Sunset Blvd.

Year:

1950

Duration:

110 min | Argentina:115 min | West Germany:104 min (cut version)

Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

IMDB rate:

8.5

Director:

Billy Wilder

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 14 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1950-08-25

Filming Locations: Bel-Air Country Club - 10768 Bellagio Road, Los Angeles, California, USA

Earnings

Budget: $1,752,000

Gross: $5,000,000 (Worldwide) ( January 1960)

Cast

Actor

Character

Gertrude Astor

William Holden

Joe Gillis

Gloria Swanson

Norma Desmond

Erich von Stroheim

Max Von Mayerling

Nancy Olson

Betty Schaefer

Fred Clark

Sheldrake

Lloyd Gough

Morino

Jack Webb

Artie Green

Franklyn Farnum

Undertaker

Larry J. Blake

1st Finance Man (as Larry Blake)

Charles Dayton

2nd Finance Man

Cecil B. DeMille

Hedda Hopper

Buster Keaton

Anna Q. Nilsson

H.B. Warner

H. B. Warner

Ray Evans

Jay Livingston

Fred Aldrich

Cop Who Drags Joe's Body from Pool (uncredited)

Joel Allen

Prop Man #2 (uncredited)

Danny Borzage

Accordionist (uncredited)

Ken Christy

Homicide Captain (uncredited)

Ruth Clifford

Sheldrake's Secretary (uncredited)

John Cortay

Mac - Young Gate Guard at Paramount Studios (uncredited)

Archie R. Dalzell

Camera Operator (uncredited)

Eddie Dew

Assistant Coroner (uncredited)

Peter Drynan

Tailor (uncredited)

Julia Faye

Hisham (uncredited)

Al Ferguson

Phone Standby (uncredited)

Gerry Ganzer

Connie - Betty's Roommate (uncredited)

Kenneth Gibson

Salesman at Men's Shop (uncredited)

Joe Gray

Undetermined Role (uncredited)

Sanford E. Greenwald

Newsreel Cameraman (uncredited)

Creighton Hale

Creighton Hale (uncredited)

Chuck Hamilton

Grip on DeMille Set (uncredited)

James Hawley

Camera Assistant (uncredited)

Len Hendry

Police Sergeant (uncredited)

E. Mason Hopper

Doctor (uncredited)

Stan Johnson

First Assistant Director (uncredited)

Tiny Jones

Little Woman outside Paramount Gate (uncredited)

Howard Joslin

Police Lieutenant (uncredited)

Arthur Lane

Camera Operator (uncredited)

Perc Launders

Violinist at Norma's New Year's Eve Party (uncredited)

William Meader

Party Guest (uncredited)

Gertrude Messinger

Hairdresser (uncredited)

Harold Miller

Man on Golf Course (uncredited)

John 'Skins' Miller

Hog-eye - Electrician (uncredited)

Lee Miller

Dancing Party Guest / Paramount Studio Employee (uncredited)

Ralph Montgomery

Prop Man #1 (uncredited)

Bert Moorhouse

Gordon Cole (uncredited)

Jay Morley

Fat Man (uncredited)

Bernice Mosk

Bernice (uncredited)

Howard Negley

Police Captain (uncredited)

Ottola Nesmith

Undetermined Role (uncredited)

Eva Novak

Courtier (uncredited)

Frank O'Connor

Courtier (uncredited)

Robert Emmett O'Connor

Jonesy - Older Paramount Gate Guard (uncredited)

Jack Perrin

Detective (uncredited)

Virginia L. Randolph

Courtier (uncredited)

Bill Sheehan

Second Assistant Director (uncredited)

Sidney Skolsky

Sidney Skolsky (uncredited)

Emmett Smith

Black Man (uncredited)

Roy Thompson

Rudy - Shoeshine Boy (uncredited)

Archie Twitchell

Salesman at Men's Shop (uncredited)

Yvette Vickers

Giggling Girl on Phone at Party (uncredited)

Edward Wahrman

Camera Assistant (uncredited)

Henry Wilcoxon

Actor on DeMille's 'Samson & Delilah' Set (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

There's a little dig in the scene when Cecil B. DeMille finds out that Paramount has been calling Norma Desmond because it wants to rent her car for "the Crosby picture." The truth of the matter was that Bing Crosby was one of the very few actors to whom Billy Wilder had borne a grudge, mainly because Crosby had done the unthinkable during filming of The Emperor Waltz (1948), and ad-libbed dialog, something he and Bob Hope had done for years as standard operating procedure in their breezy "Road" pictures. Charles Brackett and Wilder were just as adamant that nothing in their scripts should be changed, and nothing new added.

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One of only 13 films to be nominated for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director. For the record, the other 12 films to achieve a similar feat are Mrs. Miniver (1942), _Johnny Belinda_, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), _Network_, Coming Home (1978), Reds (1981), _Silver Linings Playbook_ and American Hustle (2013).

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When crew members asked Wilder how he was going to shoot the burial of Norma's monkey, one of the film's most bizarre scenes, he just said, "You know, the usual monkey-funeral sequence."

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Goofs

Norma tells Joe how Mabel Normand was a Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty with her in the old days, but Mabel was never in that group, having left Keystone for Goldwyn by the time they became a film staple.

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When Joe returns to the mansion after having been in the rain in a vicuna coat twice, the coat shows no signs of being wet.

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When Joe's body is dragged out of the pool and then turned over, he is clearly breathing.

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Quotes

Norma Desmond: They took the idols and smashed them, the Fairbankses, the Gilberts, the Valentinos! And who've we got now? Some nobodies!

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Norma Desmond: We don't need two cars, we have a car. Not one of those cheap new things made of chromium and spit, an Isotta-Fraschini. Have you ever heard of Isotta-Fraschini? All handmade. Cost me $28,000.

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First assistant director: I understand she

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Faq

Q

A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERS

A

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. It is assumed that no one who is diligently avoiding spoilers will be visiting this page in the first place.

Q

Who are Norma's card-playing partners?

A

Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson, and H.B. Warner.

Q

What is the correct title - "Blvd." or "Boulevard"?

A

The title is shown in the opening shot as "Sunset Blvd.", stenciled on the curb of the actual street (in the gutter, if you want to consider the symbolism). It is also listed as "Sunset Blvd." on its Library of Congress registration. However, it is very common to find it listed with an unabbreviated "Boulevard", and was named as such in its original trailer.The movie poster on this site shows "Boulevard" spelled out.

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