Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American black comedy film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. It was named after a major street that runs through Hollywood, the center of the American film industry.
Gloria May Josephine Swanson was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 return in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, which also earned her a Golden Globe Award.
The year 1919 in film involved some significant events.
Male and Female is a 1919 American silent adventure/drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan. Its main themes are gender relations and social class. The film is based on the 1902 J. M. Barrie play The Admirable Crichton.
Julia Faye Maloney, known professionally as Julia Faye, was an American actress of silent and sound films. She was known for her appearances in more than 30 Cecil B. DeMille productions. Her various roles ranged from maids and ingénues to vamps and queens.
Wanda Hawley was an American actress during the silent film era. She entered the theatrical profession with an amateur group in Seattle, and later toured the United States and Canada as a singer. She initially began in films acting with the likes of William Farnum, William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Douglas Fairbanks, and others. She co-starred with Rudolph Valentino in the 1922 The Young Rajah, and rose to stardom in a number of Cecil B. DeMille's and director Sam Wood's films.
Thomas Meighan was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he commanded $10,000 per week.
Mae Georgia Giraci, also known as May Giraci, May Garcia, May Geraci, May Giracci, May Giracia and Tina Rossi, was an American child actress who appeared in silent films between 1915 and 1929.
Sylvia Ashton was an American film actress of the silent film era.
We Can't Have Everything was a 1918 American silent drama film directed and written by Cecil B. DeMille based upon a novel by Rupert Hughes. The film is considered to be lost.
Don't Change Your Husband is a 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson. The film was the third of six "marriage films" directed by DeMille and the first DeMille film starring Gloria Swanson. A print of the film is stored at the George Eastman House. The film was released on DVD by Image Entertainment with The Golden Chance. A Chinese silent film, Don't Change Your Husband (1929), used the same English title, and a similar plot arc.
Why Change Your Wife? is a 1920 American silent comedy film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson.
Something to Think About is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Elliott Dexter and Gloria Swanson. Prints of the film exist at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, and at the Filmmuseum in Amsterdam.
The Affairs of Anatol is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson. The film is based on the 1893 play Anatol by Arthur Schnitzler.
Wife or Country is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by E. Mason Hopper and starring Gloria Swanson in her last role for Triangle Film Corporation. It is not known whether the film currently survives.
Beyond the Rocks is a 1922 American silent romantic drama film directed by Sam Wood, starring Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson. It is based on the 1906 novel of the same name by Elinor Glyn. Beyond the Rocks was long considered lost but a nitrate print of the film was discovered in the Netherlands in 2003. The film was restored and released on DVD by Milestone Film & Video in 2006.
The Impossible Mrs. Bellew is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson. The film is based on the 1916 novel of the same name by David Lisle.
Hollywood is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by James Cruze, co-written by Frank Condon and Thomas J. Geraghty, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is a lengthier feature follow-up to Paramount's own short film exposé of itself, A Trip to Paramountown from 1922.
A Trip to Paramountown is a 1922 American short silent documentary film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released through Paramount Pictures, to celebrate 10 years of Paramount's founding. The film runs about 20 minutes and features many personalities then under contract to Famous Players–Lasky and Paramount.
Sada Louise Cowan (1882–1943) was an American writer who began her career as a playwright. She soon switched to writing feature films and is best known for her work on the films Don't Change Your Husband and Why Change Your Wife?. Cowan worked closely with director Cecil B. DeMille throughout her career.
