# Sunset Boulevard 75th anniversary **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 22, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189 "2025-07-22T17:57:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/1 "2025-07-22T17:57:34Z")
Max! This movie turns 75 this year and is being shown in theaters August 3 and 4. I got my ticket and look forward to seeing this masterpiece on the big screen. Gloria Swanson, William Holden, and Erich von Stroheim. And the waxworks playing bridge. And a dead monkey. What more can you ask for??? ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/2 "2025-07-22T18:58:45Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > What more can you ask for??? The original opening and closing… "The film originally opened and closed the story at the Los Angeles County Morgue. In a scene described by director [Billy Wilder](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000697/?ref_=tttrv_tr) as one of the best he’d ever shot, the body of Joe Gillis is rolled into the morgue to join three dozen other corpses, some of whom–in voice-over–tell Gillis how they died. Part of the dialogue goes: Fat Man: “Where did you drown? The ocean?’ Gillis: “No, swimming pool.” Fat Man: “A husky fellow like you?” Gillis: “Well, I had a few extra holes in me, two in the chest and one in the stomach.” Fat Man: “You were murdered?” Gillis: “Yes I was murdered.” The movie was previewed with this opening, in Illinois, Long Island (NY) and Poughkeepsie (NY). Because all three audiences inappropriately found the morgue scene hilarious, the film’s release was delayed six months so that a new beginning could be shot.” - [Sunset Boulevard (1950) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043014/trivia/?ref_=tt_dyk_trv) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/3 "2025-07-22T18:59:04Z")
Bigger pictures, and a closeup. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/4 "2025-07-22T19:06:27Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > …and a closeup. Do you think you’re ready? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/5 "2025-07-22T21:32:11Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > Because all three audiences inappropriately found the morgue scene hilarious, the film’s release was delayed six months so that a new beginning could be shot.” And the scene in the pool was actually shot by pointing a camera at a mirror on the bottom of the pool reflecting Joe Gillis’ floating body. Gloria Swanson gets all the attention for the over-the-top performance of an addled, narcissistic had-been silent pictures star but I think Erich von Stroheim‘s brooding, sidling-in-the-background butler and former director/husband really makes the scenes in the mansion creepy instead of just amusingly awkward. And Nancy Olsen is a cut as a button in her pre-Disney role as the young script reader and aspiring screenwriter. It’s one of my most favorite Billy Wilder films next to _The Apartment_ and _Some Like It Hot_, and he did a long run of very good movies from 1950 up to 1970. I have a real affinity for _The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes_ even if it was kind of critically panned. Only his last few movies really fell off in quality. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/6 "2025-07-22T23:04:08Z")
I would say _SB_ is definitely Wilder’s best film, but that his output went into decline after _Witness for the Prosecution_ (1957). Admittedly, my strong distaste for Jack Lemmon is a major reason I feel this way. I recall lightly liking _The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes_, though the dude (mis)cast as Holmes (Robert Stephens) was a constant irritant throughout. I also recall liking _Heat_ (1972), a trashier re-imagining of _SB_, though I would not necessarily say it was “good” or even “worth watching.” While the end lacks the iconic resonance of _SB_, it’s way funnier and more appropriate to the story. According to IMDB, there was a 1955 one-hour TV remake of _SB_ I’ve never heard of, let alone seen. Miriam Hopkins played Norma, James Daly was Joe - not a good sign, imo - and some random dude was Max. Hopkins’ last film, _Savage Intruder_, a.k.a. _Hollywood Horror House_ (1970) also has a strong _SB_ vibe. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/7 "2025-07-22T23:13:23Z")
I saw the movie once about 20 years ago. In my opinion, “creepy” just begins to describe it. I realize it’s a classic cinematic masterpiece from Billy Wilder, and William Holden (of _ **Stalag 17** _ fame) is one of my favorite actors. But really, I have no desire to see it again. Gloria Swanson may have been a great beauty at one time (true, she was shacking up with Old Joe Kennedy), but I did not find her attractive at all. The whole time she was on screen, I kept thinking of her guest appearance on _ **The Beverly Hillbillies** _ as herself more than a decade later. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/8 "2025-07-23T00:07:12Z")
I find the movie a joy to watch because Gloria Swanson is willing to play essentially a very unflattering version of herself, showing a deep humility and sense of humor uncommon in movie stars, then or now. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/9 "2025-07-23T00:34:25Z")
That must be the sign of a great actress then, because I certainly found that version of her unflattering. A long time ago, my mother and I were watching a movie centered around a character we both came to despise. I don’t remember which film it was, or which actor, other than it was someone who didn’t ordinarily play bad guys. Mom said “The mark of a good actor is that he can make you really hate him.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/10 "2025-07-23T12:07:50Z")
It was a fun moment when I watched SB about 10 years ago and found out that was where we get the line, “I’m ready for my close up Mr. Deville.” I’d heard that quote so many times growing up and never knew its source. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunset-boulevard-75th-anniversary/1021189/11 "2025-07-23T12:57:52Z")
At the TV station where I worked we were shooting a commercial. As we were setting up, a young woman came in the room and said “I’m ready for my close-up Mr. DeMille.” “Oh,” I said, “You’re a ‘Sunset Boulevard’ fan?” With a quizzical look on her face, she replied, “Sunset Boulevard? What’s that?” I said, “It was a movie, and a stage play. That’s a famous line from it.” “I’ve never heard of it,” she said. It’s interesting how that line is so often-quoted, yet people have no idea of where it originated.