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Sunset Boulevard (1950), Billy Wilder

#sunset boulevard #gloria swanson #william holden #nancy olsen #billy wilder #1950 #1950s #1950s movies #classic movies #film noir #gif

#1950 #sunset boulevard #promotional photo #gloria swanson #william holden #erich von stroheim #nancy olsen

Sunset Boulevard (1950) Director: Billy Wilder. Genre: Noir/Drama

I love movies about movies. They’re interesting thing to watch because the filmmakers are often trying to speak through their characters (like the bit where Joe says audiences think the actors just make up the film on the spot).

Spoilers ahead →

I think it was an interesting choice to have the character voice over throughout the film even though the first scene reveals that he was murdered. The first part of the film did a great job of establishing that the house on Sunset Blvd was some sort of tomblike ghosthouse.

My biggest critique is the character Joe Gillis, I can’t tell what seriously keeps him in Norma’s house. Is he being sarcastic about Norma providing a comfortable life for him? Does he truly want out and to be with Betty? Does he feel threatened by Norma or Max? Does he really fall in love with Norma? I feel like there could’ve been more tension built up before she shot him.

This film is a great reference for delusional characters, Gloria Swanson gives us an incredible performance that gives chills, Norma is completely lost in the la la land that Max built for her.

#film study #billy wilder #sunset boulevard #sunset blvd #gloria swanson #william holden #nancy olsen #storyboard

Nancy Olson par Truus, Bob & Jan too! Via Flickr : Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2880. Photo: Warner Bros. Collection: Marlene Pilaete. American actress Nancy Olson (1928) received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard (1950), with William Holden. She later appeared in Disney's The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel, Son of Flubber (1963), as well as the disaster film Airport 1975 (1974). Olson has been retired from acting since the early 1980s, although she has made a few rare returns, most recently in 2014. Nancy Ann Olson was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1928. She was the daughter of Evelyn Bertha (née Bergstrom) and Henry John Olson, a physician. She has a brother, David. Nancy attended UCLA, then briefly acted on stage before signing a Paramount Pictures contract in 1948 (Hal Erickson says 1949). After a few supporting roles, producers began to consider her for more prominent parts. She was up for the role of Delilah in Samson and Delilah (Cecil B. DeMille, 1949), for which Olson later said she was not suited. She was passed over in favour of Hedy Lamarr. Her first big role came in Canadian Pacific (1949) with Randolph Scott. Then Billy Wilder cast her opposite William Holden in Sunset Boulevard (1950). She played self-effacing script clerk Betty Schaefer, for which she gained an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her pairing with William Holden was considered a success, and she appeared with him in three other films, the Film Noir Union Station (Rudolph Maté, 1950), the romantic war drama Force of Arms (Michael Curtiz, 1951), and the war film Submarine Command (John Farrow, 1951), but none repeated their success in Sunset Boulevard. Other film credits include the political thriller Big Jim McLain (Edward Ludwig, 1952) starring John Wayne, the drama So Big (Robert Wise, 1953), and the war film Battle Cry (Raoul Walsh, 1955) with Van Heflin and Aldo Ray. Olson briefly retired in the mid-1950s when she married the songwriter Alan Jay Lerner. Nancy Olson made several appearances in films for the Walt Disney studio. In The Sci-Fi comedies The Absent-Minded Professor (Robert Stevenson, 1961) and Son of Flubber (Robert Stevenson, 1963) she co-starred as Betty Carlisle, the ever-patient fiance of would-be inventor Ned Brainard (Fred MacMurray). Both films were popular with film-goers. She also appeared alongside Hayley Mills in Pollyanna (David Swift, 1960) and Dean Jones in Snowball Express (Norman Tokar, 1972). Olson then moved to New York City where she appeared on Broadway. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she did guest roles on television. Olson guest-starred on the Television series The Big Valley playing the mother of Ron Howard in the episode 'Night of the Wolf' (1965). She was among the many stars in the American air disaster film Airport 1975 (Jack Smight, 1974), the first sequel to the box office hit Airport (George Seaton, 1970). She also appeared in the gay drama Making Love (Arthur Hiller, 1982) starring Kate Jackson, Harry Hamlin, and Michael Ontkean. Olson retired in the mid-1980s, although she made a brief, uncredited appearance in Flubber (Les Mayfield, 1997) with Robin Williams, the remake of The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), and she had her last part in the comedy Dumbbells (Christopher Livingston, 2014). In 1950, Olson became the third wife of lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. They had two daughters, Liza and Jennifer. They divorced in 1957. In 1962, she married long-time Capitol Records executive Alan W. Livingston, who died in 2009. They had one son, Christopher. Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb. And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..