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- My first name is Gloria,

and I have just finished
a picture at Paramount

called ''Sunset Boulevard.''

SUNSET BOULEVARD

- ''Sunset Boulevard'' is one of

the greatest movies ever made.

- You're Norma Desmond?

SUNSET BOULEVARD

Used to be in silent
pictures, used to be big?

- I am big.

It's the pictures that got small.

- It's a wonderful Hollywood story,

that thing about dealing
with growing older

A HOLLYWOOD STORY

and being discarded, when
you've once been idolized

by millions of people,
and then those millions

don't show up anymore.

- All right, Mr. DeMille,
I'm ready for my close up.

- I don't think anyone
could have played that part

but Gloria Swanson.

And ''Sunset Boulevard''
was her crowning moment.

- I wonder if I might ask
you a personal question?

- Oh, you too?

You wanna know my age?

- Gloria Swanson was only
50, but that was old then.

And after ''Sunset Boulevard,''

no one was asking me to
make another picture.

- She never regained a foothold
after ''Sunset Boulevard,''

but she was wise enough to know

that ''Sunset Boulevard'' was her ticket.

- I will show them, I will be
up there again, so help me!

- So if she could carry that out again

and in a different way,
that would be fabulous.

She was ready to have
that attention again.

- Now I am sure that most
of you remember the story

of the film ''Sunset Boulevard.''

It has to do with Norma Desmond,

who was an aging film star,
whose career has vanished,

and she's desperate to make a comeback.

The fabulous Gloria Swanson herself.

She, for some reason,
developed this mad idea

to adapt her film, ''Sunset
Boulevard,'' as a musical.

And she approached my writing
partner and I to do this.

We were struggling songwriters,

and this was a huge break for us both.

In the movie, Norma has fallen in love

with this young
screenwriter, who she hires

to write her comeback picture.

Norma, of course, has fallen
in love with the young man.

Working together with Gloria Swanson,

something similar was happening.

She was becoming very captivated
by my working partner,

who was also a handsome young writer.

So you had the real life
story of a mature woman,

fascinated by a younger man happening both

in the ''Sunset Boulevard'' storyline,

and in the true life
storyline that we were living.

- We'd all been so close

and it was such a big part of our lives.

It's a story in itself
about three people's lives

and the similarity with the original film.

The whole background
was really quite weird.

BOULEVARD A HOLLYWOOD STORY

- My name's Steve Wilson, I'm the curator

of the film collection at
the Harry Ransom Center

at the University of Texas.

I help students, and scholars,
and researchers like you

find the material that they
need in our collections.

DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER

We have extensive collections
in literature, art,

photography, performing arts, and film.

I take care of the film collection.

Probably the foundation of our collection

is the David O. Selznick archive.

And we also have a lot of actors.

We have Robert De Niro,

and we also have the collection
of actress Gloria Swanson.

She was an early film star.

She was very well known
throughout the world,

WHY CHANGE YOUR WIFE

mostly through the films
of Cecil B. DeMille.

Gloria Swanson was one of
the early women filmmakers

to start her own production company.

She was also into inventions,

and she sponsored immigrants
from Eastern Europe

to come to the United
States to invent things.

She was also into yoga.

She learned yoga from
the guy who brought yoga

to the United States.

I think she was a really
interesting person.

We acquired Gloria Swanson's archive

directly from her in 1980.

It's a large archive,

and she amassed quite a good collection

that covers her entire career,
which is really remarkable.

- So today probably if people
know her, they know her

from her most famous
movie, ''Sunset Boulevard.''

- That's the role that
she's best known for now.

SUNSET BOULEVARD

- I'm really curious to know
if she saved any materials

relating to the musical version

of ''Sunset Boulevard''
that she was planning.

- There are materials related
to ''Boulevard'' in the archive.

These materials include

correspondence with the
collaborators for the musical.

There is sheet music,
there are script materials.

VOICE OF GLORIA SWANSON
I was rehearsing a song

from a new musical review
that Dick Hughes wrote

and should you care to hear
a couple amusing numbers

from the show, well, just turn over.

- I understand there are audio recordings,

reel-to-reel tapes in the collection?

- There are just a treasure trove

of reel-to-reel recordings
of songs that she is singing.

What was the
purpose of these recordings?

- These recordings were
made to lure investors

and to impress the
executives at Paramount,

but these recordings were never intended

to be seen by the public.

- I've been a record
collector all my life,

PUBLICIST AND PRODUCER

so I was kind of aware of
the existence of the tapes.

The entire show was written
by two young writers,

Dickson Hughes, and Richard Stapley.

- We are honored to present
this great personality

of both the silent screen
and the movies of today

in an excerpt from her
forthcoming production,

a musical version of ''Sunset Boulevard,''

written by Dick Hughes
and Richard Stapley.

- Gloria actually performed
the most important song

from their score on ''The
Steve Allen Show'' in '57.

GLORIA SWANSON BIOGRAPHER

- Max, Max?

Well, what are you waiting for?

- Norma Desmond, this aging,
sad,

GRANDDAUGHTER OF FLORIA SWANSON
lonely film star.

- What you're trying to say

is you don't want me to love you.

- She traps this young screenwriter

in her web, and won't let him go.

''Sunset Boulevard'' showed
how complicated love becomes.

And falling in love with this
younger man, I mean, it hurt.

- The audience left 20
years ago, now face it.

- That's a lie, they still want me!

- We were very close,

and I think really had a great
appreciation of one another.

This is
Gloria Swanson speaking.

It so happens that that is my real name.

- So for me, the joy of
being able to talk about her

is not only keeping her alive,

but maybe educating people

about some of the myths
or truths of her life.

- I am not Norma Desmond,
I'm Gloria Swanson.

- This was a role for her, not her life.

She wasn't, as Norma
Desmond, an aging film star,

she was way beyond that.

VOICE OF GLORIA SWANSON
A lot of people ask me if ''Sunset Boulevard''

was my own life, which is rather odd.

They had an idea that it
was perhaps some person

or a combination of
personalities out there,

but I don't actually know of anyone

who lived like Norma Desmond.

- Hey Steve, it's Jeffrey.

- Hi!

- Good morning.

- Can you see my ''Sunset Boulevard''
poster on the wall back there?

YOUTUBE'S TIRED OLD
QUEEN AT THE MOVIES

I watched it twice last night.

It's just the most brilliant screenplay.

And it breaks so many taboos.

Not only throwing the lid off
old Hollywood and showing it

for the gargoyle place that it was,

but also the stigma about an older woman

and a younger man, that was unheard of.

- Turn around darling, let me dry you.

- And you know how this is gonna end.

- Were you aware that Gloria Swanson

attempted to make a musical
version of ''Sunset Boulevard?''

- No, I wasn't aware of that.

This is really interesting
to me because these days,

every movie is made into a musical.

''Legally
Blonde'' is now a singing,

dancing, mega hit musical!

- But, you know, back then in the '50s,

that was very unusual.

Well, how far along did they get with this

and how faithful were
they to the screenplay,

to the dialogue?

Did they get orchestrations
of this musical?

Did they do backer's auditions?

Have you talked with anybody who did

an original read-through
or sing-through of this?

Who were her collaborators on this?

- Two guys named Dickson
Hughes and Richard Stapley.

Have you ever heard of them?

- No.

- Here for Steve.

Thank you.

Hello, hello.
- Hey, how are you?

- Good to see you.

- Good to see you.

Good to see you.
- Thanks for having me.

- I'm glad you could come over.

So what is the Fred
Bock Music Company actually?

Well, it's a
music publishing company.

We do a lot of choir music
for churches and schools,

that's the bulk of what we do.

My dad started the company 50 years ago,

so it's pretty old.

- Well I'm here for a reason.

- Yes, I'm sure.

- You know, and the reason is that

you were close with Richard Stapley.

- Oh, Richard Stapley, yes,
I know Richard Stapley.

Knew Richard Stapley, yes.

And how did Richard
Stapley come into your life?

- Fred Bock Publishing Group.

One day the phone rings in the office,

and my assistant says
there's a English gentleman

on the phone named Richard Stapley,

who says that you are his publisher.

I pick up the phone and introduced myself,

and he introduced
himself, and sure enough,

we're his publisher.

He had some questions about
the songs that he had written

that were in our catalog,
and so I made an arrangement,

PRESIDENT, FRED BOCK MUSIC COMPANY
let's have coffee.

When I first met Richard,

he struck me as being a little disheveled,

in an English professorial sort of way.

And what I thought would be
a 30 minute get to know ya

turned into a three hour conversation.

Richard could tell a story,
there's no question about that.

And Richard had great stories to tell.

And the most fantastical
story of all, of course,

is the story of his attempt to make

the first musical version
of ''Sunset Boulevard.''

I did have a video made.

I had him sit down and tell his story,

and I really didn't have any plan

as to what I was gonna do with it,

I just thought somebody needs to do this.

And we sat on it for
years and years and years,

and then all of a sudden you called me.

You had a gut feeling

that this story needed to be recorded.

- Absolutely.

I just knew that this was something

that was gonna bubble back up.

And if I didn't do it,

if I didn't collect this stuff,

if I didn't get Richard on camera,

the story would go away.

To me, that was wrong.

All right, so here we are, the attic.

This is it.

Somewhere in there is
a Richard Stapley box.

Was there
anything he didn't wanna talk

about in that interview?

- There were some things he
was reluctant to talk about.

He never said, ''I won't talk about it.''

I just knew in my gut, if I
didn't get Richard on camera,

it would all go away.

When we got together in
Pasadena with Richard

and asked him all sorts of
questions about his life,

about his career, and
Richard told the whole story.

Some of it came easily, some
of it did not come easily,

but he told the story.

NOVEMBER 6, 2006
- You want me to look at Tom rather than-

- Look at Jim.
- Look at me.

I just, yeah, carrying a conversation.

- Richard grew up in England,

prior to and during World War II.

MGM signed him with the goal of making him

the English Clark Gable.

He's a very good looking
man, he carries himself well,

he's British, and he can act.

He moves to Hollywood, and his first film

is ''The Three Musketeers.''

- She's laying on the floor.

She's all doubled up.

- Well, it was the extraordinary
coming to Hollywood.

Hollywood sent all these
marvelous films that were magic

and helped us get through
the bad side of life

and to come and be on the same stage

with these people was really unreal.

- I love you so.

LITTLE WOMEN

And even if you don't love me now,

maybe you could learn to.

- They put him in and a number of films

opposite a number of big names

to introduce him to the American market.

- My life was meaningless until I met you.

THE STRANGE DOOR

- Well it couldn't have been going better.

I was feeling confident and
completely at ease and happy,

and I was really on top of the world.

- No mortal man could endure
such a paragon of virtue.

- He did work a lot, but
he was never challenged

FRIEND OF RICHARD STAPLEY

as an actor in those movies at all.

- This information, in
the hands of the Russians,

CHARGE OF THE LANCERS

could turn the tide
of war against us.

- Ultimately, it didn't work.

He didn't become the star
that everybody thought

FRIEND OF ROCHARD STAPLEY
that he was going to be.

The acting didn't really
work out for him at MGM,

and he was, at one point, cut loose.

- Richard was a looker.

Richard was blessed

FRIEND OF RICHARD STAPLEY

with a very photogenic face.

Very handsome, very macho, very gay.

He, like everybody else, kind of hid it.

It was so unbelievably difficult

to have been gay in the '50s.

- You hate us so.

I should think you'd be
glad to get rid of us.

- No one knew, 'cause
no one wanted to know.

- Richard's whole career had been one

of being the leading man.

As far as the public was
concerned, he was a straight guy.

But, obviously there
was more to that story.

You'd done
film, you'd done stage.

Where were you at that point,
when you met Dickson Hughes?

- How did I meet Dickson Hughes?

Yeah.

- He was, oh, I can't
answer this, I'm sorry.

I just can't answer.

Hello?

UNEARTHED INTERWIV WITH DICKSON HUGHES
Oh yes, I'm calling for Mr. Dickson Hughes.

Well it is him.

- Yes, Mr.
Hughes, I'm writing a book

about the making of ''Sunset Boulevard''

from film to your musical version.

Oh my God!

Are you shocked?

What in the,
what inspired you to do that?

- Dickson Hughes was a piano player

who sang and wrote songs.

And he supported himself
by working bars or lounges.

- I just love Dickson Hughes.

He just naturally had a gift.

Wonderful performer, and
composer, and pianist.

FRIEND OF DICKSON HUGHES
He just makes it seem so easy.

Everything he does, he's so relaxed.

Richard
Stapley, S-T-A-P-L-E-Y?

Right, Stapley
rather than Staply.

Was my
collaborator at the time,

and I was really the principle creator.

He was the idea person, and
also he had, occasionally,

some good critical assessments to make.

I'm intrigued as
to why Mr. Stapley vanished.

Can you tell me a bit about that?

- Richard had been married
for a couple of years

and the relationship was
not going well at all.

He and his wife decided

to see if they could
patch up their marriage.

And so they drove up the California coast

and stopped in Monterrey.

And in the bar was a
gentleman playing piano

and singing songs.

Dickson Hughes, who was the
piano player at the hotel.

Richard saw him across the room.

And the moment that he saw
Dickson, it was electric.

He knew his marriage was over,

and that guy at the piano
was who he needed to be with.

At the time, you couldn't
say, ''We're a couple,''

and so they told everybody that
they were writing partners.

And that worked out conveniently

because Dickson was a very good composer,

and Richard was a very good lyricist.

And so they started writing songs.

♪ I belong to the restless breed ♪

- The musical person

who had the real musical
talent, was Dickson.

And I could communicate
very, very closely to him,

even though I couldn't write music.

There was something between the two of us

that did make things work.

I was always intensely
interested in musicals.

We came up with an idea for
a show called ''About Time.''

It was based on Time Magazine.

- The big question was
who's gonna play the lead

in ''About Time,'' which was the editor,

and that was to be a woman?

And somebody said,

you really should go talk to
Gloria Swanson about this.

- Tonight, we go after
the profile of a legend,

THE MIKE WALLACE INTERVIEW

the story of one of Hollywood's
most spectacular links

with its glamorous heyday,
the story is Gloria Swanson.

This is what she looked
like in the fabulous '20s,

when she made a reported
million dollars a year

as a super-seductive sex symbol

in films like ''Male and
Female,'' and ''Zaza.''

She was then called the most
glamorous woman in the world.

Women copied her hairstyle

and her seductive, come hither look,

and she's sold more
tickets than Valentino.

Today, Ms. Swanson is a legend
within her own lifetime.

An opinionated woman with
an unpredictable future

and a sensational past.

- What I think we need to understand

about when Gloria Swanson came to fame,

FILM HISTORIAN
95% of all Americans lived within 15 miles

of where they'd been born.

They knew nothing about
the rest of the world.

When the movie theater came to town,

they could walk around the corner

and there was the world on this screen.

And then all of a sudden, walks
out this gorgeous creature

with furs, and jewels,

and clearly here's a woman

who has been around the
block more than once.

STAGE STRUCK

And I like to think of
the young woman sitting

in that audience going,

''I've finally found my kindred soul.''

And Gloria Swanson, more than anyone else,

represented that sense of possibility.

Imagine what that was like.

VOICE OF GLORIA SWANSON
- And I've always believed

that the screen should be
an auditorium of escape,

a dream world.

This is what I think women want.

And it was she who made the pictures

so well-known not only in
America, but throughout the world.

And most of these pictures
allowed people to escape

through romance and love.

And I have a hunch that
romance and love are not dead.

- Gloria Swanson was certainly
one of the greatest stars

FILM HISTORIAN
of the silent film era.

There was something about her
that was just made for films.

And she's always
interesting-looking and provocative.

From
the silent days to sound

in the late '20s, the talkies arrived,

did you believe that sound
films were gonna take over?

Yes, I did, very much so.

Well,
your first talking picture

was '' The Trespasser,'' right?

- That's correct, yes.

It's Marion!

THE TRESPASSER

Jack, it's Marion.

FILM HISTORIAN
- Her silent films resonated a stardom

that could not be upheld in talkies.

GLORIA SWANSON IN INDISCREET

- Tomorrow, when I return to Budapest,

TONIGHT OR NEVER

I shall carry with me
the memory of this night

and of you.

Her sound movies
were not successful.

- Gloria was in that in-between stage.

She was 30-something,

but no vehicle could be found

that could use her successfully.

- I wish I had known it
was going to end this way.

INDISCREET

- And at that point, no film
offers were forthcoming.

And Gloria was pretty much out of work.

But Gloria still lived like a star.

She was Gloria Swanson, after all.

So she had find some way
to maintain that lifestyle.

- What she did was move
to New York in 1940

and sort of reinvented herself.

You know, Gloria,

seeing you in Macy's
Department store the other day

with all those people flocking around you

asking for your autograph,

made me certain they would
flock to see your next picture

or tune in when you broadcast.

As far as I'm concerned,
you're still box office.

- Gloria Swanson was famous for
being herself at that point.

Gloria Swanson became the character.

And she always had the aura of a big star,

even though she wasn't
making a lot of movies.

- And she adored that.

She adored being adored.

She would do whatever she needed to do.

- The Crown Jewel is
so dainty and feminine,

yet it shaves so close and fast.

THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD
OF ESSENCE OF NATURE

She's got her own cosmetic line.

How do you manage

to keep such a beautiful complexion?

- She has her own clothes line.

- Once Hollywood's top of the star,

Gloria is now a top dress designer.

- She's designing these clothes,

clothes for the average woman

who really longs for couture.

She never hesitated to
take the next opportunity.

Television is coming in.

- Gloria Swanson!

- She was the cover girl
on the very first TV Guide.

THE GLORIA SWANSON HOUR

She agreed to do this
talk show in New York.

That's what she was doing

when Billy Wilder found
her for ''Sunset Boulevard.''

- You've made a rope of words
and strangled this business,

SUNSET BOULEVARD

but there's a microphone right
there to catch the last gurgles,

and Technicolor to photograph
the red swollen tongue.

- Initially, Gloria's part was not as big,

but they became more enamored
with her and her ability

and what she brought to the part.

Norma Desmond was created in process.

- Everything that's in ''Sunset Boulevard''

is mirrored in her life.

- And remember darling,

I don't work before 10 in the morning

and never after 4:30 in the afternoon.

- She put it all out there
to create Norma Desmond.

She was willing to show herself

in a way that anybody with
a different kind of pride

never would have allowed
themselves to be characterized.

Gloria never would have thought

about how it was gonna
reflect on her in real life.

- Now, I didn't know you
were planning a comeback.

- I hate that word, it's a return!

A retur to the millions of people

who've never forgiven me
for deserting the screen.

Gloria Swanson,
one of the great personalities

of this generation, in a role

that comes to an actress
once in a lifetime.

- When she finally hit the
jackpot with ''Sunset Boulevard,''

it rejuvenated her career.

- Ms. Gloria Swanson!

- She got a kind of fresh start.

She really allowed herself

to become a movie star a second time.

The most famous
movie star of them all,

the answer is glorious Gloria.

Hollywood is at her feet.

- She was nominated for best
actress for ''Sunset Boulevard,''

and it was absolutely expected
that she was gonna win.

- The nominations for
the best actress are,

THE 23RD ACADEMY
AWARDS MARCH 29,1951

Ms. Anne Baxter in ''All
About Eve'' 20th Century Fox.

Ms. Betty Davis, ''All About
Eve'' 20th Century Fox.

Ms. Judy Holliday in ''Born
Yesterday,'' Columbia.

Eleanor Parker in
''Caged,'' Warner brothers.

And Ms. Gloria Swanson in
''Sunset Boulevard,'' Paramount.

The winner is Judy Holliday.

- Gloria really thought
this was finally her year.

She really wanted the approval

and the acknowledgement
that she was still there.

- There weren't a lot of
opportunities for her in film,

because all that hit

right at the time when she was of an age,

when it would be very
difficult to cast her anyway.

That was wonderful,

and it was a magic, wonderful picture.

I wept when it was over.

I sort of knew, I guess,
there'd be nothing to follow it,

perhaps there never will be.

- I don't think Gloria
Swanson could ever get away

from Norma Desmond the rest of her life.

She was so identified with Norma Desmond.

In the people's minds
she was Norma Desmond,

to the point that she wasn't
being offered other things.

Well, are
you through with Hollywood?

Following Sunset-

- Now, wait a minute, am
I through with Hollywood

or are they through with me?

We told her
that we had this property.

A musical review called ''About Time''

that we'd like to have her listen to.

She sent us a telegram
with her phone number.

Turns out that she was, at that
time, house guesting in LA.

- She was staying at a friend's
house on Mulholland Drive,

a very glamorous Japanese mansion.

It was 10 minutes, I suppose,
before she made her entrance,

and when she did, her
entrance was dramatic.

It was with a steaming cup of liquid.

We had taken the content of
the review to play it for her.

Visualize the stage setting

representing open pages of a magazine.

For the moment, only one side is lighted,

and there, we see a beautiful model

posing in a brassiere ad.

She thought
that sounded like a role

that she would have fun with,

but she had just recently

had a very bad experience in New York.

She had done a play called ''Nina,''

which was just blasted by the critics,

and they didn't much like her.

And she was still smarting from the wounds

of some unkind, critical response.

She said she just would never, ever

do anything on Broadway again.

- So I said, well, this
is the end of that.

And then she said, ''Unless
somebody could come up

''with an idea of making 'Sunset
Boulevard' into a musical.''

Well, the minute
she said that, of course,

we got very excited and said,
oh my god, what a thought.

We said, let us think about
this and get back to you.

BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY

Next morning, we got up, Stapley and I,

just wildly excited about
this incredible project

that we might get involved with.

Felt that show needed a moment

at the very beginning to show
who this woman really is,

and he had a great idea,

and that was to do this number

based on her next to
last line in the film.

- There's nothing else, just us.

And the cameras.

And those wonderful people
out there in the dark.

So I sat down at the piano,

and I started just noodling.

Those wonderful people
out there in the dark.

It's an absolute full disclosure

of who and what this woman really is

underneath her neurosis and her madness.

Drive back up to the house the next day,

and we said, what do you think of this?

- I was on this side,
and Gloria was that side,

and here is Dickson playing
on his piano, our music.

GLORIA SWANSON SING ''WONDERFUL PEOPLE''
♪ However they flatter ♪

♪ I'll still be out where ♪

♪ The people who matter ♪

♪ The people who care ♪

♪ Are the ones who silently give me ♪

♪ That magical spark ♪

♪ Those wonderful people ♪

♪ Out there in the dark ♪

In that song,

there was something
extraordinary captured.

FROM BOULEVARD! DEMO TAPES

I just want to tell you all
how happy I am to be back in the studio,

making a picture again.

You don't know how much
I've missed you all.

- It was really very, very moving

because that part was everything

that she'd ever dreamed about.

If only I could do this every night.

That was the last thing
when she got off the set.

She was always thinking of those people

out in the dark that never let me down.

She called Paramount.

She called her pal there
was a man named DA Duran.

He was an old chum from her Paramount days

who was in a responsible
position there at the studio.

She called him up, she
says, ''DA, this is Gloria.

''Now listen, I want
you to hear something,''

and she put the phone out to me,

and I'm there sitting at the piano

so I started to do the song.

And I could hear his voice

going like, ''Gloria, what is this?''

So after I finished the
first section of the song,

she said, ''Isn't that brilliant?''

And he said, ''Well, it's very
interesting, what is it?''

So then she said, well,

she met these two brilliant young men,

and we had the marvelous thought

of doing a Broadway musical
based on ''Sunset Boulevard,''

and what did she need
to do to get the rights?

- She decided that she and I
should go down to Paramount

and meet DA Duran.

She said, ''Don't worry, you know,

''I've known DA Duran forever

''and he always gives
me everything I want.''

We'd gone down to Paramount,
and I was all dressed up,

and she was really dressed up

with a veil and everything else.

We got down to the studio,
they opened the gates.

And we drove in in the car,

and then suddenly Gloria
became really Gloria Swanson.

- And teach your friend some manners.

Tell him without me, he
wouldn't have any job,

because without me, there
wouldn't be any Paramount Studio.

- You're right, Ms. Desmond.

- And it was so marvelous
to see this professional

take over the private in that one moment.

They certainly
were most enthusiastic,

and there was an option
granted for one year.

It was always her personal
assurance from DA Duran.

Gloria, don't worry, it's
all okay, it'll be fine.

Just a very personal reassurance.

Probably as much as anything

just not wanting to make her unhappy.

- Well, it wasn't given in per se,

I mean it was given very, very casually.

Nothing really appeared to
be hard and fast signed.

It was always okay to go ahead,

as long as we approve the numbers.

We were commissioned by her

to do this adaptation.

She did have at the time
a very rich boyfriend

who was madly devoted to her

and would help her in any way he could

to foot some of the bills.

- And for the next three months,
they were in Palm Springs

writing ''Sunset Boulevard.''

- Well, at our age we were very impressed

to be staying in Palm Springs

in this lyrical kind of place,

which was wonderful to create in.

And she was like a child she was so happy

because she felt
everything was going right.

GLORIA SWANSON'S LETTER
TO FANS FEBRUARY.1955

If you haven't heard the good news,
let me tell you that ''Sunset Boulevard''

is now in the throes of being written

into a musical for the stage.

I can barely contain myself.

Another wish has been granted me,

and I am truly blessed.

MAPS! MAPS! MAPS!
♪ We assure every tour ♪

♪ Shows all studios both
well known and obscure ♪

UNTITLED LOVE STORY
♪ Where am I ♪

♪ In this some type of love story ♪

♪ Where's the part ♪

♪ For me ♪

STAY CLOSE
♪ Stay close ♪

♪ As a swift wave is close to the sea ♪

- Gloria did not go to
Rodgers and Hammerstein

and commission this musical.

Instead, she took two unknown
songwriters just starting out,

and thought she would get

a Broadway quality score out of it.

DOORS ARE CLOSED
♪ The doors are closed ♪

♪ Where's the key ♪

I first saw ''Sunset Boulevard''

when it first was released in 1950.

It was a wonderful movie experience,

but it never occurred to me that
it should have songs added to it.

- There was a time in this business

when they had the eyes
of the whole wide world,

but that wasn't good
enough for them, oh no.

They had to have the
ears of the world, too.

So they opened their big mouths,

and out came talk, talk, talk!

They once had the eyes
of the world, but no,

TALK! TALK! TALK!
that just wouldn't do.

But the eyes
of the world are not enough

if you don't have the world's ears, too.

They all
agree that talk's a thing

they could not do without,

so they opened up their big mouths

and look what came out.

♪ But you've got to
have talk, talk, talk ♪

♪ Chatter, chatter, chatter ♪

♪ Talk, talk, talk ♪

♪ Frill, and sass, and patter ♪

♪ Loud, distracting, strident and rough ♪

♪ But pantomime acting isn't enough ♪

- No?
- No!

♪ Talk, talk, talk ♪

''Sunset Boulevard'' doesn't
immediately lent itself

to the idea of the Broadway stage

because the film itself is very dark.

The story remained the same,

but restructuring the storyline

to make it a theatrical
piece rather than a film

was a tremendous amount
of reworking the material.

- We didn't need dialogue, we had faces.

So the Broadway
of the 1950s, you're saying,

was not as suitable, necessarily,

to this kind of dark material?

''I COULD HAVE DANCE ALL
NIGHT'' FROM MY FAIR LADY

♪ I could've danced all night ♪

- The depths and madness
of ''Sunset Boulevard,''

musically that really wasn't

what show tunes did at that point.

There might've been power,
and passion, and yearning.

There were a lot of emotions

ETHEL MERMAN IN GYPSY

that '50s Broadway could encompass,

but Billy Wilder himself had said,

DIRECTOR, SUNSET BOULEVARD

''Oh no, it shouldn't be a musical.
It should be an opera.''

A mad scene's perfectly
appropriate in that.

THE TRESPASSER
♪ Lo, your magic spell is everywhere ♪

♪ Lo, I knew you well and found you fair ♪

Ms. Swanson,
how important to you is music?

Oh, I can't live without it.

LOVE YOUR SPELL IS EVERYWHERE

I don't know one note from another.

I don't even know which key I sing in.

I wanted to be an opera singer,

but somehow I got waylaid

and I got on the merry-go-round
of the picture business,

and couldn't get off.

♪ Way ♪

- Everything was going beautifully

when we went to Palm Springs.

It was fun, it was
hilarious, it was a joy.

She was very, very friendly,

and basically she had this sweet quality.

She laughed easily, if you
told something amusing.

She was an extraordinary person.

She was interested in
so many things in life.

I remembered really the
sweetness of Gloria,

and the understanding of humanity.

But as soon as she knew there was a chance

of doing Norma Desmond every night,

she became more and more Norma Desmond.

And less and less Gloria Swanson.

One day I can remember
that she was on her knees,

and she had all the
photographs of her past

spread on the floor.

When friends came round,
she'd show her old films.

You know, they must've seen it 100 times.

Gloria said to me this one day,

''Let's go out someplace.''

And I said, ''Well, where
do you want to go?''

And she said, ''Indio.''

So we went to Indio.

We might've had a date
milkshake on the way,

'cause they do have good ones.

INDIO FEED & GENERAL

And we got into Indio,

and we went past one of
those feeding stores.

And she said, ''Oh my god, look!''

And I said, ''What?''

She said, ''Those baby
chicks, they're so cute.''

CHICKS FOR SALE

She said, ''Let's buy three.

''One for you, one for Dick, one for me.''

So she went in and had three
chicks bagged to take home.

I said, ''Gloria, what are
we gonna do with 'em?''

So, we got back, she made
her entrance for dinner.

And when she did, it was dramatic.

There was Gloria in her Balenciaga gown,

and stiletto shoes, and
looking magnificent.

And then suddenly, a sort of
screech and a yell from her.

She had trodden on one of the chickens

with her stiletto shoes.

And it was dead.

She said, ''Oh my god, why do
I kill everything I love?''

She said, ''Well, we're
gonna have to bury it.''

Indeed, she put on a veil,

and we sort of formed a procession.

What anyone might've thought

to see this procession going
down to the end of the garden,

and ceremoniously burying this chick.

So then we started to be
really a little edgy, I think.

I was a bit concerned, you
know, I mean I really was.

I thought, this is just weird.

- As the writing and the development

of ''Sunset Boulevard''
the musical happened,

the tension is starting to
build between the three of them.

And she was fully aware

that Dickson and Richard
were in a relationship.

- There was no mystery

that Richard and Dickson were a couple.

Gloria knew that the moment

that they walked into
her house on Mulholland.

What was happening at this time, though,

was that Gloria was starting

to have romantic
inclinations towards Richard,

who she knew was in a
relationship with Dickson.

It was all very queer,

but queerer things were yet to come.

- Romance has to do with moonlight,

it has to do with poetry,

it has to do with dancing,

it has to do with things

that are away from that quick business

of ''Darling, I love you, goodbye.

''I'm off to make that dollar.''

- Grandma was romantic.

HUSBAND NO1

She liked men very much.

HUSBAND NO2

She fell in love easily,

HUSBAND NO3

and met terrific men,

HUSBAND NO4

but didn't stay married very long.

HUSBAND NO5

She was very independent,

and just kind of wanted things her way,

so I'm not sure that worked well

in a male-female relationship.

- She loved the idea of being in love,

but I don't know how often she really was.

She spent so much time
portraying characters,

and so little time living real life.

She'd made a lot of movies
where the boy and the girl

get together, and they
live happily ever after.

And that just never seemed
to work for her in real life.

- At the end of the three
months in Palm Springs,

they had basically written the show.

They had written about 20 or 25 songs.

They had reshaped the script
to make it work on the stage,

and they felt like they
really had something to show.

And so what they determined

was they really needed to go to New York

to find financial backing,

to find a producer, to find a director,

if they were gonna get this thing done.

And so, the troupe moved to
New York from Los Angeles

with hopes of putting
the show on Broadway.

Gloria was already there.

She was in her apartment on Park Avenue,

and Dickson and Richard stayed with her.

- Coming in contact really
with Gloria Swanson,

it was complicated.

Unexplained, unintended
matters become uncontrollable.

Of course, she was an attractive woman.

I just thought, what would
happen if I took her in my arms,

and, you know, where would that lead?

- Happy New Year, darling.

- And so click, then I
thought how dangerous.

Oh, it would've been disaster.

So it didn't happen?

- No.

But it was in her mind, and in my mind.

- Clearly she wanted more

than what Richard was willing to give,

and because she's Gloria Swanson,

she was used to getting what she wanted.

- Richard was very handsome.

He was used to working
people to get what he wanted.

FRIEND OF RICHARD STAPLEY
I think that was the way he lived.

Dickson saw what was going on,

so it must have been very strange.

- By this time, I just wanted to get out.

It was awkward staying at home,

and it was affecting my own private life,

and I was beginning to not know me.

It was affecting the
relationship with Dickson.

He was a sort of level person.

I mean, he wasn't a
rebel like I tend to be.

I remember the time that angered her

when I just had to get out
of the house, and be myself.

I just literally
disappeared into New York.

I didn't want to go anywhere,

I just wanted to be with human beings.

And that was rebellion.

I was gone for quite a long time,

and I came back like about
three o'clock in the morning.

And there was Gloria.

It was like icicles were hanging down.

She was very upset.

It was at that time that I thought

the show is not gonna go on.

- Gloria lost interest
if it was unrequited,

and Stapley rejecting her,

that started the loss of interest,

not necessarily in the
project, but in him.

- Richard and Dickson had been
there for a couple of weeks,

and they'd been working this show out,

and they'd been pitching it around,

and they're getting interest in the show.

They've got some financial
backers that are very interested

in talking to Gloria.

They finally got Robert Fryer,

who was one of the biggest
producers at the time.

She proceeded to call Paramount,

and spoke to somebody there,

but they weren't taken seriously.

And they told her that she
couldn't get the rights

to do the musical.

- They just said no.

And she said, ''Paramount told me

''I had not renewed the rights.''

And funny enough, there
never really were any rights.

It was all kind of wishy-washy.

I mean, I supposed I should
have been caring enough

to say well, let's see the contracts,

but you feel if she waves
a wand that it's safe.

It was the end of the world.

It all blew up.

- Was it the thing that had her attention

for a period of time?

Yes, and when you had Gloria's attention,

you had her attention.

And she would be very much into

making this into an actuality.

But, she lived a multitude
of lives in those years.

''WHAT'S THE ANSWER''
FROM BOULEVARD!

♪ The lovely things that fate invents ♪

♪ Have puzzled me before ♪

I don't know how
much she would've

thought about it
after it was over.

If it didn't happen, she
was onto something else.

♪ He walked in here without a warning ♪

♪ Flashing his charming boyish grin ♪

♪ And suddenly the twilight
seems bright as morning ♪

♪ How did this all begin ♪

- Dickson and I, we were hardly speaking.

The laughter and the closeness
we'd had was all gone,

and I said, ''Dickson, this
is separation and giving up

''the collaboration, and
the whole thing is sunk.''

♪ What's the answer ♪

♪ I feel like falling ♪

♪ But then my mind tells me ♪

♪ I'll have to pay ♪

♪ I know I should resist ♪

♪ But he's all I'm dreaming of ♪

♪ So what's the answer ♪

♪ It's love ♪

So did you lose contact then

with Hughes and with
Swanson in this period?

- Well, let's say...

This was the beginning of the bad times.

We're now at
cruising altitude, 35,000 feet.

Indications are that our
arrival at London Airport

may be ahead of schedule.

- I went back to England,
and I disappeared.

What am I doing now?

I haven't acted a film, my
agent doesn't know where I am.

I had to get back into my own
stratosphere, my own life,

my own career, I mean a lot
of damage was done to it.

And then, an extraordinary thing happened.

I was signed to do a leading part

in a television series,
''Man from Interpol.''

And this is a story

of the ''Man from Interpol.''

- I was really quite thrilled about it.

My name is Smith, I'm with Interpol.

Just try something
like that again

and I'll put a bullet
through your leg.

He's committed murder.

That's what I want him for.

I don't think I've ever had an assignment

I've wanted more to solve.

- And all of a sudden,
for the next 25 years,

he works consistently under
the name Richard Wyler.

And Richard Stapley ceases to exist.

He did a number of movies in Europe,

a lot of spaghetti westerns,

and he also became a
professional motorcycle driver,

and won championships.

Richard first
raced in the United States,

but the tracks of England

have seen most of his driving skills.

He'll be soon racing
off to the film studios

to outwit the international crooks.

But you'll agree with us, no doubt,

that no one can say of Richard Wyler,

''I bet he's a softy in real life.''

Now that the
guest on our show tonight

is somebody who struts your screens

as the man from Interpol,
Mr. Richard Wyler.

- I'm going to call Elizabeth Wyler.

She was married to Richard
for quite some time,

and I don't know really what
to expect out of this call.

NO MUTUAL CONTACTS

SAY HI

Hey Elizabeth, it's Jeffrey,
can you hear me okay?

Yeah, I heard that, I heard,

I can hear ya now.

You're crystal
clear right now, perfect.

Okay, yeah.

- If you have some time to talk with me,
I just have lots of questions.

I'll answer
as best I can, Jeffrey.

I'll just spill the beans.

Can we start
from the beginning?

After I came to England,

I decided I really liked it here,

and really wanted to live here.

I was in my early thirties,

and I thought, well
it's time to get married

so I could stay in England.

He was the only person I knew in London,

and so we decided to get married.

He was devastatingly attractive,

and I thought, uh-oh, this is dangerous.

He was gorgeous, and people were envious

of my handsome husband,

and so we lived quite
little glamorous lives.

I was going off with Richard
when he was making films.

I went to Rio with him when he made

the first one he made down there,

''Dick Smart,'' I think it was called.

The second film he made in
Brazil was ''The Girl from Rio.''

- Don't be nasty.

Daddy doesn't like it.

THE GIRL FROM RIO

It was
not a first rate movie

by any stretch of the imagination,

but in Rio, they vied for our company.

Down there, he was a movie star.

In the '70s, by this time
he was no spring chicken,

so he had bit parts.

One in an Alfred
Hitchcock movie,

FRENZY

And one in a Michael Winner movie.

SCORPIO

CONNECTING ROOMS
- Excuse me, please.

He could've
gone on working comfortably,

doing small roles,

and been okay, made a living.

But he didn't want to play bit parts.

They weren't good enough for him.

He just ended up, unfortunately,

in the place where youth and
good looks are so important,

when you become old, it doesn't
work out that way anymore.

He presented himself as a very macho man.

MAN FROM INTERPOL FINS A BRIDE

But, there was always Richard's
sexuality to consider.

Which was never discussed.

I'm a Scorpio, and we're very intuitive.

I didn't question Richard.

He knew that I knew.

There were a hell of a lot
of married gay men around,

as you must well know.

It was more of a friendship
than a deep love affair.

- Richard never confessed to having

a homosexual relationship with
anyone other than Dickson.

In fact, if one were to ask him,

''Are you gay, Richard?''

He would say, ''No.''

He had a way of reinventing himself.

He invented himself as this
no-name kid, Richard Stapley,

into Richard Stapley the actor.

He then reinvented Richard
Stapley into Richard Wyler,

and then he reinvented Richard Wyler

back into Richard Stapley.

His mind was able to compartmentalize that

and just put it away.

We had
some good times together

VOICE OF ELIZABETH WYLER
in the early days,

but the last few encounters with Richard

had not been that pleasant.

I couldn't go on like we were going on.

We weren't living together anymore,

and it was never a right,
that's it, we're finished.

I said, ''Richard, if you want a divorce,

''you just send me the
papers and I'll sign them.''

Nothing ever came of it,

so we never divorced.

- Hello?
- Hello, Dickson?

Oh, how are you?

Is this a good time
to chat for a little while?

Sure.

Is there anything
else that comes to mind

about Gloria Swanson, or about
your years working with her?

I realize I've pumped you absolutely dry

for every detail.

Yeah, of
course, because it was

such a major event in my life.

You know, I scarcely, I'm hardly
likely to forget anything.

Yes, what's the
next episode in this long saga?

Then came
the invitation for her

to do the song on ''The Steven Allen Show.''

I was living in Malibu at
the time, and she called me.

She said she was gonna do the song,

''Those Wonderful People
Out There in the Dark,''

and would I come to New York

and supervise the staging of the number?

And I said of course I will.

- And the story, as most
of you know, I suppose,

of Norma Desmond, the
great star of silent films

who tries to make a comeback,

and she is coached,
you remember the story,

by her former director,
Max, who's now her butler.

When we got
the number on its feet,

the actor that they had hired to play Max

was not getting the lines right,

and finally she, and again
movie star temperament,

said, ''Well, he's not getting it

''and Dickson knows all the lines,

''so why don't we just have
him do the lines off camera?''

So she had the guy fired,

so they had me play Max.

- Oh it's no use, Max, I loathe the scene.

It's too long, far too many words!

Here.

Now Norma, be reasonable.

You want to be back
there again, don't you?

- Of course I want to.

Well then, stop fighting it.

- Oh Max, it's all those words.

I used to be able to express
every expression with my face.

What did you do

with all the pages of music and lyrics?

What did I do with it?

I put it in a file folder and put it away.

I had to get on with
my life and my career.

After we did ''The Steve Allen Show,''

she suggested that I leave California

to come and relocate
to New York, so I did.

TONIGHT A MUSICAL CARNIVAL

♪ Let it be known, I'm a native ♪

♪ I found my home, I'm a native ♪

When I got to New York, I had various jobs

playing in various supper clubs
and hotel cocktails lounges.

♪ Stay close ♪

♪ Every moment ♪

I'd become music director for
a show called ''Talent 59,''

and that led to my whole
career as a musical conductor

for stock companies, and
touring companies, and so on.

♪ Stay close ♪

So I was busy.

♪ Stay close ♪

I stayed in New York until 1983.

By that time, New York had changed.

It was a much more abrasive place

than it had been when I first arrived.

I could not see myself getting to be

a really old person living
in that dreadful climate.

And so, I moved back to Los Angeles.

♪ That wonderful silence ♪

GLORIA SWANSON SINGS
''WONDERFUL PEOPLE''

♪ Comes over the sets ♪

♪ And there are those faces ♪

♪ I'll never forget ♪

She really
kept it alive in her head

and in her emotion.

She had the master copy,

and I know that she used to get it out

almost every time she
would have anybody over

for dinner or cocktails
to play it for them.

It's really
rather heartbreaking.

It never died for her.

That's right,
it never did, absolutely.

- There was a wonderful era

in the world of entertainment

before television, before
talkies, a magic world.

I'd love to have you enjoy it with me

as it comes again to life in my memory.

- Our very special guest star this evening

is Ms. Gloria Swanson.

- Here's a lovely lady,
Ms. Gloria Swanson.

- One thing about my grandma
that I loved so much,

she was always in the present,
always forward-thinking.

- The election is coming up, you know,

and really and truly this is important.

- She was just active.

She was able to move through life so well.

She was a wonderful role model.

- Today, now, this is all we have.

This is eternity.

- That curiosity, that spark in her,

her mind just never stopped.

- There is nothing
practically in a tin can

that doesn't have sugar in it.

- She was current on
absolutely everything.

- Ms. Swanson, what is the
secret of your eternal youth?

AIRPORT 1975

- Well, I just take natural food.

I will not have poison
food, I don't like it.

- And she was so gracious to her fans.

She was extremely
appreciative of her audience.

- I certainly am beholden to the public

who've given me a wonderful life.

I have no complaints,

and I don't understand why I'm so blessed.

Thank you, Gloria Swanson.

Goodbye, and lots of love

to all of you wonderful
people out there in the dark.

- Grandma was in the
hospital and was sick,

and almost at her end.

It was Easter Sunday night,

and Grandma was asleep.

She woke up and I said,

''Oh Grams, it's Brooke
and I'm here to see you.

And she said, ''I love you so much.''

And that was the last words she ever said.

I had that moment, and
it meant so much to me.

TEN YEARS LATER...

In London tonight,

Andrew Lloyd Weber's newest musical,

''Sunset Boulevard,'' premiered
to rapturous applause.

When it was first announced

that Lloyd Weber was gonna do this,

I thought, wait a minute!

GLENN CLOSE AS NORMA DESMOND
- I am big.

It's the pictures that got small!

I really didn't
want to see the show,

because I had been so
close to the property

for such a long time that to see

what somebody else had done

was just more than I was
prepared to cope with.

- The best new musical of 1995 goes to

1995 TONY AWARDS

''Sunset Boulevard.''

I don't want
to sound like a sore loser,

but I felt, oh well, just
one more disappointment

in this whole long saga.

♪ With one look ♪

♪ I can break your heart ♪

♪ With one look ♪

♪ I play every part ♪

- ''Sunset Boulevard'' was gonna be opening

at the Shubert in Los
Angeles with Glenn Close.

And the Times did a huge feature story

on Andrew Lloyd Weber,
and how brilliant he was

to come up with this idea,

as if nobody had ever
thought of it before.

''WITH ONE LOOK'' BY
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER

So I wrote a short letter to the editor

saying that it had been done before,

that Gloria Swanson herself
had commissioned a version

with Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley.

And they printed the letter,

and about a week or so
later I got a phone call

from Dickson Hughes, saying
that he had read my letter

and he'd called information
and got my number.

So we arranged to have lunch.

When I met Dickson, he
started telling me the story

about the triangle, and
how it all unfolded.

As Dickson was telling me all this,

a light bulb went off in my head.

I started thinking, gee,

maybe we could do something with this.

And I said to him, let's
make the real story

of he, and Gloria Swanson,
and Richard as a musical.

And we'll use the songs from the show,

and make it about the
writing of the musical.

The Andrew Lloyd Weber
version hadn't opened yet,

and I thought gee, wouldn't it be great

if we could get this version on first,

and beat the other one?

SWANSON ON SUNSET
A MUSICAL MEMOIR

BY DICKSON HUGHES

And I thought
that was such a great idea

that I went ahead and did it.

That was how we came to
produce ''Swanson on Sunset.''

- God smiled on us, and
beckoned us to play our parts.

I'm in Lucasville, Ohio
visiting my mother.

The phone was ringing when
I got there, it was Dickson.

He said, ''Remember when I mentioned

''Swanson on Sunset'' to you?

I think you could do that.

He said, ''I've got some money
now, and we're gonna start.''

It's going to be Norma Desmond's salary,

a Norma Desmond production
starring Norma Desmond!

I enjoyed doing it very, very much.

- Miss Swanson, this is Richard Stapley.

- The role was going to be
that of Richard Stapley.

I auditioned for it.

I waited for a call, I got a call,

and they said yeah, we'd
love to have ya in the show.

- Good evening, and welcome.

I performed in it playing
myself 30 years ago.

- He was obviously too
old to be playing himself,

but I thought since he's the real person,

that would justify it.

- How do you do mister-

- Hughes, Dickson Hughes.

- It was a little odd that Dickson

is probably pushing 60 at this point.

And this guy who's playing
his former boyfriend

is nowhere near his contemporary,

so it was sort of like a vanity production

of a vanity production
of a vanity production.

- Who could resist?

All they have to do is look at you.

To tell the truth, the
first time I saw you.

- There was an age difference there

when we played some of the scenes.

But, he really wanted to tell the story

from his own eyes,
voice, and vantage point.

- ''Sunset Boulevard'' as a musical?

Said it would never happen.

I wasn't in contact

with Stapley at all at this point.

VOICE OF DICKSON HUGHES

He just pulled away from our relationship.

He just withdrew,

and how many years,
it's been 25 or 30 years

I guess since I've seen him.

- I never thought about Richard.

He was like a name in the script.

It didn't occur to me that
there was a real person,

but on opening night at the
Cinegrill, he showed up.

He came storming in.

He was tearing into the place.

He felt that Dickson was
doing this behind his back.

And was he?

- Yeah.

- It was a very unpleasant confrontation.

I was really angered

that he didn't get in touch and tell me.

There was a relationship
between Dickson and I

which was unusual,

and came at an extraordinary
time in my life.

I'd always been a very private person,

and then suddenly the truth came out.

I was just mad, I was ready to sue.

And I said, well that has to go,

that has to go, that has to go.

- How did that happen?

Wasn't he married when you first met?

- Yes, it's a long story.

- His entire life is
now being put out there

on public display, including the fact

that he was involved
in a gay relationship.

He comes from an era where
you don't talk about that,

and to acknowledge that
he has affections for men

would destroy his entire public persona

and the only way he
knows how to make money.

When a relationship ends,

and it ends contentiously,
as this one did,

there's anger, and a lot of hurt feelings,

and because of this show,
they were forced to reconcile.

And they were able to
reconcile to the point

where they could sit down and talk,

and put the show together in a way

that both of them felt comfortable,

and felt like it was a true
representation of what happened.

- Now you're changing the
title to ''Swanson on Sunset.''

Is that what you're calling it now?

- This is Dickson Hughes
getting his own back.

- It was at the Cinegrill.

SWANSON ON SUNSET
A MUSICAL MEMOIR

Wonderful supper club, cabaret room,

right in the heart of Hollywood,

across from the Chinese Theatre.

We had like a three or four week run.

There were a few reviews
that were not that strong.

So the audiences were kinda weak.

- There was talk of recasting.

Recasting Dickson, maybe recasting me.

There were names that were bantered about.

Faye Dunaway was one of 'em.

- We tried to get a star.

I went to every older
actress that I could get to,

but everybody turned me down.

- And that, my dear Dickson,
I'm sorry to say, is that.

- I know that he wanted
''Swanson on Sunset''

to be successful,

and I know he was very
disappointed when it was not.

There was just no money
to go on and do any more,

so that was it.

- It's 2003, and I'm
living in West Hollywood,

just off Melrose Place,

and working as a screenwriter,

and so I'm home most of the time.

And I noticed this

click click clickety clack
of a typewriter next door,

SCREENWRITER

and I love the sound.

And I kept peering next
door to see who it was.

You know, a couple weeks go by,

and then I finally saw
this elderly gentleman

come out a couple times.

And finally, I knock on the door,

and I said to him, ''Hi, I'm
Barbara, I live right there,

and I really love listening

to the sound of the typewriter.''

He started laughing, and then
invited me in for a drink,

and the friendship started from there.

- Richard was a very hard worker,

and when I knew him in his later years,

he was very busy writing
books and screenplays.

He was always trying to make it.

He never kind of gave
up trying to make it.

- He felt like he had a lot more to say,

and a lot more to give.

And that's why he was always
working on his stories.

He felt like his star had
waned dramatically, and it had,

and he really felt like he
needed to redeem himself,

and leave that perfect legacy
of hey, this is what I've got.

TO SLIP & FALL IN LA
A MEMOIR BY RICHARD STANLEY

- By the time he wrote his autobiography,

I think he had come to terms

with who he was, and his identity.

- Richard.
- Richard?

- Stapley.

- Well, he told me a lot
of his other escapades,

but he never mentioned men.

- There was an individual

who was complicated like
anybody in the arts.

It was fascinating when
I did my work on Gloria,

because in her archives

held at the Harry Ransom
Center in Austin, Texas,

I found letters between the two men.

And you can tell in Richard's writing

that Richard was deeply
in love with Dickson.

Dearest Dickson,
I see at one and the same time

my first sight of the United States,

and the very road we used to
take so often to the beach.

Little did I know, I'd be
driving along it so frequently.

I remember as if it were yesterday,

and I said I love you for the first time.

They were, and are tender, sweet things.

I do miss you.

I remember the Christmas at the beach,

when we were so poor,
yet so rich in spirit.

It isn't so much a morbid
remembrance of things past,

as a sadness of the
frailty of human nature.

I wish we hadn't drifted
so far away, Dick.

Always, Richard.

- He was a very sophisticated gentleman.

He'd been there and back,
and everybody loved him.

He was always on top of things,

looking forward to the next project.

♪ Happy days are here again ♪

♪ Those skies above are clear again ♪

- Dickson always had gigs.

People hired him for
weddings, and parties.

He had students, and I was one of 'em.

Dickson was humble.

He was very kind of cool and laid back,

and he let other people shine.

DICKSON HUGHES
SINGS AND PLAYS!

He had that little studio
apartment up the hill,

I think it was under rent control.

He had his nice Cadillac
he always took care of,

and he always managed.

Then he got that good, steady job

at the Ritz-Carlton in Pasadena.

He'd wear his tuxedo.

He always looked perfect
for whatever he had to do.

- Not only was he a passionate person,

but he was a very spiritual person.

He was constantly working with people

on an empathetic level.

- Marianne Williamson,
she lectures on a book

called ''A Course in Miracles.''

Dickson read that book, it
was dog-eared next to his bed.

He knew it chapter and
verse, and he lived it.

He was one of the very first people

that would go to study
with Marianne Williamson,

long before she became famous.

She started Project Angel Food

at the height of the AIDS crisis.

It supplied one hot meal a day to people

that had life-challenging illnesses.

The first fundraiser they ever had

was in her apartment in West Hollywood,

and Dickson played piano for her.

- This is really a super evening,

and I'm honored to be here.

- I don't think it all
was happy ever after.

He just got older, and he got weaker.

- Dickson was in a nursing
home in Palm Springs.

He was battling Alzheimer's.

VOICE OF ELIZABETH WYLER
Richard never discussed

Dickson Hughes with me.

I never discussed it with him.

But then Richard said that
he and Dickson Hughes,

at the last few years of his life,

they saw a lot of one another.

- Stapley was there, and
he put Dickson on the phone

to say hello to me.

And I said hello to him,

but I'm not sure that Dickson

was sure sometimes who he was talking to.

- Dickson said to me, he said,

''Death came from the
hand of the same creator

that gave you life.''

Birth, life, death, so it can't be bad.

Death can't be bad.

''WHEN YOU LOVE'' FROM BOULEVARD!
♪ When you love ♪

♪ And truly love ♪

♪ You'll never ♪

♪ Ask for more ♪

- Richard Stapley was not
having an easy time of it.

He was not being sought after,

and he couldn't get an agent.

- He got a motorcycle, and
he was delivering scripts

to the studios as a messenger.

And for a little while, he had
this little business going,

but it didn't last, and
pretty soon that era changed.

- He had not prepared for
the latter part of his life,

and he found himself
getting deeper into debt,

and having a difficult time surviving.

- He was writing a screenplay
that he felt very strongly

would be a real blockbuster.

He wrote almost every day,

but we just never got anywhere with it,

so it was a very frustrating
and difficult time for him.

- Hello, Richard.
- Well, hello.

- How are you today?
- Oh I'm all right.

- But, he was a fighter.

He kept saying, ''Tomorrow
it's gonna get better.

''Tomorrow something good's
gonna happen for me.''

- The biggest thing is never to give up.

- I guess we all believed in him,

and didn't like to see him
in the situation he was in,

and so we tried to do
what we could to help.

But, I was pretty sure
that it was a lost cause

because he was living in another time.

- I felt like I had done
what a friend should do,

in being realistic with him

about his options as an
older man with no money.

And that's when I suggested
that we do these autograph shows

filled with old movie stars,

and people that never
quite became movie stars.

You're sitting there with a
bunch of photographs of you

40 years ago, and the people look at them

and they look up, is this you?

- Richard Stapley.
- Oh, okay.

And Richard Wyler.
- Yeah.

- The only reason they're
interested is what you used to be.

- I'd like to play a very good part

in ''Desperate Housewives.''

''Desperate Housewives?''
- Yes.

Like a desperate guy
on ''Desperate Housewives?''

- A desperate guy, yes.

- He finally had to come to terms

with not being the person
that he was on the screen.

It was an amazing moment

to confront his career as it really was.

'Cause we couldn't lie
about it at that point.

I had to just say, well it's over.

- As his financial situation
continued to decline,

the status of the places
where he was living

declined in like measure.

He was living in a fairly rundown motel

on a very bad street in Palm Springs.

He has no money,

he's threatened with eviction
almost on a daily basis,

and essentially begging for
anyone to give him sustenance.

And he was growing wildly
despondent by the end.

- Yesterday was a very difficult day,

and let me know how can
I start out of this?

- He also was not feeling well,

and I think he knew that he had cancer.

And I think he did not want to admit it,

and so the last few months of his life,

he spent all his days writing

because he had things in his head

and he wanted to get them out.

And so he was writing constantly,

until he simply could not go on anymore,

and the unwellness just
became overwhelming

and he had to go to the hospital
and ultimately passed away.

- I went there about
two weeks after he died,

and one of the nurses told me
that he was sitting in bed,

and ''Sunset Boulevard'' was on television,

two nights before he died.

And he was looking up there,

and the nurse comes in to take his vitals,

and he says, ''You see that
woman, Gloria Swanson?

''She was so in love with
me, you couldn't imagine.

''I was the love of her life.''

So if I hadn't
come along and contacted you,

what would've happened to this story?

- You know, maybe nothing.

Somebody had to come and knock
on the door and say, hey,

this is interesting.

But if you hadn't done it,
and if nobody else would've,

then it would all sit in a box,

and to get left behind, that's sad.

Richard would be very
pleased with this film

that he's being remembered.

And I think Dickson would be very pleased

that his story's being remembered,

that his music is being remembered.

And I'm sure Gloria
would be pleased to know

that her legend lives on.

At the end of the day, I
think that's all we want

is just to be remembered.

- At the age of 80,

Gloria Swanson wrote ''Swanson on Swanson.''

It truly is one of the best,

most candid autobiographies ever written.

But, she did not write about
the ''Sunset Boulevard'' musical.

Gloria was always keen to
talk about her triumphs,

but this was a failure,

and Gloria never acknowledged failures.

- I'm wondering why that
was sort of left out.

I think she put it behind her.

She never seemed to live in any regret.

She did not live in the past.

She just kept living
her life the way it was.

The opposite of Norma Desmond.

- The opposite of Norma Desmond, yes.

♪ However they flatter ♪

BOULEVARD A NEW MUSICAL PLAY
♪ I'll still be where ♪

♪ The people who matter ♪

♪ The people who care ♪

♪ Are the ones who silently give me ♪

♪ That magical spark ♪

♪ Those wonderful people ♪

♪ Out there ♪

♪ In the dark ♪

♪ The lovely things that fate invents ♪

♪ Have puzzled me before ♪

♪ I've had my share of incidents ♪

♪ I just want something more ♪

♪ He walked in here without a warning ♪

♪ Flashing his charming boyish grin ♪

♪ And suddenly the twilight
seems bright as morning ♪

♪ How did this all begin ♪

♪ What's the answer ♪

♪ When love comes calling ♪

♪ Should count or might
point out the play ♪

♪ My heart's a dancer ♪

♪ And changeable it's true ♪

♪ And oh, the things it's led me to ♪

♪ What's the answer ♪

♪ I feel like falling ♪

♪ And then my mind tells me ♪

♪ I'll have to pay ♪

♪ But how can I resist ♪

♪ What my heart's been dreaming of ♪

♪ So what's the answer ♪

♪ It's love ♪

♪ What's the answer ♪

♪ I feel like falling ♪

♪ And then my mind tells me ♪

♪ I'll have to pay ♪

♪ But how can I resist ♪

♪ What my heart's been dreaming of ♪

♪ So what's the answer ♪

♪ It's love ♪