Sunset Boulevard (1950)

In honor of William Holden's birthday, I decided to revise and expand one of the very first reviews I did here at They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To---1950's magnificent Sunset Boulevard. Directed by the fabulous Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard is a mature, hard-hitting drama, which features totally stellar performances by its two stars...Gloria Swanson and William Holden, both of whom were nominated for Oscars for their roles.  Featuring the Academy Award-nominated support of Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson, this terrific movie is my favorite William Holden film, my 2nd favorite film of the 1950's, and among my 5 favorite films of all-time.

The story begins when Joe Gillis (William Holden), a down-on-his-luck, unemployed Hollywood screenwriter receives a visit from the men who have financed his car. (Actually, this isn't where the story begins, but it is the point from which I am starting.) With no payment in hand, and no job on the horizon, Joe attempts to evade the finance guys, and in so doing, he races down Sunset Boulevard in said car. After blowing a tire and realizing he needs to hide the car from the men who want to repossess it, Joe pulls off the road and into the garage of a dilapidated, abandoned-looking old mansion.

Before long, though, Joe realizes the house is not abandoned. Someone is peering at him from an upper window, and a butler is standing at the door as if he had been expecting Joe's arrival. Joe is whisked to a second-story bedroom, where he comes face to face with an eccentric middle-aged woman and her deceased chimpanzee. After assuring the woman he is not the undertaker she had been expecting, Joe attempts to leave, but then he realizes that he actually recognizes the woman...she is Norma Desmond, a major star from the silent era of movies (Gloria Swanson).

Norma lives in the past, surrounding herself with her old movies and dozens of photos from her "golden years." Stating that she is planning a "return" and not a "comeback," Norma mentions to Joe that she has written a script (in which she will star), and after discovering that Joe is a screenwriter, she requests that he do some editing for her. Not really wanting to be in the presence of this strange lady and her even stranger surroundings, Joe's initial response is to turn down the job offer; however, knowing that he really needs the money in order to keep his car and pay his back rent, he accepts the position...and is soon living in a room above Norma's garage and then eventually in a room adjoining hers in the main house.  Also living in the house is Norma's devoted, ever-present butler (Erich von Stroheim).

It's not long before Joe is quite unnerved by the situation in which he finds himself. Norma has become extremely possessive and controlling, barely allowing Joe out of her sight. She is buying all his clothes and paying his back rent. In short, he is a "kept man"...kept by a woman nearly twice his age...and he is uncomfortable to the hilt. Finally, on New Year's Eve, when he discovers that the "party" he thought Norma was having is just for the two of them, he storms out...ending up at a party a friend is having. Free from Norma's clutches, he enjoys a time of partying with people his own age. Joe's freedom is short-lived, however, as Norma's butler tracks him down and tells him that Norma has attempted suicide. Feeling guilty that Norma has attempted to kill herself due to her unrequited love for him, Joe returns to her house and ultimately begins an affair with her.

Since Norma continues to be determined to make a return to the screen, she and Joe make a trip to Paramount Studios, where she can visit with movie producer, Cecille B. DeMille. While at the studio, Joe runs into a girl he had been talking to at his friend's New Year's Eve party. She tells him she wants to re-write one of his scripts, and the two begin meeting together in the evenings to do that. In time, they begin to fall in love, but Norma, desperately jealous, will stop at nothing to keep Joe to herself.  How it all plays out is the balance of the film.



An amazing movie, Sunset Boulevard was one of the most honored films of 1950.  In all, it received 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, and both supporting categories.  In the end, as 1950 was also the year of All About Eve, Sunset Boulevard came away with only 3 wins, one of which was for Best Music (Franz Waxman).  Much as I like All About Eve, I think Sunset Boulevard was the superior film.  I also believe this to be the absolute best performance of William Holden's career (and he had many great performances, including one which won him an Oscar).  Since I grew bored with Cyrano de Bergerac and turned it off after less than 20 minutes, I have been unable to determine how Jose Ferrer snagged the Lead Actor win that year.  Although I'm not familiar with any of Gloria Swanson's other works since she was mostly from the silent era, I was beyond impressed with her performance in Sunset Boulevard. After seeing the works of each actress that year, I readily admit the Academy had a tough job in choosing the winner, for they all were fantastic.  In the end, though, I have come away believing that Eleanor Parker ought to have won for Caged, with Miss Swanson only a tiny breath behind her.  Her acting is completely and totally brilliant!

Out on DVD, Sunset Boulevard should be quite easy track down.  Additionally, TCM airs it very regularly---seems like about four or five times a year.  Definitely try to see it when you can.  It's not a feel-good movie, but it takes an honest look at not only the Hollywood climate, but at how most of us feel about growing older in a youth-oriented culture.

Happy viewing!!

Excited About These New Stamps

Tomorrow, May 23rd, the United States Postal Service will be making available four beautiful new stamps.  The "Great Film Directors" stamp series features portraits of John Ford, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, and John Huston, with each director's face flanked by a scene from one of his iconic works.  (The Searchers for Ford, It Happened One Night for Capra, Some Like It Hot for Wilder, and The Maltese Falcon for Huston).

Should your post office not have these stamps on hand, they can be ordered directly from the postal service's website (HERE).   "Forever stamps," they will be sold in sheets of 20 (5 of each design) at the current postage rate of .45 per stamp.

You can bet I'll be buying them...and finding many reasons to send a card with one of those fabulous directors' faces affixed to the upper right-hand corner of my envelope.  

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (3 stars)

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, from 1938, is a romantic comedy starring Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper, with Edward Everett Horton and David Niven taking on supporting roles.  Falling into the "screwball" genre, this film's screenplay was written by director Billy Wilder, with its directing duties going to Ernst Lubitsch.

At a department store on the French Riviera, American millionaire Michael Brandon (Gary Cooper) is shopping for size 42 pajamas.  Although the salesman attempts to sell cologne, neckwear, and other items to him, the man is in the market for only pajamas...and not just any pajamas...rather, he wants only the top, because, as he tells the clerk, he doesn't use---or need---the pants.  Since the salesclerk will not sell him only the top, a woman customer, Nicole de Loiselle (Claudette Colbert) steps in and offers to buy the trousers, as she doesn't want---or need---the top.

Although Michael assumes the pajamas are for Nicole's husband, she assures him she isn't married, which makes him wonder who in the world she is purchasing pajama pants for.  Without an answer to his wondering, the two go their separate ways.

Unable to sleep, and quite sure it is because of his room, Michael insists that he be moved to the fanciest suite in the hotel.  However, when he moves in, he finds that the previous tenant, Marquis De Loiselle (Edward Everett Horton), has not yet moved out.  To his surprise, the man is dressed in striped pajama pants---pants which are much too long for him, which causes Michael to realize that the Marquis is wearing the other half of his recently-purchased pajamas.  He soon discovers that the Marquis' daughter bought them for him.  Thus, the beautiful lady from the department store makes a re-entry into Michael's life.

Though Michael and Nicole's "courtship" starts off on a less than satisfactory note, in due time, they have fallen in love and are planning to be married.  However, only hours before the ceremony, Nicole discovers that Michael has been married before---seven times!!---and she calls off the wedding.  However, with a pre-marriage agreement in place, the cash-strapped Marquis urges his daughter to go through with the marriage---just so she can get a divorce and obtain the $100,000 settlement.

Michael, though, adopting a stubborn, tenacious streak, has no intention of granting Nicole a divorce...no matter that they have separate bedrooms and separate lives or that she is trying to make him think she is involved with another man.  How it all plays out---in very screwball fashion---is the balance of the film.





This film, while enjoyable, is absolutely nothing spectacular.  Yes, Coop was his usual gorgeous self, and he looked fabulous in a tux; yes, Claudette was her usual classy, elegant self.  There's no denying that they were two beautiful stars and that the careers of both were on fire in 1938.  With Miss Colbert's Academy Award-winning performance in It Happened One Night only a few years prior and Coop's Oscar-nominated performance in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town two years earlier, it's obvious that they both had a flair for romantic comedy.  However, being totally honest, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife fell short for me.  I think both Coop and Colbert made far better films than this one.  For Coop, it may be that his character was a selfish millionaire...something light years away from his other roles of that time (or the bulk of his career, for that matter).  At any rate, he seemed completely miscast to me.  Oh, and by the way, there was a very brief scene when Coop was sporting a mustache...may I just say "NO WAY!"  Keep that gorgeous face clean-shaven!

So, though I did enjoy the film, it is certainly not a favorite; nor is it one I feel I ever need to watch again.  (However, a repeat viewing might cause the film to grow on me.)  I definitely think this is a must-see for Coop, Colbert, and screwball fans, though.  It is out on DVD as part of the Claudette Colbert Collection, so you ought to be able to track it down.

Happy viewing!!

Witness for the Prosecution (5 stars)

Witness for the Prosecution, from 1957, is a fabulous whodunit, filled with twists and turns galore.  Directed by the amazing Billy Wilder, the film stars Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, and Charles Laughton, all of whom give brilliant performances.  (This was Tyrone Power's final completed film, as he died of a heart attack during the filming of Solomon and Sheba the following year.  He was quite young...just 44.  I think his performance here in Witness for the Prosecution is the best one he ever gave.)

Leonard Vole (Power), a partially-employed inventor, is accused of murdering wealthy widow, Emily French, a woman many years his senior.  When a chance meeting brings Mrs. French into his life, Vole works to develop a friendship with her, because besides enjoying the lady's company, he hopes to convince her to finance his most recent invention.  So, the two of them, in a completely platonic fashion, begin seeing each other two or three times a week...playing canasta, listening to music, taking in a movie.

When Mrs. French is found murdered, her housekeeper immediately implicates Vole, since he had been with her the evening of her death.  Although Leonard proclaims his innocence, the case against him intensifies after it is discovered that Mrs. French had recently changed her will, making Leonard the beneficiary of 80,000 pounds.   Leonard eventually stands trial for murder, with Charles Laughton portraying the attorney who takes on his defense.

One of the witnesses the prosecution brings against him is none other than his wife, Christine (Marlene Dietrich), whose testimony tears Leonard's story apart.

To say more than this would totally ruin the viewing pleasure of those who have never seen this film.  In fact, as the ending credits roll, the viewer is warned by an announcer to "not divulge the ending to friends who have not seen it."   Of course, a first-time viewing of this film is best.  After that, the surprise factor is gone; however, it's still a fantastic movie, with great performances by the three leads.




The acting in this film is completely brilliant!!!  All three stars---Power, Dietrich, and Laughton---give amazing performances.  Truly, I think this was the performance of both Power and Dietrich's entire careers.  They were both totally fantastic!!  Charles Laughton's real-life wife, Elsa Lanchester, played his nurse in the film, and there are several comical moments between them.  Although it didn't garner any wins, Witness for the Prosecution was nominated in six Academy Award categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Lead Actor (Laughton), and Supporting Actress (Lanchester).  Shockingly, neither Power nor Dietrich received a nomination for the brilliant work they did here.

Witness for the Prosecution is out on DVD, so it should be readily available for your viewing pleasure.  I highly recommend it.  (Our family recently enjoyed a re-watch in honor of Tyrone Power's upcoming May 5th birthday.)

Happy viewing!!

The Lost Weekend (5 stars)

The Lost Weekend, from 1945, is a powerful, hard-hitting drama starring Ray Milland, in an Academy Award-winning role.  Directed by the amazing Billy Wilder, who also took home the Oscar for his work, this film boldly looks at the ugly world of alcoholism.  Besides Milland's Best Actor win and Wilder's Best Director win, The Lost Weekend also took home the Best Picture award that year.

Would-be novelist, Don Birnam (Milland), has had a drinking problem for several years, and though he has just gone ten days without a drink, things are about to take a turn for the worse.  His brother Wick and girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman), both of whom feel like they must police Don's every action, are manipulated into leaving Don alone for a few hours.  Since Wick had poured out the contents of the whiskey bottle and since Don has no money, Wick and Helen are sure Don will be fine for the couple hours he is alone.

Don's desperation for a drink, though, is stronger than anything else in his life, and upon discovering the $10 Wick had left for the cleaning woman, he heads out to satisfy his need.  Hitting bars and liquor stores, Don downs one drink after another.  Eventually, after he runs out of money, he resorts to begging, stealing a woman's purse, and hocking his typewriter in order to get the necessary cash for his next drink.  By Don's own admission, he's not a drinker...he's a drunk---and as the truth of that statement plays out, Don may well find his life in jeopardy. (This clip is one of Don's particularly tormenting episodes.)

The Lost Weekend is definitely not a feel-good movie.  On the contrary, it's ugly and painful...and extremely difficult to watch.  However, since I am one who loves a powerful, hard-hitting story, I think this film is a total masterpiece.  Everything about it is absolutely brilliant...Milland's acting, Wilder's direction, the cinematogrpahy, even the haunting, Oscar-nominated score.  Combining all those things, and adding in the boldness of such a story in 1945, this film is easily a 5-star film for me.  I cannot praise it highly enough.  (Movie trailer below)

This film is out on DVD, so it should be quite easy to track down.  Also, it is on the TCM schedule for March 30th, so you could catch it then.

Happy viewing!!

Sabrina (5 stars)

Sabrina, an adorable romantic comedy from 1954, is one of my twenty all-time favorite movies. Another fabulous work of director Billy Wilder, it stars Humphrey Bogart, the classy and elegant Audrey Hepburn, and the oh-so-handsome William Holden. The story is about the two sons of the wealthy, socially prominent Larrabee family. Older son Linus (Humphrey Bogart) is basically an unemotional workaholic. He lives and breathes the family corporation and has little time for fun or love. Younger son David (William Holden), on the other hand, is the family playboy, who has been involved with several women, sometimes to the detriment of the family business. He's all about fun and games and doesn't really give a hoot about business.

Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn), the daughter of the family chauffeur, has been in love with David since she was a little girl, but, of course, David barely notices her. With unrequited love breaking her heart, and after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Sabrina is sent off to a culinary school in Paris. There, she nurses her broken heart and becomes a fashionable woman of the world. By the time she returns home to New York, she barely looks like the same young girl that she had once been. In fact, she looks so different that, when David happens upon her at the train station, he has no idea who she is....a fact that amuses Sabrina. David is totally enamored of the woman she now is, and even after learning her identity (that she is the chauffeur's daughter), he continues to be smitten.

But David's family in no way is open to a romance between him and Sabrina. After all, she is only the chauffeur's daughter. Add to that, they have successfully gotten David engaged to a girl that will unite their business with another. Therefore, the family will do whatever it takes to keep David and Sabrina apart.

When a minor accident sidelines David for a time, brother Linus steps up to the plate. Under the guise of filling in for David, he wines and dines Sabrina, with one goal in mind all the while...to get her out of town and out of David's life. And it doesn't matter to Linus if Sabrina gets hurt in the process...business is business, after all. Unfortunately for Linus, and to Sabrina's great surprise, Sabrina begins to realize that it was a childhood infatuation she had for David, that she really doesn't love him after all. In fact, she is drawn to Linus, and she is pretty sure he is falling for her as well. What she doesn't know is that Linus has only been pretending to fall for her in order to get her out of the picture...or has he? He doesn't really want to accompany her to Paris (and out of New York), does he?

Okay, so this little cliffhanger is where I will leave off. After all, I want you all to watch the movie for yourselves...and I don't want to completely spoil your viewing pleasure. So, definitely, look for this one. It's out on DVD and should be readily available through Net Flix or your local library. I know you will love it. (And if, like me, you are crazy about William Holden, you'll love it even more.)

For the record, Sabrina was done as a remake in the mid 90's, with Harrison Ford in the Humphrey Bogart role. I am not a huge fan of remaking the classics, so I didn't see it. However, my daughter did, and while she thought Holden and Hepburn could not be improved upon, she did think Harrison Ford was better suited for the role of Linus than Bogart was. I'm the first to admit, that much as I enjoy Humphrey Bogart, I thought he was quite stiff and uncomfortable as Linus. With the exception of Casablanca, he's not really a romantic lead, and he seemed a bit unbelievable in the role. Even so, though, I love the original Sabrina and highly recommend it.

Happy viewing!!

The Major and the Minor (4 stars)

The Major and the Minor, starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland, is a fun little 1942 comedy directed by the fabulous Billy Wilder.  Wilder, who is one of my very favorite directors, is known for such great works as Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, The Lost Weekend, and Double Indemnity (plus many more).  The Major and the Minor, with Ginger Rogers as "the minor" and Ray Milland as the "major," was one of Wilder's earliest works.

Ginger, who, as I always stress, was FAR more than just a dancer, is Susan Applegate, a young woman who has grown weary of the leacherous lifestyle of New York City and intends to return to her home in Iowa.  From the time of her arrival in New York, she had held aside just enough money for the train trip home in the event things didn't work out.  Only problem...fares have gone up since her arrival, and now she doesn't have enough money for the ticket home.  But after discovering that she DOES have the money for a children's ticket, she quickly transforms herself into a twelve year old and is soon on the train bound for Iowa.  (Okay, yes, it's a little unrealistic to think that a 31 year old woman would try to pass for a 12 year old, but, hey, it's only a movie...and it made for alot of fun.)

On the train, Susan meets Major Phillip Kirby (Ray Milland), an instructor at a boys' military academy.  Phillip, who is a bit near-sighted, thinks Susan is exactly what she claims to be...a little girl all alone and frightened.  So, he takes her under his wing, even having her call him Uncle Phillip.  The relationship is all very above board, but when Phillip's fiance happens by the train, she sees a woman...not a little girl...in Phillip's compartment and becomes totally furious.  In order to put out the fire in his fiance, Phillip convinces Susan (who has told him her name is Sue Sue) to stop off for a few days at the military academy.

At the military academy, Susan must keep up the charade.  Although she is falling in love with "Uncle" Phillip, she must continue to be 12 year old Sue Sue and even finds herself having to fight off the advances of all the boys at the academy.  So how long can Susan keep up the act?  How long can she fool people into thinking she's a 12 year old girl when she's really a full-grown woman?  Will Uncle Phillip find out that it wasn't a little girl he took under his wing after all, but a woman who is very much in love with him?  And what about Phillip's fiance?




Well, to find out the answers to these questions, you will have to watch The Major and The Minor for yourself.  It's out on DVD and should be readily available and quite easy to track down.  Yes, it's very unrealistic to think of Ginger, who was 31 at the time, posing as a 12 year old.  And, yes, the movie is VERY dated by today's standards...I mean, we would automatically be screaming "pedophile" if a grown man met a 12 year old girl on a train and shared his compartment with her.  But the times then were more innocent, so if we look at it through the lens of the 1940's, it was simply a man taking it upon himself to look out for a child alone.  Ray Milland's character was never inappropriate towards Sue Sue.  So, even if the movie seems outlandish by today's standards, I still highly recommend it.  It's loads of fun and very cute.  And for Ginger fans (like my husband), it's a definite must-see!

Happy viewing!!

Stalag 17 (5 stars)

When it comes to classic movies, I am totally crazy about William Holden and Gary Cooper. They're pretty much neck and neck as my all-time favorite actor, but if I was forced to pick an absolute favorite, it would be William Holden. I think he was FABULOUSLY good-looking...and also a VERY good actor.  Stalag 17, from 1953, garnered him the Best Actor Academy Award.

Stalag 17 is somewhat of a man's movie.  There are almost zero women in the cast, and the storyline deals with prisoner of war camps, attempted escapes, and spies...however, daughter and I, as well as some of her girlfriends, love this movie, so it's definitely not just for men only.

The story begins around Christmas, 1944, at a German prisoner of war camp (Stalag 17). Stalag denoted that it was a prison camp for non-officers; 17 denoted the territory where the camp was located. Two men of barracks 4 are attempting escape from the prison, and as they slide out the trap door, which was hidden beneath the stove in their barracks, the remaining men of the barracks are rooting them on. One man, however...J.J. Sefton (William Holden)....is cynical and unsupportive. He doesn't think the two men will reach freedom, and he even offers up a bet of cigarettes that they won't be successful. His attitude, of course, doesn't make him very popular with the other men in the barracks. In fact, he basically has only one friend in the barracks.

Within a few minutes of the escape, machine gun fire is heard....the Nazi guards were lying in wait for the men. Sefton was right...their escape attempt was not successful...and he collects his winnings of dozens of cigarettes, adding them to his trunk of "bartering goods." Determined to make life as comfortable as possible for himself, Sefton makes trades with the Nazi guards...another thing that has made his fellow prisoners dislike him.

The day after the attempted escape, the Nazi guards remove the stove from Barracks 4, because they knew the stove was covering the trap door. They also know that a radio has been smuggled into the barracks...and exactly where that radio is kept. The prisoners wonder how the guards knew those things...then it dawns on them that there is a traitor among them, that one of them is a "stool pigeon" and is supplying the guards with information. And, J.J. Sefton is the prime suspect.

Shortly after the two men are killed in the attempted escape, two other prisoners are brought in...one an officer, the other a non-officer. They had been involved in blowing up a German train, and they tell their barracks-mates how they did it. Suddenly, the officer is removed from Barracks 4 and is about to be brought up on sabotage charges. Somehow, someway, the information they shared with the men in the barracks has been passed on to the Nazi prison guards...and since Sefton is the one they deem responsible, the whole barracks join together to beat him up.

Is Sefton really the "stoolie?" Or is there another man in Barracks 4 who is betraying his comrades? Well, to find out, you MUST watch this movie. I must admit here, although I own this movie and have seen it about ten times, it is absolutely BEST the very first time you watch it...when you really don't know who the traitor is. Repeated watchings are enjoyable (especially when you are a die-hard Holden fan), but the suspense aspect isn't there after the first viewing. Also, although the movie is an action/drama, there are several comical moments, mostly because of a few of the prisoners, especially  "Animal,"  who has a HUGE crush on actress Betty Grable.

Stalag 17 is out on DVD, so it should be readily available through Net Flix or your local library.

Happy viewing!!