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If he were still alive, April 17 would mark classic Hollywood icon William Holdens 100th birthday.
It could have gone another way.
Holden could have played it simpler, leaning into his matinee-idol good looks.
Instead, his best work delves into this undercurrent of darkness and emotional remove.
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
This venomously seductive noir was my first introduction to William Holden.
And what an introduction.
Writer-director Billy Wilder collaborated with Holden four times throughout their respective careers.
Everything he does afterward sits in conversation with this performance.
Sabrina (1954)
Rugged, open-faced, golden.
Holden seems, at first glance at least, like the picture of a 1950s romantic lead.
Holden is luminescent and sly as his playboy ways soften in the face of an unexpected love.
Sefton shirks any heroic categorization.
Holden, who won a Best Actor Academy Award for this role, clearly relishes playing Sefton.
The pleading in his eyes is mesmerizing.
Its easy to see why.
Holden isnt completely formed here as an actor or star.
But theres a spark of charisma and earnestness that makes him easy to love.
Stanwyck fought for Holdens casting, leading him to later credit her for his success.
So once a year I send her flowers, and a note saying Ill never forget her generosity.
But Holden knows this is a vehicle for Holliday.
He softens and actively listens.
Hes the perfect scene partner for the madcap genius radiating from Holliday.
Its subtle but charming work.
A perfect Henry Higgins to Hollidays Eliza Doolittle.
He does not condescend.
Picnic (1955)
Picture it.
Sometimes he matches these gazes with a smirk or glare.
The standout scene comes over an hour in, as Holden and Novak dance.
The way he pauses and drinks her image in is overwhelmingly sensual and seductive.
Holden wears his failure like a scar, making sure people dont get close enough to notice.
He carries himself with a practiced machismo, but his woundedness and shame over his failures often bleed through.
He isnt the dashing hero refusing to let go of the past.
Instead, he looks at his legacy and aging dead on.
In doing so he grants his character the immense weight of history and loss.
William Holden was a wonderful actor.
He was also very experienced.
Hed done 60 or 70 movies by the time we worked together, maybe more.
He looked at her eyebrows, her hair, her lips, but not her eyes.
I didnt say anything.
On the day of shooting we did a take.
Look into her eyes and never break away from them.
Emotion came pouring out of him.
Its one of his best scenes in the movie.
Whatever hed been avoiding could no longer be denied.
The rehearsal period had helped me recognize this emotional reticence in him.
Of course, I never asked him what he had been avoiding.
The actor has a right to his privacy; I never violate his private sources knowingly.
