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He played Rafts kid brother, who was following in his gangster footsteps and needed to be set straight. In one week, she received 17,000 fan letters. Joe Gillis is seen reading the book "The Young Lions" by Irwin Shaw, a best-selling World War Two novel of the time, Montgomery Clift, who was originally offered the part of Joe Gillis, later played one of the leads in the film adaptation of that book The Young Lions (1958), though it was not directed by Billy Wilder. This can be deduced from the fact that when he pulls one out of the pack he turns the bottom end up to his mouth. The two actors never worked together in another film. on the corner of Crenshaw and Irving. On the basis of this film and largely due to his continuing association with director Billy Wilder, Holden would reach the zenith of his career from 1950-'57. Studs and cufflinks were inserted into the shirt holes to secure the garment. Eventually it wasn't Wilder who shouted "Cut!" A disagreement over the montage where Norma puts herself through hell getting thinner and younger for her comeback nearly resulted in physical violence: Brackett thought it was too mean, while Wilder felt it was necessary to show what lengths a desperate actor would go to in Hollywood. Whether he was the washed up screenwriter of Sunset Boulevard or the reluctant hero of The Bridge on the River Kwai, Holden kept audiences engrossed. Sunset Blvd. by Billy Wilder, Billy Wilder, William Holden, Gloria Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the Top 100 Greatest American Movies. The interiors of Norma's decaying mansion were actually a set at Paramount Studios. She can be seen talking and giggling on the phone during the party. The murder made it to the late editions, radio, and television because one of the biggest old-time stars was involved. When she received her Honorary Oscar at the 1982 Academy Award ceremony, Holden had died in an accident just a few months prior. Make-up designer Wally Westmore found that Gloria Swanson's face belied her age and wanted to make her look older. In the film Gloria is seen playing cards with three silent film stars: Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner (one of the four "Waxworks" at the bridge party) in The King of Kings (1927). Director Cecil B. DeMille, silent film actors Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson played waxy versions of themselves. Schwab's was torn down in 1988 to make way for a movie theater and a shopping center. True to character, Von Stroheim refused to leave Paris to attend the Academy Awards ceremony, and declared that his nomination for best supporting actor should've been for best actor. After his final film S.O.B., Holden declined to star in Jason Miller's film That Championship Season.[37]. When filming began, William Holden was 31 and Gloria Swanson was 50, the same stated age as her character. During the shopping excursion, Norma remarks that if Joe is not careful, he'll need a cutaway.