crimeonfilm.com

Category: Sunset Blvd.

  • Scrapped: The Original Opening Sequence of “Sunset Boulevard” was Even Stranger than the Final Cut, and Audiences had a Peculiar Reaction to It

    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…

  • An American Story: Murder In the Living Room

    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,…

  • When Tinsel Town Turns the Camera on Itself

    When Tinsel Town Turns the Camera on Itself

    Rod Steiger, ‘The Big Knife’ (1955). Face it, scandals make good news copy and the Los Angeles entertainment industry produces a bumper crop of the stuff that keeps gossip writers in business.  From Rosco “Fatty” Arbuckle to Harvey Weinstein the press has never been at a loss for words when it comes to movie industry…