My first awareness of Norma Desmond was, like many kids growing up in the 1970s, seeing Carol Burnett lampoon the silent screen diva on her comedy show. It wasn’t until years later that I finally saw Sunset Boulevard and fell in love with it instantly. It’s a movie about the dark side of Hollywood and the perils of holding on to the past, personified by Norma Desmond — a tragic heroine living in a world of shadows and delusion, discarded by the industry she once ruled. Sunset Boulevard blends real life elements from the life of its star Gloria Swanson, so much so that character and actress merged in the public’s mind as one.

I love learning about the behind-the-scenes drama of classic movies, and devoured film historian Sam Staggs’ book Close-up on Sunset Boulevard. It was here I first learned about Gloria Swanson’s failed attempt to launch a musical version of Sunset Boulevard, and the resulting creative threesome with her composers — Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley. The two men were lovers but presented themselves to the world as writing partners and roommates, a necessary contrivance in the homophobic 1950s. Their working relationship with Gloria Swanson mirrored the plot of Sunset Boulevard, and they found themselves living a real-life version of the film when Gloria fell for the handsome Richard Stapley. Life imitates art, indeed!

It was obvious that this story had all the ingredients of a delicious movie melodrama and I started thinking about how to bring this story to the screen. Sadly, Richard and Dickson are both gone, and Gloria never mentioned the failed musical in public so I wasn’t sure if the story could be told. I reached out to my friend Alan Eichler, who was friends with Dickson Hughes and interviewed for the Staggs book. After telling Alan I was considering making a film about these events, the first thing he said was, “I’ve been waiting twenty-five years for someone to tell this story.” Alan then introduced me to Stephen Bock, a friend of Richard Stapley’s who had the foresight to interview Richard on camera about his experiences working with Gloria. Then came a call to Brooke Anderson, Gloria Swanson’s granddaughter and guardian of her legacy, who graciously gave us her blessing. Brooke pointed me in the direction of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin. It was here I discovered a treasure trove of archival material relating to the musical – correspondence, love letters, personal photographs, scripts, and hours of never-before-heard audio recordings of all the songs the team wrote. It became clear that this wealth of archival was just waiting for someone to breathe new life into it and a documentary could be made.

And now, Boulevard! A Hollywood Story is ready for its close-up.

This film is about how our protagonists poured their heart and soul into a creative venture that would ultimately blow up in their faces. It’s a heartbreak any creative person can identify with — presenting something to the world only to have it be met with at best indifference, or at worst a critical drubbing. This is what attracted me to the story of Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley, who both faced barriers to success over the course of their lives but never gave up on their dreams. Boulevard! is also about growing old, and how our protagonists faced the challenges of aging in a youth-obsessed society. Richard Stapley found himself desperate and destitute toward the end of his life, but never gave up hope that things might turn around for him. He was living in another time, much like Norma Desmond, and his story is ultimately a tragic one. Dickson Hughes clung to his dreams of a Sunset Boulevard musical, but chose a philosophy of patience and acceptance, and unlike Richard ended his days peacefully. Gloria Swanson struggled with the impression that she was a dusty relic from the silent age, while in fact she was a thoroughly modern woman. She could never really escape Norma Desmond, and was faced with the same curse actresses in Hollywood deal with to this very day – being over fifty.

Digging up stories from the past and re-invigorating legacies for a new generation has been my creative mission over the years. With Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, a hidden Hollywood saga will finally be revealed, and provide a big screen comeback for Gloria Swanson, Richard Stapley, and Dickson Hughes. Piecing together the fragments of what they left behind to make this film has been an enormously moving experience, and it brings me great joy to finally share this story with audiences around the world.

— Jeffrey Schwarz