"And I promise you I'll never desert you again because after Salome, we'll make another picture and another picture. You see, this is my life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, and the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark! All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up!"
-- Norma Desmond, Sunset Boulevard
It is happening again...My amazing co-host Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast! This time, we continue our retrospective of The Films That Inspired David Lynch by discussing Sunset Boulevard, the 1950 dark comedy film noir directed by Billy Wilder, starring William Holden as Joe Gillis, Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, and Erich von Stroheim as Max von Mayerling!
LET'S ROCK
In this episode, Xan and I discuss things like getting to finally see one another in the three-dimensional world, Xan being obsessed with silent film, Gloria Swanson coming from a silent movie background, Gloria Swanson understanding the evolution of film better than Norma Desmond, the difficulty in going back to silent films in the 1950s, everyone thinking Norma Desmond was dead, Xan sending a fan letter to a celebrity that she now regrets, John Travolta's comeback in the '90s, Jack Webb looking a little like Lou Diamond Phillips in this movie, Sunset Boulevard earning 11 Oscar nominations but only winning 3, who Norma Desmond was based upon, Billy Wilder wanting Mae West and Marlon Brando for the leads, Montgomery Clift withdrawing from the role of Joe Gillis because he was having an affair with a much older woman, the original opening with a scene inside a morgue, some Biblical background on Salome, Sunset Boulevard being an important part of Twin Peaks Season 3, Mulholland Drive being a flipped version of Sunset Boulevard, David Lynch's quotes about loving Sunset Boulevard, Norma living in an alternate reality, Norma having zero interest in keeping up the outside of the manor, the 1929 Isotta Fraschini rotting in the garage, Max enabling Norma's delusion while rationalizing it, Joe settling into the idea of Norma being his Sugar Mama, Cecil B. DeMille telling Gordon Cole to forget about Norma's car, Joe sneaking out to write a script with Betty, wondering how Max made the transition from film director to butler of his ex-wife, Norma killing Joe, Norma's descent down the grand staircase, my problem with Joe's ghost narration, my return to Gold Standard: The Oscars Podcast, waiting for Hive Social to get back up and running, our upcoming discussion of 8½, and more!
Apple Podcasts -- RIGHT HERE
Spotify -- RIGHT HERE
Be sure to come back in two weeks for Episode 122, as Xan and I continue our retrospective of films that inspired David Lynch by discussing 8½, the 1963 surrealist dramedy directed by Federico Fellini, featuring Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, Claudia Cardinale as Claudia, and Anouk Aimée as Luisa Anselmi!
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