Boulevard! A Hollywood Story – 2021
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story is a 2021 American documentary film by Jeffrey Schwarz. It is the story of Gloria Swanson‘s attempt to adapt a musical version of Billy Wilder‘s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard with composers Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley.
For Gloria Swanson, the iconic star of “Sunset Boulevard,” both the movie and the character of Norma Desmond provided a renewed spotlight. Seeing in Norma a portal back to the stardom she once commanded during her years as an actress in silent pictures, Swanson strategically began efforts to parlay “Sunset Boulevard” into a new phase of her career. Swanson had begun to envision a musical stage adaptation of the film.
Enter, Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley, two struggling songwriters (and romantic couple) looking for their big break. Enamored by the idea of helping Swanson step into the next phase of her career, as well as craving the fame and fortune of writing a Broadway hit, Stapley and Hughes eagerly agree to her proposal. The men find themselves whisked away by Swanson to a sumptuous house in Palm Springs, where the trio set to creating the musical from the ground up. As the days wear on, a triangle begins to take hold that goes beyond mere creative partnership as Hughes and Stapley find their intimate relationship intruded upon by Swanson. In attempting to recreate Swanson’s most famous role, Hughes, Stapley, and the star herself discover that within each of them was a streak of Norma Desmond waiting to catch fire.
Years before Andrew Lloyd Webber would successfully bring his own adaptation of “Sunset Boulevard” to Broadway, Stapley and Hughes completed their own musical vision of Norma’s story. But when the show fails to gain traction with Broadway investors and Paramount Pictures refuses Swanson the rights to “Sunset Boulevard,” the situation the threesome has handled so delicately suddenly explodes. Swanson declares the project as dead as Norma Desmond’s monkey, and rides off into the sunset as only a Hollywood icon can.
Stapley and Hughes find themselves unemployed and at each other’s throats. After parting ways, Hughes continued to compose, while Stapley, ever chasing his star, set off to Europe to act in spaghetti westerns and James Bond rip-offs. For the three individuals who worked so tirelessly on their passion project, the chapter on the “Sunset Boulevard” musical could have officially been closed forever.
…except, just like Norma Desmond, the show hadn’t taken its final bow quite yet.
In the early 1990s, Hughes revitalized the music written by he and Stapley into a cabaret act titled “Swanson on Sunset.” The show not only incorporated the music from the “Sunset Boulevard” musical, but also went further…telling the harrowing story of the failed production itself. An autobiographical ode to a musical moment in his life, Hughes was able to bring a sweet coda to his work all those years prior. The project catches the attention of Richard Stapley, now an aging out of work actor, who makes a sudden return to Hughes’ life to try and get a piece of the action.
From the dark alleys of LA to the desert nirvana of Palm Springs to the posh New York theater world, “Boulevard! A Hollywood Story” is the tale of three individuals who attempt to share a melody with all those people out there in the dark…and how the music of that moment defined the rest of their lives.
Trailer
Gallery
Cast
Muhammad Ali – Self (archive footage)
Steve Allen – Self (archive footage)
Brooke Anderson – Self
Julie Andrews – Self (archive footage)
Cari Beauchamp – Self
Stephen Bock – Self
Carol Burnett – Self (archive footage)
Dick Cavett – Self (archive footage)
Glenn Close – Self (archive footage)
Broderick Crawford – Self (archive footage)
Samm Croft – Self(as Barbara Fixx)
David Del Valle – Self
Ralph Edwards – Self (archive footage)
Alan Eichler – Self
Laurie Franks – Self
Steve Hayes – Self
Bob Hope – Self (archive footage)
Dickson Hughes – Self (archive footage)
Director – Jeffrey Schwarz
Streaming
Can I buy or rent Boulevard! A Hollywood Story on Amazon HERE
as of 21/01/2023 – subject to change
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story – 2021
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story – 2021, Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder, Gloria Swanson, Jeffrey Schwarz, Gay Movies, Gay Cinema, Queer Movies, Gaymen, Muhammad Ali, Steve Allen, Brooke Anderson, Julie Andrews, Cari Beauchamp, Stephen Bock, Carol Burnett, Dick Cavett, Glenn Close, Broderick Crawford, Samm Croft, David Del Valle, Ralph Edwards, Alan Eichler, Laurie Franks, Steve Hayes, Bob Hope, Dickson Hughes
