Category: gloria swanson
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Burn, Hollywood, burn! Four noirs reveal the horrors of the screenwriting trade
Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, ‘In a Lonely Place’ (1950). By Paul Parcellin You’ve probably heard that screenwriters get little respect in the big town, and by many accounts that’s true. They labor in isolation, punching out fresh ideas, pouring their deepest emotions onto their pages only to have their hearts broken. Their masterpieces are rewritten…
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New Year’s Noir: 8 Crime Films Bring You Dark Tidings
Allen Baron, “Blast of Silence” (1961). Noir for the year’s last day. Was that a popping cork or the report of a firearm? By Paul Parcellin Why is it that a lot of noirs take place around Christmas, but not so many focus on New Year’s Eve? Granted, New Year’s doesn’t carry the same weight…
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Scrapped: The Original Opening Sequence of “Sunset Boulevard” was Even Stranger than the Final Cut, and Audiences had a Peculiar Reaction to It
Erich von Stroheim, William Holden, Gloria Swanson,“Sunset Boulevard” (1950). Preview audiences were left stunned, oddly amused and utterly confused Joe Gillis (Holden), a life cut short. By Paul Parcellin At the start of “Sunset Boulevard,” hapless screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) floats face-down in a swimming pool with several bullet holes punched into…
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An American Story: Murder In the Living Room
Left: Gloria Swanson, William Holden, “Sunset Blvd. (1950)Center: Gene Nelson, Phyllis Kirk, Sterling Hayden, “Crime Wave” (1953)Right: David Janssen, “The Fugitive” (1963). By Paul Parcellin The first time I saw a film noir I didn’t know what I was watching. Sure, I could tell that it was a crime film, a detective story, a mystery,…