a very disturbing one.
Some of the best movies ever made never got an Oscar.
Sorry, this movie was great, but the correct movie won the Oscar that year. The only robbing was Bette Davis losing for best actress.
+Monty_Magic No way in the world could "anyone have played Norman Desmond or Margo Channing". These are two of the greatest performances by any actors ever filmed. Signature roles. Performances we're still discussing all these decades later. I agree Holliday never quite got the aclaim her comedic skills deserved, but it doesn't have to be at the expense of two landmark performances.
What a year for film 1950 was. As great as 1939 in my opinion.
+Hippie Dachshunds Autocorrect exhausts me....Norma Desmond, not Norman!
Hippie Dachshunds Are you a film historian? You should be - I'm impressed.
Monty_Magic No, just someone with a life long interest in film. I am a retired research librarian, so it is second nature to look things up!
Monty_Magic Oh, my yes!! I've read so many Hollywood autobiographies, so many first hand accounts of events but to have been there in person...my favorite fantasy!
Fascinating! Such an intelligent, articulate discussion about one of the best movies ever made. My own acting experience wouldn't fill a thimble but this documentary makes me want to act again and to do work that is serious and worthwhile. It would be a joy to do something of substance instead of another musical comedy and to truly work with a director to understand and know how to play a character.
I watched Sunseet Boulevаrd full moooovie herе twitter.com/c9a1f94a7213c3914/status/822767559481036800 Billy Wilder s Sunset Bоoоouleevаrd a lоok back deutsсh untertiteelt
'Teach your friend some manners' you tell 'em Norma!!!
Love Gloria and Sunset Boulevard 😊💜🇦🇺
Check out when Gloria Swanson and Janis Joplin were both on the Dick Cavett show. There's a hilarious misunderstanding between the 3 of them, which starts when Swanson (referring to the fact that she'd like to sculpture a bust of him) says to Cavett "I'd like to do your head."
+Ferdinand Celine Seen it a couple times. Amazing combo. But jeez...Gloria looked amazing. She was a big health food fan. And it showed. There was a Tiffany jewelry show in a San Francisco museum about three years ago...even had the artwork for making the pieces...lots of photos, etc. But Gloria had the best stuff. Given to her but princes, moolahs, etc. (I have no idea how to spell moolah) Astonishing predeco and deco bracelets...pins, necklaces, etc.
Poor Janis looked like she slept in her clothes.
MerleOberon Yes, for several days!
"Poor Janis looked like she slept in her clothes."
weird moment when Janis Joplin told Gloria Swanson she looked like a "silver devil" - she was probably on drugs - Joplin actually overdosed shortly after the interview - the vibe got weird there for a moment
Excellent!!!
Wilder was a genius.
Nancy Olson is almost 74 here? Amazing.
Only Gloria could have pulled this off.
I never knew it was billy wilder behind this what an incredible movie director
Look at some of the movies in which Von Stroheim was an actor!
Has Hollywood always been evil?
Nancy Olson looks amazing?
Wow! Nancy Olson is still lovely!
The English translation is not proper, taking short cuts and does not reflect what their comments
toll das du die wunderbaren dokus und making ofs die wie ich denke auf den special editions etc bei den dvds und blu rays drauf ist..danke dir!!!!
the older Nancy Olsen looks a good deal like newcaster Leslie Stahl
EXCELLENT Documentary about The Best Film EVER MADE. ... Billy Wilder's story-telling ability was so Shakespearean I doubt that any filmmaker will EVER approach his level. .... Kubrick was just as technically and intellectually brilliant but he never really told Actors how to express their dialogue because he lacked the emotional intelligence to do so and create deeply sympathetic characters like Nora Desmond and Joe Gillis. ... Wilder was ULTRA specific about what the characters should be feeling as they spoke EVERY SINGLE WORD. ... amazing.
I actually knew Carol Burnett take on this character before I saw the film. which made me love the film even more.
She’s right, “All About Eve” is not comparable to “Sunset Boulevard”!
Dissent here. Yes, this film is crafted well and acted superbly in a sort of creepy gothic way. But as is always the case in Hollywood either praise or criticism comes from places of agenda pushing. Billy Wilder the immigrant and Jewish dude. Those two categories alone would get him fans even if he filmed a swimming contest in that pool. Then too as one of the yappers in this doc said, the cynicism is so modern and that too garners praise from fashionably cynical modernist types. It is NOT an homage to silent film but just the opposite.
The REAL silent film actors, including the genius Keaton are called "her waxworks". The mansion set is described in demeaning terms as excessive "Crazy stuff" the stars of the 1920's built. The Swanson character, a real silent film actress, is written and directed as a crazy loon. The only positive character is the young script writing woman, meant to symbolize 1950 Hollywood, free of all that past pantomime. Pantomime we can now safely laugh at. If that is a tribute to the stars and directors of the silent era, I'd hate to see a put-down. The picture got mixed reviews and was only a moderate success at the box office. Louis Mayer stalked out and cursed Wilder after a screening. America's sweetheart as she was called, and the first grand female star of Hollywood Mary Pickford was said to have wept and left the screening room in tears. She got it. it was a big sneer at stars like her, demeaned as forgotten has-beens.
I honestly hate that Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve came out the same year. Gloria Swanson and Bette Davis, respectively, gave career-defining performances in these two films and they each deserved their Oscar nod. Had either Sunset Boulevard or All About Eve been released in 1949 or 1951, I haven't the slightest doubt that Miss Swanson or Miss Davis would have taken home the golden statuette for Best Actress of their year. It was a neck-and-neck race between these two women, and they were each touted as winners by columnists in their corners. Judy Holliday, a relative newcomer to the scene, took the award, however, for her iconic comedic performance in Born Yesterday. I think everyone thought someone was going to vote for either Swanson or Davis, and they decided to vote for Holliday, the poor underdog no one was going to vote for. So they thought. It all backfired and neither of the two best performances by American actresses in Hollywood's classic era were recognized for their work at the Academy Awards. It's a shame.
Sunset Blvd. Should have won the Oscar. I've seen All about Eve and was mildly disappointed after having heard what a great movie it was and it won the Oscar, blah, blah, blah..... Sunset Blvd. really is one of a kind
An amazing thing about director Billy Wilder he got other directors who were considered very autocratic to appear as actors in his films : Cecil B DeMille , Otto Preminger and Eric von Stroheim . Mr Wilder must have a tough one not be intimated .
What I think is it's full of oxymoron .sunset Blvd a dark house . She is old all though the movie I thought she was like 70 lol at the end he says once again your old you are 50 lol omg 😂😂😂😂 I mean ???
This is a movie I had not seen until about 10 years ago. It's such a classic. Love this movie