Billy Wilder, “Sunset Boulevard”, August 1950, Cinematographer John F. Seitz, Music Franz Waxman, Paramount Pictures

“Sunset Boulevard” is a 1950 American film noir, which was co-written by Billy Wilder and novelist Charles Brackett, directed by Wilder, and produced by Brackett. The title is taken from one of the most important streets in Hollywood, a twenty-two mile artery that extends through the heart of the Greater Los Angeles area.

Starring William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star, the story begins with the body of Joe Gillis in a swimming pool and  is told through Gillis’s flashback of his encounter with and developing financial dependence upon Norma Desmond.  A great supporting role as Max von Mayerling, Desmond’s butler, is played by Austrian-American director Erich von Stroheim, whose 1924 film “Greed” is considered one of the most important films ever made.

Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett began working on the script in 1948, and were joined in August of that year by D. M. Marshman, Jr, who had previously written a critique of their 1948 “The Emperor Waltz”.  By not disclosing full details of the story to Paramount Pictures, they were able to avoid the company’s strict self-censorship, caused by the Breen Code, and proceed with relative freedom. With only the first third of the script completed, the filming began in early May of 1949. 

The dark, shadowy, black and white cinematographic work of “Sunset Boulevard” was accomplished by John F. Seitz, who had previously worked with Billy Wilder. Allowed to make his own decisions on the filming, Seitz used innovative techniques to create the gothic atmosphere of the noir genre and produce the necessary shots. For some interior shots, he sprinkled dust in front of the camera lens, a method he used for the 1944 ‘Double Indemnity”; the shot of the floating corpse in the swimming pool was achieved by placing a mirror in the bottom of the pool and shooting the body’s reflection from above. For his work on the film, John Seitz was nominated for  an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

“Sunset Boulevard” had its official world premiere at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on August 10, 1950. After a seven-week run, where it grossed over one million dollars, it was one of the Music Hall’s most successful films. Although, it was doing well in major cities, Gloria Swanson, in order to promote the film in rural areas, traveled by train on a twenty-three city tour in a few months. The box office receipts for the year 1950 totaled over two million dollars.

Described as one of Billy Wilder’s most significant works, “Sunset Boulevard” has developed lasting appeal. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress; it won Best Story and Screenplay and Best Art Direction. The film , considered culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant by the Library of Congress, was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1989. As the film was shot using cellulose nitrate film stock, Paramount Studios digitally restored the film; the restored version was released on DVD in 2002.

Top Insert Image: Photographer Unknown, “Billy Wilder”, 1946, Gelatin Silver Print, Los Angeles Herald Examiner/ Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection

Second Insert Image: Artist Unknown, “Sunset Boulevard”, Paramount 1950, Belgian Film Poster, Lithograph on Paper, 35.6 x 49.5 cm, Private Collection

Bottom Insert Image: Cinematographer John F. Seitz, “Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard”, 1950, Film Screen Photo, Director Billy Wilder, Paramount Pictures