回顧Sunset Boulevard-麻周侯
從一具屍體開始
偉大的Billy Wilder關於好萊塢的令人毛骨悚然的寓言依舊保持著生命力。 David Thomson，來自星期日的倫敦《獨立報》，為您回顧50年代"Sunset Boulevard"的拍攝過程•
1949年的春天，Billy Wilder正焦頭爛額，咒罵著意志薄弱的演員並忖度他棘手的新片究竟能否上馬。棘手？l948年晚些時候，當Wilder和他的合作者，Charles Brackett，向Paramount展示腳本的頭60頁時，他們在開頭寫到， “鑒於這一行的特殊性，我們要讓所有的同事把它當成最高機密”。
他們知道會有人皺眉頭。
他們有一位核心人物──一個半瘋的默片時代的老古董，一個
在日落大道上一座朽敗的巨廈裡幻想著重返銀幕的頭牌女星。
另一個角色是一個電影編劇，他在影片開始時已經死了，躺在向縣停屍房裡的其它僵屍講故事。Wilder渴望重擊銀幕。 同時當 Montgomery Clift同意演那個編劇時，情況好轉了。 他那一年以"Red River"打開了局面，但沒人抱什麼奢望。
這決不是一個供演員們賣弄的櫥窗。 這是那些說演員這行近於瘋狂的電影之一。對於 "Sunset Boulevard"來說，會有一種酸溜溜的、譏諷的調子──就是他們所說的──這部影片暗示好萊塢本身是個病態的地方，而人們普遍的渴望上鏡的心理是是一種小毛病。
“那你為什麼還在電影這行業幹呢， Billy？” 有人可能會問。
而Billy很可能會回答，“因為我是他們中最瘋狂的”。
那年春天，Wilder快43歲了，而他比Clift更見多識廣。
他出生在克拉科夫鄰近的一個村莊，在維也納長大，先當記者，然後是電影編劇。 他是一個辯駁的高手，有時甚至近於殘酷─還是一個小丑，一個倖存者，野心勃勃，對人性抱有陰暗的看法。 他有很多知己，還有許多女人，但極少有人能接近他──因為他從不相信任何人。
他那不安份的嘴太具爆炸性，太令人坐立不安了。
他在1934年來到好萊塢（他的母親和其它家屬將在集中營中死亡），為Lubitsch寫了 "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" 的劇本──（與Charles Brackett 合作），之後，作為搭檔，又一起寫了"Midnight"，" Ninotchka"，"Hold Back the
Dawn" 和 "Ball of Fire"。到1942年，他們已經一起編寫了
"The Major and the Minor"──Wilder在美國執導的第一部電影，而後作為工作伙伴又相繼完成了"Five Graves to Cairo"， "The Lost Weekend" 以及"A Foreign Affair"。"The Lost Weekend"──Ray Milland在片中扮演一個酒鬼──是一次典型的Wilder式的體驗。
好萊塢說這部影片太暗淡蒼涼和缺乏吸引力了。
但他不睬他們，拍攝了一部嚴酷的，令人不快的電影並贏得了奧斯卡最佳影片，導演，編劇和Milland的最 佳男主角四項大獎。在他的履歷上Wilder還有另一項引人注目成就： 在沒有Brackett 參與的情況下，他完成了"Double Indemnity"，並贏得了奧斯卡最佳影片，導演，編劇和Barbara Stanwyck─也許是所有電影角色中最光彩照人的婊子──的最佳女主角四項提名。
從幸災樂禍的角度來看，Wilder對世界的看法是直率的；
他最好的玩笑帶著諷刺的餘味。 在"Double Indemnity"中，一名隨和的保險推銷員 因為對一位蛇蝎美人的迷戀而實施了謀殺； 在"The Lost Weekend"中，一位脆弱的而迷人的男子說盡了謊話來保護一瓶酒免遭發現。而在" Sunset Boulevard"中，Wilder承諾將有一次謀殺。
“很好，誰謀殺誰？” Gloria Swanson，一位正和他談話的女演員問。實話告訴你吧，他說，我還沒有決定呢。
他在說謊：關於那個構思──他最掙扎的故事把自己送上了死路──和那位將進瘋人院的默片女王，他已經成竹在胸。 但也許Swanson不會把自己看成一名殺手。所以他將不會馬上和盤托出，直到她上鉤並簽約。 畢竟，他和Brackett曾先為這個角色見過Mary Pickford，但當他們坐在Pickfair的一個客廳中並面對著美國甜心時──這時已56歲了──他們不能承認他們不得不向她提出的建議，因為這看起來佷骯髒。誰能相信Mary會神經失常，養著一只寵物猴和一個情夫，並在他背叛她時，從背後打死他呢？
但Swanson不同。在她的眼睛裡有著野性而熾熱的目光──而且還未熄滅。她完全不像Mary那樣甜美，謙遜或務實。Gloria信仰她自己。這是 Norma Desmond的一種至關重要的特質──的而且確，Norma相信是世界已經變得瘋狂了。
Gloria Swanson1949年時52歲，正處於更年期。 她剛剛擺脫了自己的第五個丈夫（僅靠法院？制執行）； 她在歐洲過了一陣並當了幾年的侯爵夫人。 她立刻看透了Wilder和Brackett：那個維也納的猶太佬 “機靈，詼諧，自信而且有一點過份活躍”； Brackett則 “安靜，更有教養，是紐約式的，東部人的類型”。 她說她不能確定是否出演這個角色或這部影片──腳本還未完成──但是她也在說謊。正如Norma Desmond一樣，她會為了第二次復出的機會赴湯蹈火。
這時Clift脫陣了，儘管被開價12周每周支付5，000美元。
Wilder急火攻心，到處挖人，最後想起了William Holden。
Holden已經當了十年二線明星，沒拍過一部重要的影片。 但是，Wilder喜歡 Holden難以琢磨的特質，還有他的妥協，以及擺出一副光鮮的派頭來掩飾寒酸實窮的樣子。關於這些他考慮得越多Holden就越適合於Joe Gillis──也更便宜。 但Holden知道這個角色是他最大的挑戰。
他和Wilder為此發愁，直到這位導演說 “你看，你認識Bill Holden，是嗎？” “對，的確，”這位演員回答。
“那就是你要演的角色”， Wilder咧嘴一笑說，好像打到了你的痛處。這部電影將充滿內在的聯繫性，這正是Wilder惡毒的幽默的另一處寫照 。
他們在日落大道上拍攝，即使是他們為Norma找的大宅也其實是Getty（美國石油巨子）在Wilshire的產業。 他們在Schwab的藥店拍攝，還 在Paramount拍了很多場戲。甚至在有一場戲中Cecil B• DeMille（Swanson二十年代的導演之一）演了他自己。 同時，Wilder選Erich von Stroheim （曾在他"Five Graves to Cairo" 演Rommel的角色），出演關鍵配角Max von Mayerling （ Norma現在的男管家，還是她光輝的守護者 ，但過去是她的導演和丈夫）的角色。
Stroheim是一個比Norma Desmond更悲慘的好萊塢的兒。他曾經是一位名氣的導演和一個不受干涉的個人主義者。 他曾拍攝了一部10小時長的史詩電影"Greed"。 但制片廠系統，借Irving Thalberg之手解了他的職並把這部電影刪剪成兩個小時長（就是這樣它依舊是最偉大的默片之一） 。Stroheim的職業生涯陷入困境。 但"Queen
Kelly"將是他的重生──一部由Gloria Swanson出演而且由她的愛人Joseph Kennedy投資的電影。
可是電影拍得一團糟，Gloria炒掉了Stroheim。到三十年代末他被逐出了導演這一行。 不過他是個飄泊不定的演員──片中最出色的角色是在 Jean Renoir的"La Grande Illusion"中扮演戰俘營指揮官。
還會有誰更適合扮演Max呢，Wilder想。 於是他添上了最後一筆：當Norma給Joe 放她的一部老電影時，放的是"Queen Kelly"，並由Max 控制放映機。1949年的春天和初夏，他們拍攝了"Sunset Boulevard"，沒有遇到很多困難。 Swanson和Holden及Wilder估計中的那樣出色。
像 Buster Keaton和Hedda Hopper這樣的人物在片中一閃而過。 Nancy Olson扮演Gillis愛上的新女孩。影片從Holden和？它屍體聊天開始，他的畫外音引導你進入這個故事中。
那年夏天，他們伊利諾斯州的Evanston為影片舉行了預映。死屍一開始講話，觀眾就哄堂大笑。 他們在接下來的放映中再也沒有嚴肅下來。
在紐約的Poughkeepsie，他們得到同樣的反應。
這是一幅引人注目的畫面──我們和觀眾一起從游泳池底部仰視著Joe 和巡警們。突顯死屍的話音響？。
在這部影片中有笑聲，但（究？實質）這是一個關 於不可思議的上蒼的令人毛骨悚然的神話故事。
幾個月後，在一次片內放映中，Louis B• Mayer，Metro─Goldwyn的頭頭，指責說Wilder咬了喂養他的手。
“Fuck you，”Wilder說。
好萊塢的鍍金剝落了。
"Sunset Boulevard" 更容易使人落入陷阱。 它問Norma是否是那個瘋狂的？。或者是Joe。 或者是我們，由於對這類情節劇的迷戀。答案依舊不？定。而Billy Wilder ──保佑他狡猾的心靈──到99年6月便93歲了，依舊是所有好萊塢晚會上的一位貴 客。
本文首次發表於1999年4月4日星期日（倫敦）的《獨立報》上。
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It started with a corpse
The great Billy Wilder's macabre fable about Hollywood lives on• David
Thomson， from the Independent on Sunday in London， looks back 50 years to the making of Sunset Boulevard In the spring of 1949， Billy Wilder was in overdrive， cursing feeble actors and wondering if his new， tricky project could ever work• Tricky？ Late in l948， when Wilder and his partner， Charles Brackett， showed Paramount the first 60 pages of script， they wrote on it， "Due to the peculiar nature of the project， we ask all our co─workers to regard it as top secret•"
They knew there were going to be eyebrows raised• They had one central character ─ a half─crazy relic from silent pictures， a diva dreaming of comeback in a mouldy mansion on Sunset•
And the other was a screenwriter who'd be dead when the picture started， but telling the story to the other stiffs in the county
morgue• Wilder was eager to shoot that scene• And things looked up when Montgomery Clift agreed to play the writer• He had opened that year in Red River， and no one was in greater demand•
Not that this was an actors' showcase• It was one of those movies that
said actors were close to nuts• There would be a sour， sardonic tone to Sunset Boulevard ─ that's what they called it ─ that suggested Hollywood itself was a sick place， and that the widespread human urge to be in the movies was a malaise• "So why
are you in pictures， still， Billy？" someone might have asked• And Billy would likely have answered， "Because I'm the sickest of them all•"
That spring， Wilder was close to 43， and hotter than Clift• Born in a
village near Krakow， he had been raised in Vienna， first as a journalist， then a screenwriter• He was a counter─punching
wit， not far from cruel sometimes ─ a joker， a survivor， ambitious， dark in his assumptions about human nature• He had
a lot of cronies， and plenty of women， but few got close to him ─ because he never trusted anyone• He was too volatile，
too itchy with killer remarks•
He arrived in Hollywood in 1934 （his mother and other relatives would
die in concentration camps）， and wrote screenplays ─ Bluebeard's Eighth Wife for Lubitsch （written with Charles Brackett），
and then， as a team， Midnight， Ninotchka， Hold Back the Dawn and Ball of Fire•
By 1942， they had written The Major and the Minor， Wilder's first American directing job， and thereafter they were a production partnership on Five Graves to Cairo， The Lost Weekend and A Foreign Affair• The Lost Weekend ─ with Ray Milland as a drunk ─ had been a typical Wilder experience• Hollywood said the project was too bleak and unappealing• But he ignored them， made a tough， nasty picture and won Oscars for best picture， director， screenplay， and for Milland• There was another knock─out in Wilder's record： without
Brackett， he had done Double Indemnity， which got nominations for picture， direction， script and for Barbara Stanwyck as
maybe the most glowing bitch in all film noir•
Wilder's world view was blunt， if gloating； his best jokes left an acid
aftertaste• In Double Indemnity， an easy─going insurance salesman commits murder because he's infatuated with a snake； in The Lost Weekend， a brittle charmer tells any lie to protect a bottle of booze from discovery• And in Sunset Boulevard， Wilder promised， there'd be a murder•
"Well， who murders whom？" asked Gloria Swanson， an actress he was talking to• To tell you the truth， he said， I haven't made up my mind yet•
He was lying： he had the idea al─ready of the hack writer whose most
saleable story concerns his own death， with the great lady of the silent screen being limo'd to the nuthouse• But maybe Swanson didn't see herself as a killer• So he wouldn't offer that until he'd got her hooked and signed• After all， he and Brackett had been up to see Mary Pickford about the part first， but as they sat in one of the salons at Pickfair， and confronted America's sweetheart ─ then aged 56 ─ they couldn't admit what they had to offer her because it seemed so squalid• Who could believe in Mary losing her mind， keeping a pet monkey and a gigolo， and killing the latter when he turned on her？
But Swanson was different• There was a wild， fiery look in her eyes ─
there always had been• And she was not nearly as sweet， modest or practical as Mary• Gloria believed in herself• That was a vital thing about Norma Desmond ─ truth to tell， Norma knew it was the world that had gone crazy• Gloria Swanson was 52 in 1949， and in tigress condition• She had just rid herself of her fifth husband （with only legal violence）； she had lived in Europe for a while and been a marquise for a few years• She got Wilder and Brackett in an instant： the Viennese Jew was "elfin， witty， confident and a bit overactive"； Brackett was " quieter， more refined， the New York， Eastern type"• She said she wasn't sure about the part or the project ─ the script was unfinished， still ─ but she was lying， too• Like Norma Desmond， she'd have done anything for a second chance•
Then Clift got cold feet， despite being offered $5，000 a week for 12
weeks• Maybe he'd reasoned that it wasn't right for his clean─cut image to play a gigolo， a bad writer， and someone who ended up dead• Dead lacked dignity or class• Maybe Libby Holman， the singer with whom he was having an affair， who was nearly 50 herself， said look what people were going to say• So Clift got out of the deal ─ he would do A Place in the Sun with
Elizabeth Taylor instead•
Wilder spat blood， looked around， and thought of William Holden• Holden had been a second─level star for a decade， without ever having a big picture• But Wilder liked the slippery air to Holden，
his readiness for compromise， or putting on a bright face to hide shabby truths• The more he thought about it， the better ─ and cheaper ─ Holden was for Joe Gillis• But Holden knew the role was his greatest challenge•
He fretted about it with Wilder， until the director said， "Look， you know Bill Holden， don't you？" "Well， sure，" said the actor•
"That's who you're playing，" said Wilder， with that grin of his， as the
hook went into the soft part of your body• It was another side of Wilder's wicked humour that this film would be full of inside touches• They'd shoot on Sunset， even if the mansion they found for Norma was actually the Getty place on Wilshire•
They'd shoot at Schwab's drugstore， and on the Paramount lot• There'd even be a scene where Cecil B• DeMille （one of Swanson's directors in the 1920s） would play himself•
And in the key supporting role of Max von Mayerling （Norma's butler
now， as well as keeper of her flame， but director and husband in the past）， Wilder cast Erich von Stroheim （who had played
Rommel in his Five Graves to Cairo）•
Stroheim was a sadder Hollywood outcast than Norma Desmond• He had been a master director and an unhindered ego once• He had made Greed as a 10─ hour epic• But the system， in the form of Irving Thalberg， had humbled him and cut the picture down to two hours （in which form it remains one of the great silent films）•
Stroheim's career had lurched• But Queen Kelly was to be his comeback ─ a film starring Gloria Swanson and funded by her lover，Joseph Kennedy• But it all went wrong and Gloria had fired Stroheim• By the late 1930s he was washed up as a director• But he was a wandering actor ─ most notably as the prison commandant in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion•
Who better for the humiliated Max， thought Wilder• And he added one
finishing touch： when Norma shows Joe one of her old movies， it's Queen Kelly， with Max working the projector• In the spring and early summer of 1949， they shot Sunset Boulevard， without too much difficulty• Swanson and Holden were as good as Wilder had guessed•
People like Buster Keaton and Hedda Hopper came in for the bridge game• Nancy Olson was the new girl Gillis falls in love with• And the picture opened with Holden talking to the other corpses， and his voice─over leading you into the story•
That summer， they previewed the picture in Evanston， Illinois• As soon as the dead bodies started talking， the audience went into fits of laughter• They never sobered up for the rest of the film• In Poughkeepsie， New York， they got the same reaction•
So the morgue was cut ─ does it exist still， in the Paramount vaults？ ─ and the whole picture was set up on Gillis， face down in Norma's pool， dead， but， like any writer， still pitching his story•
It was a striking image ─ with us， the audience， at the bottom of the pool， looking up at Joe and the cops• Suddenly the tone of the thing worked• There was laughter in the picture， but it was a macabre fairy tale about the magic kingdom•
Months later， at a trade screening， Louis B• Mayer， production head at Metro─Goldwyn─Mayer， railed at Wilder for biting the hand that fed him•
"Fuck you，" said Wilder•
Hollywood rolled over• Mayer was fired a couple of years later• The
system laughed at itself， and became more entranced with its sickly legend• A kind of campness was born• Sunset Boulevard played
beautifully•It always has• It was nominated for 11 Oscars• But it lost in all crucial areas to Joseph Mankiewicz's All About Eve， another warning about actors•
Still， Eve was made from the point of view of a band of brothers and sisters who love theatre and despise Eve Harrington•
Sunset Boulevard is more entrapping• It asks whether Norma is the crazy one• Or Joe• Or us， for falling for such melodrama• That case is not settled yet• And Billy Wilder ─ bless his tricky heart ─ was 93 in June 99 ， and a prize guest at every Hollywood party•
This article was first published in The Independent on Sunday （London）
on April 4， 1999•
相關討論
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__9/2004
也許是他因為演一個小白臉 ，一個不好的編劇，並以喪命為結束的角色不符合他輪廓鮮明的形象。 死亡缺乏尊嚴或風度。 也許是Hibby Holman，那位和他有風流韻事的歌手──她自己將近50歲了──？？們所說的那樣從中作梗。所以Clift退出了和約──他將轉而在"A Place in the Sun"中與Elizabeth Taylor合作演出。
因此停屍房的段落被剪掉了──它還在Paramount的片庫中嗎？──整部影片以Gillis臉朝下死在Norma的游泳池?開始，但是，像所有作家一樣，他還在推銷他的故事。
Mayer一年後被解雇。制片廠體系自己嘲笑自己，並對它病態的 傳說變得更寬闊。一種矯？造作的風格誕生了。"Sunset Boulevard"幹得很漂亮。 它始終在此。 它獲得了11項奧斯卡被提名。但在所有關鍵的獎項上敗給了Joseph Mankiewicz的"All About Eve"， 另一部為演員們報警鐘的影片。