Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

Arts and Entertainment

‘Sunset Boulevard’ gets a new restoration — and screenings— for 75th birthday

A black and white photo of three people— two men and a woman in a hat with a front veil — on a movie set.
Austrian-born film director Billy Wilder (L) and American film director Cecil B. DeMille stand on either side of American actor Gloria Swanson on the set of Wilder's film "Sunset Boulevard" in 1950. DeMille appeared as himself in the film.
(
Getty Images/Getty Images
/
Getty Images
)

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today . 

Sunset Boulevard, the classic tale of the dark side of Hollywood, turns 75 this week.

Paramount is celebrating with a beautifully-crisp new restoration, which will play on the big screen on Sunday and Monday.

The new restoration looks stunning, but a lot of work went into making the audio sing, too.

Listen 2:43
Hollywood classic 'Sunset Boulevard' has been newly restored. We talk to one of the people who's made it shine
Support for LAist comes from

Andrea Kalas, vice president of media and archival services at Iron Mountain, has preserved or restored more than 2,000 films during her career.

And she oversaw this latest restoration of the Billy Wilder classic during her time at Paramount.

How they did it

Kalas said her team was able to separate out the dialog, music and effects for this release, essentially making stems of the tracks from the original combined mono.

Engineers also isolated the noise floor to get the best possible result.

“Make sure you can really hear when you go to the screenings — keep your ears open — because it’s kind of amazing,” Kalas told LAist.

Support for LAist comes from

At the same time, the folks who worked on this restoration made sure not to make the audio in this latest release too antiseptic.

Because you don’t want to completely remove all noise and imperfections that add character.

“You don’t want to go too far with cleaning it up, because then you could actually take some stuff away that you want,” Kalas said.

“That’s always been the challenge with digital restoration, using a chisel not a hammer,” she said.

Where to check it out

You can immerse yourself in the just-crackly-enough audio of the classic Sunday and Monday, with several screenings scheduled at local AMC theaters.

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist