{"product_id":"ready-for-my-closeup-david-m-lubin-9781538739297","title":"Ready for My Closeup: The Making of Sunset Boulevard and the Dark Side of the Hollywood Dream","description":"\u003cb\u003eToday, more than 70 years after it premiered, \u003ci\u003eSunset Boulevard\u003c\/i\u003e remains the finest ever movie made about the pathology of fame: those who lose it, those who abuse it, and those who never attain it at all.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Great films are born of great collaborations, and \u003ci\u003eSunset Boulevard\u003c\/i\u003e represents one of the most extraordinary confluences of cinematic talent in film history, but its production was surprisingly fraught, filled with unexpected twists. Why was William Holden, who had never caught fire as a leading man, hired to play Joe Gillis after the fastest-rising star in the business dropped out at the last minute? After Mae West and Mary Pickford turned down the now iconic role of Norma Desmond, how did Billy Wilder convince Gloria Swanson, who had long been absent from Hollywood at this point, to leave her low-paying job as a TV talk show host to join the cast? From the writers' room during Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's final collaboration to the moment when the film won three Academy Awards, scholar and former \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e staffer David M. Lubin takes readers on a fascinating journey through film history that proves, once and for all, why \u003ci\u003eSunset Boulevard\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the most iconic films in cinematic history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e By exploring the history of \u003ci\u003eSunset Boulevard\u003c\/i\u003e in time for the movie's 75th anniversary, from its inception to its making to its present-day legacy, \u003ci\u003eReady for My Closeup\u003c\/i\u003e breathes life into a beloved masterpiece of American cinema, not only marking its influential place in film history, but also proving how prescient it really was in terms of the human costs of relentless technological change and our obsessive quest for fame, youth, and immortality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e David M. Lubin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1538739291\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781538739297\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Grand Central Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/12\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.25h x 6.25w x 1.13d","brand":"David M. Lubin","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46489494651135,"sku":"9781538739297","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d05a84d9-a70d-48c5-9cfb-f7e755eb4cb8.jpg?v=1736953718","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ready-for-my-closeup-david-m-lubin-9781538739297","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}