“Sunset Boulevard,” September 3

Wednesday, September 3, 6 p.m.

The Last Picture House, 325 East Second Street, Davenport IA

A three-time Academy Award winner and one of the most popular and enduring movies of all time, director Billy Wilder's legendary Sunset Boulevard opens the “From Hitler to Hollywood” film series hosted by the German American Heritage Center, its September 3 screening at Davenport venue The Last Picture House treating audience to what Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus calls “a tremendously entertaining combination of noir, black comedy, and character study."

Released in 1950 and co-written by Wilder, Charles Brackett, and D. M. Marshman Jr., Sunset Boulevard is named after the major street that runs through Hollywood. The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her deranged fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. Erich von Stroheim plays Max von Mayerling, her devoted butler, and Nancy Olson, Jack Webb, Lloyd Gough, and Fred Clark appear in supporting roles. Director Cecil B. DeMille and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper play themselves, and the film includes cameo appearances by silent-film stars Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson.

Praised by many critics when first released, Sunset Boulevard was nominated for 11 Academy Awards (including nominations in all four acting categories) and won three, and is often ranked among the greatest movies ever made. As it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the U.S. Library of Congress in 1989, Sunset Boulevard was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1998, it was ranked number 12 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best American films of the 20th century, and the movie inspired the 1993 musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Its 1994 Broadway production was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, winning seven including best musical, and the show's 2024 Broadway revival earned three Tonys, including Best Revival of a Musical.

With the "From Hitler to Hollywood" film series that runs through October 1, audiences are invited to step into the dramatic world of 1930s Hollywood, where the silver screen became a beacon of hope and resistance. As the Nazi regime took hold in Germany, more than 800 filmmakers, directors, actors, technicians, and artists, fled persecution and found refuge in Los Angeles. United by their love of cinema and a determination to survive, these exiles became a vibrant creative community, supporting each other through hardship and forging new pathways in American film.

Sunset Boulevard will be screened at Davenport's The Last Picture House on September 3, and guests are asked to check in at the German American Heritage Center table in the lobby. Admission is $15, guests will choose their seats upon arrival, and proceeds from ticket sales will go to Heritage Center programming, with $1 from every Twin Span draft beer purchase also going to the museum. For more information, call (563)322-8844 and visit GAHC.org.