On Sunset Boulevard

by Ed Sikov

  CHAMPAGNE WALTZ (1937). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: A. Edward Sutherland; producer: Harlan Thompson; screenplay: Frank Butler and Don Hartman, from a story by Billy Wilder and H. S. Kraft; cinematographer: William C. Mellor; editor: Paul Weatherwax; costumes: Travis Banton; music: Johann Strauss. Cast: Gladys Swarthout (Elsa Strauss); Fred MacMurray (Buzzy Bellew); Herman Bing (Max Snellinek); Jack Oakie (Happy Gallagher); Fritz Leiber (Franz Strauss); Rudolph Anders (Franz Joseph); Stanley Price (Johann Strauss). 85 minutes.

  BLUEBEARD’S EIGHTH WIFE (1938). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Ernst Lubitsch; producer: Ernst Lubitsch; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on the play by Alfred Savoir; cinematographer: Leo Tover; musical score: Werner R. Heymann and Frederick Hollander; costumes: Travis Banton; editor: William Shea; art directors: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher. Cast: Claudette Colbert (Nicole de Loiselle); Gary Cooper (Michael Brandon); Edward Everett Horton (Marquis de Loiselle); David Niven (Albert de Regnier); Elizabeth Patterson (Aunt Hedwige); Herman Bing (M. Pepinard); Warren Hymer (Kid Mulligan); Franklin Pangborn (hotel manager); Rolfe Sedan (floorwalker); Lawrence Grant (Prof. Urganzeff); Lionel Pape (M. Potin); Tyler Brooke (Clerk). 80 minutes.

  THAT CERTAIN AGE (1938). Universal Pictures. Black and white. Director: Edward Ludwig; producer: Joe Pasternak; screenplay: Bruce Manning, from a story by F. Hugh Herbert, with uncredited contributions by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder; cinematographer: Joseph A. Valentine; musical score: Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh; costumes: Vera West; editor: Bernard W. Burton; art director: Jack Otterson; musical director: Charles Previn. Cast: Deanna Durbin (Alice Fullerton); Melvyn Douglas (Vincent Bullitt); Jackie Cooper (Ken); Irene Rich (Mrs. Fullerton); Nancy Carroll (Grace Bristow); John Halliday (Fullerton); Jack Searl (Tony); Juanita Quigley (the pest); Peggy Stewart (Mary Lee); Charles Coleman (Stevens); Grant Mitchell (jeweler). 95 minutes.

  MIDNIGHT (1939). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Mitchell Leisen; producer: Arthur Hornblow Jr.; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, from a story by Edwin Justus Mayer and Franz Schulz; cinematographer: Charles Lang; musical score: Frederick Hollander; art directors: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher; editor: Doane Harrison; special effects: Farciot Edouart. Cast: Claudette Colbert (Eve Peabody); Don Ameche (Tibor Czerny); John Barrymore (Georges Flammarion); Francis Lederer (Jacques Picot); Mary Astor (Helene Flammarion); Elaine Barrie (Simone); Hedda Hopper (Stephanie); Rex O’Malley (Marcel); Monty Woolley (Judge); Armand Kaliz (Lebon); Eddie Conrad (Prince Potopienko); Billy Daniels (Roger). 94 minutes.

  WHAT A LIFE (1939). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Jay Theodore Reed; producer: Jay Theodore Reed; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on the play by Clifford Goldsmith; cinematographer: Victor Milner; editor: William Shea; art directors: Hans Dreier and Earl Hedrick. Cast: Jackie Cooper (Henry Aldrich); Betty Field (Barbara Pearson); James Corner (George Bigelow); Hedda Hopper (Mrs. Aldrich); John Howard (Mr. Nelson); Janice Logan (Miss Shea); Dorothy Stickney (Miss Wheeler); Sidney Miller (Pinkie Peters); Roberta Smith (Gertie); Lionel Stander (Ferguson). 75 minutes.

  NINOTCHKA (1939). MGM. Black and white. Director: Ernst Lubitsch; producer: Ernst Lubitsch; screenplay: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and Walter Reisch, from a story by Melchior Lengyel; cinematographer: William H. Daniels; musical score: Werner R. Heymann; art director: Cedric Gibbons; costumes: Adrian; editor: Gene Ruggiero. Cast: Greta Garbo (Ninotchka); Melvyn Douglas (Count Leon d’Algout); Ina Claire (Grand Duchess Swana); Béla Lugosi (Commissar Razinin); Sig Rumann (Iranoff); Felix Bressart (Buljanoff); Alexander Granach (Kopalski); Gregory Gaye (Rakonin); Rolfe Sedan (hotel manager); Edwin Maxwell (Mercier); Richard Carle (Gaston); Mary Forbes (Lady Lavenham); Peggy Moran (French maid); George Tobias (Russian visa officer), 110 minutes.

  RHYTHM ON THE RIVER (1940). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Victor Schertzinger; producer: William LeBaron; screenplay: Dwight Taylor, from a story by Jacques Théry and Billy Wilder; cinematographer: Ted Tetzlaff; musical score: Johnny Burke, James V. Monaco, and Victor Schertzinger; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Hugh Bennett; art directors: Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegté; musical director: Victor Young. Cast: Bing Crosby (Bob Sommers); Mary Martin (Cherry Lane); Basil Rathbone (Oliver Courtney); Oscar Levant (Billy Starbuck); Oscar Shaw (Charlie Goodrich); Charley Grapewin (Uncle Caleb); Lillian Cornell (Millie Starling); William Frawley (Mr. Westlake); Jeanne Cagney (country cousin); Helen Bertram (Aunt Delia); John Scott Trotter (himself); Ken Carpenter (announcer); Charles Lane (Bernard Schwartz); Harry Barris (bass player). 92 minutes.

  ARISE, MY LOVE (1940). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Mitchell Leisen; producer: Arthur Hornblow Jr.; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, from a story by Benjamin Glazer and John S. Toldy, with additional contributions by Jacques Théry; cinematographer: Charles Lang; musical score: Victor Young; art directors: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher; costumes: Irene; editor: Doane Harrison. Cast: Claudette Colbert (Augusta Nash); Ray Milland (Tom Martin); Dennis O’Keefe (Shep); Walter Abel (Mr. Phillips); Dick Purcell (“Pinky” O’Connor); George Zucco (prison governor); Frank Puglia (Father Jacinto); Esther Dale (secretary); Paul Leyssac (Bresson); Ann Codee (Mme. Bresson); Stanley Logan (Col. Tubbs Brown); Lionel Pape (Lord Kettlebrook); Aubrey Mather (Achille); Cliff Nazarro (Botzelberg). 110 minutes.

  HOLD BACK THE DAWN (1941). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Mitchell Leisen; producer: Arthur Hornblow Jr.; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on a treatment and novel by Ketti Frings; cinematographer: Leo Tover; musical score: Victor Young; art directors: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Doane Harrison. Cast: Charles Boyer (Georges Iscovescu); Olivia de Havilland (Emmy Brown); Paulette Goddard (Anita); Victor Francen (Van Den Luecken); Walter Abel (Inspector Hammock); Curt Bois (Bonbois); Rosemary De Camp (Berta Kurz); Eric Feldary (Josef Kurz); Nestor Paiva (Flores); Eva Puig (Lupita); Micheline Cheirel (Christine); Madeleine Lebeau (Annie); Billy Lee (Tony); Mikhail Rasumny (mechanic); Charles Arnt (Mr. MacAdams); Arthur Loft (Mr. Elvestad); Mitchell Leisen (Mr. Saxon); Brian Donlevy (movie actor); Veronica Lake (movie actress); 115 minutes.

  BALL OF FIRE (1941). Samuel Goldwyn. Black and white. Director: Howard Hawks; producer: Samuel Goldwyn; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on a story by Billy Wilder and Thomas Monroe; cinematographer: Gregg Toland; musical score: Alfred Newman; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Daniel Mandell; art director: Perry Ferguson. Cast: Gary Cooper (Prof. Bertram Potts); Barbara Stanwyck (Sugarpuss O’Shea); Oskar Homolka (Prof. Gurkakoff); Henry Travers (Prof. Jerome); S. Z. Sakall (Prof. Magenbruch); Tully Marshall (Prof. Robinson); Leonid Kinskey (Prof. Quintana); Richard Haydn (Prof. Oddly); Aubrey Mather (Prof. Peagram); Allen Jenkins (garbage man); Dana Andrews (Joe Lilac); Dan Duryea (Pastrami); Ralph Peters (Asthma); Kathleen Howard (Miss Bragg); Mary Field (Miss Totten); Alan Rhein (Horseface); Eddie Foster (Pinstripe); Aldrich Bowker (justice of the peace); Addison Richards (district attorney); Pat West (bum); Kenneth Howell (college boy); Tommy Ryan (newsboy); Tim Ryan (cop); William A. Lee (Benny the Creep); Geraldine Fissette (hula dancer); Gene Krupa (himself). 111 minutes.

  THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1942). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Arthur Hornblow Jr.; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on the story “Sunny Goes Home” by Fanny Kilbourne and the play Connie Goes Home by Edward Childs Carpenter; cinematographer: Leo Tover; musical score: Robert Emmett Dolan; art directors: Roland Anderson and Hans Dreier; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Doane Harrison; assistant director: Charles C. Coleman Jr.; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: Ginger Rogers (Susan Applegate); Ray Milland (Major Philip Kirby); Rita Johnson (Pamela Hill); Robert Benchley (Mr. Osborne); Diana Lynn (Lucy Hill); Edward Fielding (Colonel Hill); Frankie Thomas (Cadet Osborne); Raymond Roe (Cadet Wigton); Charles Smith (Cadet Korner); Larry Nunn (Cadet Babcock); Billy Dawson (Cadet Miller); Lela R
ogers (Mrs. Applegate); Aldrich Bowker (Reverend Doyle); Boyd Irwin (Major Griscom); Byron Shores (Captain Durand); Richard Fiske (Will Duffy); Norma Varden (Mrs. Osborne); Gretl Sherk (Miss Shackleford). 100 minutes.

  FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO (1943). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Charles Brackett; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on the play Hotel Imperial by Lajos Biró; cinematographer: John F. Seitz; musical score: Miklós Rózsa; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Doane Harrison; art directors: Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegté; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: Franchot Tone (John J. Bramble); Anne Baxter (Mouche); Erich von Stroheim (Field Marshal Erwin Rommel); Akim Tamiroff (Farid); Fortunio Bonanova (General Sebastiano); Peter Van Eyck (Lieutenant Schwegler). 96 minutes.

  DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Joseph Sistrom; screenplay: Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder, based on the novel by James M. Cain; cinematographer: John F. Seitz; musical score: Miklós Rózsa; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Doane Harrison; art directors: Hans Dreier and Hal Pereira; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: Fred MacMurray (Walter Neff); Barbara Stanwyck (Phyllis Dietrichson); Edward G. Robinson (Barton Keyes); Porter Hall (Mr. Jackson); Jean Heather (Lola Dietrichson); Tom Powers (Mr. Dietrichson); Byron Barr (Nino Zachette); Richard Gaines (Mr. Norton); Fortunio Bonanova (Sam Gorlopis); John Philliber (Joe Pete); Bess Flowers (Norton’s secretary); Kernan Cripps (conductor); Harold Garrison (redcap); Oscar Smith (Pullman porter); Betty Farrington (maid); Sam McDaniel (Charlie). 107 minutes.

  THE LOST WEEKEND (1945). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Charles Brackett; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on the novel by Charles R. Jackson; cinematographer: John F. Seitz; musical score: Miklós Rózsa; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Doane Harrison; sound: Stanley Cooley and Joel Moss; art directors: Hans Dreier and A. Earl Hedrick; special effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: Ray Milland (Don Birnam); Jane Wyman (Helen St. James); Phillip Terry (Wick Birnam); Howard Da Silva (Nat); Doris Dowling (Gloria); Frank Faylen (Bim); Mary Young (Mrs. Deveridge); Anita Sharp-Bolster (Mrs. Foley); Lillian Fontaine (Mrs. St. James). 101 minutes.

  THE EMPEROR WALTZ (1948). Paramount Pictures. Technicolor. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Charles Brackett; screenplay: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder; cinematographer: George Barnes; musical score: Johnny Burke and Victor Young; costumes: Edith Head and Gile Steele; editor: Doane Harrison; art directors: Hans Dreier and Franz Bachelin; assistant director: Charles C. Coleman Jr.; set decorators: Sam Comer and Paul Huldschinsky; sound: Stanley Cooley and John Cope; choreography: Billy Daniels; process photography: Farciot Edouart; special photographic effects: Gordon Jennings; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: Bing Crosby (Virgil Smith); Joan Fontaine (Johanna Augusta Franziska von Stoltzenberg-Stoltzenberg); Roland Culver (Baron Holenia); Lucile Watson (Princess Bitotska); Richard Haydn (Emperor Francis-Joseph); Harold Vermilyea (chamberlain); Sig Rumann (Dr. Zwieback); Julia Dean (Archduchess Stephanie); Bert Prival (chauffeur); Alma Macrorie (inn proprietor); Roberta Jonay (chambermaid); John Goldsworthy (officer); Doris Dowling (Tyrolean girl). 106 minutes.

  A FOREIGN AFFAIR (1948). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Charles Brackett; screenplay: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and Richard L. Breen, based on a story by David Shaw and Robert Harari; cinematographer: Charles Lang; musical score: Frederick Hollander; art directors: Hans Dreier and Walter H. Tyler; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Doane Harrison; assistant director: Charles C. Coleman Jr.; set decorators: Sam Comer and Ross Dowd; process photographers: Farciot Edouart and Dewey Wrigley; sound: Hugo Grenzbach and Walter Oberst; special effects: Gordon Jennings; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: Jean Arthur (Phoebe Frost); Marlene Dietrich (Erika von Schlütow); John Lund (Capt. John Pringle); Millard Mitchell (Col. Rufus J. Plummer); Peter von Zerneck (Hans Otto Birgel); Stanley Prager (Mike); Raymond Bond (Pennecot); Boyd Davis (Giffin); Robert Malcolm (Kramer); Charles Meredith (Yandell); Michael Raffetto (Salvatore); Damian O’Flynn (lieut. colonel); Frank Fenton (Major Mathews); James Larmore (Lieut. Hornby); Harland Tucker (Gen. McAndrew); William Neff (Lieut. Thompson); George M. Carleton (Gen. Finney); Gordon Jones (M.P.); Freddie Steele (M.P.). 116 minutes.

  SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Charles Brackett; screenplay: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D.M. Marshman Jr.; cinematographer: John F. Seitz; musical score: Franz Waxman; costumes: Edith Head; editors: Doane Harrison and Arthur P. Schmidt; assistant director: Charles C. Coleman Jr.; set decorators: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer, and John Meehan; sound: John Cope and Harry Lindgren; art director: Hans Dreier; process photographer: Farciot Edouart; special effects: Gordon Jennings; makeup: Wally Westmore and Karl Silvera. Cast: William Holden (Joe Gillis); Gloria Swanson (Norma Desmond); Erich von Stroheim (Max von Mayerling); Nancy Olson (Betty Schaefer); Fred Clark (Sheldrake); Lloyd Gough (Morino); Jack Webb (Artie Green); Franklyn Farnum (mortician); Larry J. Blake (repo man); Charles Dayton (repo man); Cecil B. DeMille (himself); Hedda Hopper (herself); Buster Keaton (himself); Anna Q. Nilsson (herself); H. B. Warner (himself); Ray Evans (himself); Jay Livingston (himself). 110 minutes.

  ACE IN THE HOLE (1951). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder, Walter Newman, and Lesser Samuels; cinematographer: Charles Lang; musical score: Hugo Friedhofer; costumes: Edith Head; editors: Doane Harrison and Arthur P. Schmidt; set decorators: Sam Comer and Ray Moyer; process photographer: Farciot Edouart; sound: Gene Garvin and Harold C. Lewis; art directors: Hal Pereira and A. Earl Hedrick; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: Kirk Douglas (Chuck Tatum); Jan Sterling (Lorraine); Robert Arthur (Herbie Cook); Porter Hall (Jacob Q. Boot); Frank Cady (Mr. Federber); Richard Benedict (Leo Minosa); Ray Teal (sheriff); Lewis Martin (McCardle); John Berkes (Papa Minosa); Frances Domingues (Mama Minosa); Gene Evans (deputy sheriff); Frank Jaquet (Smollett); Harry Harvey (Dr. Hilton); Bob Bumpas (radio announcer); Geraldine Hall (Mrs. Federber); Richard Gaines (Nagel); Paul D. Merrill (Federber boy); Stewart Kirk Clawson (Federber boy); John Stuart Fulton (boy); Bob Kortman (digger); Edith Evanson (Miss Deverich); Ralph Moody (miner); Claire Du Brey (spinster); William Fawcett (sad-faced man); Basil Chester (Indian), 111 minutes. Note: The film was released as The Big Carnival.

  STALAG 17 (1953). Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and Edwin Blum, based on the play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski; cinematographer: Ernest Laszlo; editorial advisor: Doane Harrison; musical score: Franz Waxman; editor: George Tomasini; associate producer: William Schorr; art directors: Franz Bachelin and Hal Pereira; set decorators: Sam Comer and Ray Moyer; sound: Gene Garvin and Harold C. Lewis; special effects: Gordon Jennings; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: William Holden (Sefton); Don Taylor (Lieut. Dunbar); Otto Preminger (von Scherbach); Robert Strauss (Stosh “Animal” Krusawa); Harvey Lembeck (Harry Shapiro); Richard Erdman (Hoffy); Peter Graves (Price); Neville Brand (Duke); Sig Rumann (Schulz); Michael Moore (Manfredi); Peter Baldwin (Johnson); Robinson Stone (Joey); Robert Shawley (Blondie); William Pearson (Marko); Gil Stratton Jr. (Cookie); Jay Lawrence (Bagradian); Erwin Kalser (Geneva man); Edmund Trzcinski (Triz); Tommy Cook (prisoner). 120 minutes.

  SABRINA (1954) Paramount Pictures. Black and white. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, Ernest Lehman, based on the play Sabrina Fair by Taylor; cinematographer: Charles Lang; musical score: Frederick Hollander; costumes: Edith Head; editor: Arthur P. Schmidt; assistant director: C. C. Coleman Jr.; editorial advisor: Doane Harrison; art directors: Hal Pereira and Walter H. Tyler; set decorators: Sam Comer and Ray Moyer; sound: John Cope and Harold Lewis; special effects: John P. Fulton; process photographer: Farciot Edouart; makeup: Wally Westmore. Cast: Humphrey Bogart (Linus Larrabee); Audrey Hepburn (Sabrina Fairchild);
William Holden (David Larrabee); Walter Hampden (Oliver Larrabee); John Williams (Thomas Fairchild); Martha Hyer (Elizabeth Tyson); Joan Vohs (Gretchen Van Horn); Marcel Dalio (Baron St. Fontanel); Marcel Hillaire (professor); Nella Walker (Maude Larrabee); Francis X. Bushman (Mr. Tyson); Ellen Corby (Miss McCardle); Nancy Kulp (maid). 113 minutes.

  THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955). Twentieth Century–Fox. Color by DeLuxe. Director: Billy Wilder; producers: Charles K. Feldman and Billy Wilder; screenplay: Billy Wilder and George Axelrod, based on the play by Axelrod; cinematographer: Milton Krasner; musical score: Alfred Newman; costumes: Travilla; editor: Hugh S. Fowler; associate producer: Doane Harrison; title design: Saul Bass; art directors: George W. Davis and Lyle R. Wheeler; special effects: Ray Kellogg; sound: Harry M. Leonard and E. Clayton Ward; makeup: Ben Nye and Whitey Snyder; set decorators: Stuart A. Reiss and Walter M. Scott; assistant director: Joseph E. Rickards. Cast: Marilyn Monroe (The Girl); Tom Ewell (Richard Sherman); Evelyn Keyes (Helen Sherman); Sonny Tufts (Tom MacKenzie); Robert Strauss (Mr. Kruhulik); Oskar Homolka (Dr. Brubaker); Marguerite Chapman (Miss Morris); Victor Moore (plumber); Roxanne (Elaine); Donald MacBride (Mr. Brady); Carolyn Jones (Miss Finch); Butch Bernard (Ricky Sherman); Doro Merande (waitress); Dorothy Ford (Indian girl). 105 minutes.

  THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS (1957). Warner Bros. Warnercolor. Cinemascope. Director: Billy Wilder; producer: Leland Hayward; screenplay: Billy Wilder, Wendell Mayes, and Charles Lederer, based on the book by Charles A. Lindbergh; cinematographers: Robert Burks and J. Peverell Marley; musical score: Franz Waxman; editor: Arthur P. Schmidt; assistant director: Charles C. Coleman Jr.; associate producer: Doane Harrison; art director: Art Loel; makeup: Gordon Bau; technical advisors: Harlan A. Gurney and Major General Victor Bertrandias; special effects: Hans F. Koenekamp; set decorator: William L. Kuehl; special effects: Louis Lichtenfield; aerial supervisor: Paul Mantz; sound: M.A. Merrick; aerial photographer: Tom Tutwiler. Cast: James Stewart (Charles Lindbergh); Murray Hamilton (Bud Gurney); Patricia Smith (mirror girl); Bartlett Robinson (B. F. Mahoney); Marc Connelly (Father Hussman); Arthur Space (Donald Hall); Charles Watts (O. W. Schultz). 135 minutes.