Sunset Boulevard (A or 4/4 stars)
Billy Wilder's 'Sunset Blvd.' is a spellbinding film noir masterpiece about a forgotten movie star & a reminder of how cruel Hollywood can be to the icons it no longer loves. The story begins at the end; with the floating body of Joe Gillis (William Holden) being fished out of a pool. As our deceased narrator, Joe divulges the circumstances of his untimely demise; and he does so with a darkly sarcastic wit. "Before you hear this story all distorted & blown out of proportion, before those Hollywood columnists get their hands on it, maybe you'd like to hear the facts, the whole truth". For the next 105 minutes, he tells his story in flashback.
Pursued by repo men on Sunset Blvd., our bankrupt screenwriter protagonist ducks his car into the dilapidated garage of a seemingly-abandoned 1920s-styled Beverly Hills mansion. Wandering around the sprawling grounds and into the spooky house, Joe meets its owner: magisterial, millionaire silent film queen, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), who mistakes him for the undertaker who's coming to take away her pet chimpanzee who just died {um, eerie}. Norma, now 50, faded from the spotlight some 20 yrs. ago when "talkies" ended the silent era ... and she's been slowly losing her mind ever since. Upon meeting her that 1st fateful day, Joe says, "You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big". Her angered retort, "I AM big. It's the pictures that got small".
After learning that Joe is a screenwriter, Norma entices him into helping her with a comeback script she's been working on for Cecil B. DeMille. Joe realizes that her script is awful, but the $$ she pays him is great & he has nowhere else to go. Soon enough, opportunistic Joe becomes Norma's spoiled boy-toy. And while the two of them collaborate, Norma's ultra-loyal butler Max (old time filmmaker, Erich von Stroheim) disdainfully watches on. Things seem 'okay' for a bit. But over time, Joe starts feeling smothered by Norma's attention & depressed by her narcissistic rants. He tries to leave her. A confrontation ensues. And the final scene shows a now completely deranged Norma sashaying down her winding staircase towards a barrage of policemen & reporters saying, "All right, Mr. DeMille ... I'm ready for my close-up". They way she lurches towards the camera is terrifying. And it's a macabre scene that feels both uncomfortably humorous as well as sad.
From its creepy beginning through to its haunting final images ... I was riveted to 'Sunset Blvd'. Yes, the story about an old time acting legend being pushed to the brink of insanity is intriguing enough as it is. Yes, the writing is stellar (who DOESN'T want to hear about Old Hollywood and some of the fly-on-the-wall things that happen there?). And yes, the mood/atmosphere is palpable (I shudder just thinking about that dying gothic mansion). But the real appeal is in the stunning, iconic portrayal of Norma Desmond by Gloria Swanson, a castaway silent film legend, in her own right. In her life, Norma seems to be always putting on a performance. Her life is a melodrama and, she acts as if an audience were always present. For Swanson, Norma is a difficult acting role to navigate because it requires lengthy scenes of grandiosity, but also scenes of subtle intensity during her sad, lucid moments. She's a woman slowly losing her mind -- it's decaying like her mansion.
With his easy screen presence & self-deprecating wit, William Holden is a perfect match for Gloria Swanson's Norma. He makes this character likeable despite his innate cynicism & moral flaws. Pretty Nancy Olson impresses as a movie studio employee who fancies Joe as a man, but struggles to admire him as a screenwriter. This film also features a number of well-known celebrities in small roles. DeMille plays a version of himself as Paramount Pictures studio head. Silent film stars like Buster Keaton pop up in a scene or two. And gossip columnist Hedda Hopper plays herself, as well.
'Sunset Blvd.' succeeds at all it sets out to do. It's a biting black satire, a moody film noir, & also a stellar character-centered melodrama. To that end, it also happens to be (for me) one of the greatest films about Hollywood ever put onscreen. The screenplay shines with 'in-the-know' observations about Tinseltown & memorable lines of dialogue. The acting is impeccable, with each performer completely inhabiting the skin of their character. And both the black-&-white camera work as well as Franz Waxman's score aid the story, as well. What a movie. When I think of great old school Hollywood dramas ... I think of 'Sunset Blvd'.
Pursued by repo men on Sunset Blvd., our bankrupt screenwriter protagonist ducks his car into the dilapidated garage of a seemingly-abandoned 1920s-styled Beverly Hills mansion. Wandering around the sprawling grounds and into the spooky house, Joe meets its owner: magisterial, millionaire silent film queen, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), who mistakes him for the undertaker who's coming to take away her pet chimpanzee who just died {um, eerie}. Norma, now 50, faded from the spotlight some 20 yrs. ago when "talkies" ended the silent era ... and she's been slowly losing her mind ever since. Upon meeting her that 1st fateful day, Joe says, "You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big". Her angered retort, "I AM big. It's the pictures that got small".
After learning that Joe is a screenwriter, Norma entices him into helping her with a comeback script she's been working on for Cecil B. DeMille. Joe realizes that her script is awful, but the $$ she pays him is great & he has nowhere else to go. Soon enough, opportunistic Joe becomes Norma's spoiled boy-toy. And while the two of them collaborate, Norma's ultra-loyal butler Max (old time filmmaker, Erich von Stroheim) disdainfully watches on. Things seem 'okay' for a bit. But over time, Joe starts feeling smothered by Norma's attention & depressed by her narcissistic rants. He tries to leave her. A confrontation ensues. And the final scene shows a now completely deranged Norma sashaying down her winding staircase towards a barrage of policemen & reporters saying, "All right, Mr. DeMille ... I'm ready for my close-up". They way she lurches towards the camera is terrifying. And it's a macabre scene that feels both uncomfortably humorous as well as sad.
From its creepy beginning through to its haunting final images ... I was riveted to 'Sunset Blvd'. Yes, the story about an old time acting legend being pushed to the brink of insanity is intriguing enough as it is. Yes, the writing is stellar (who DOESN'T want to hear about Old Hollywood and some of the fly-on-the-wall things that happen there?). And yes, the mood/atmosphere is palpable (I shudder just thinking about that dying gothic mansion). But the real appeal is in the stunning, iconic portrayal of Norma Desmond by Gloria Swanson, a castaway silent film legend, in her own right. In her life, Norma seems to be always putting on a performance. Her life is a melodrama and, she acts as if an audience were always present. For Swanson, Norma is a difficult acting role to navigate because it requires lengthy scenes of grandiosity, but also scenes of subtle intensity during her sad, lucid moments. She's a woman slowly losing her mind -- it's decaying like her mansion.
With his easy screen presence & self-deprecating wit, William Holden is a perfect match for Gloria Swanson's Norma. He makes this character likeable despite his innate cynicism & moral flaws. Pretty Nancy Olson impresses as a movie studio employee who fancies Joe as a man, but struggles to admire him as a screenwriter. This film also features a number of well-known celebrities in small roles. DeMille plays a version of himself as Paramount Pictures studio head. Silent film stars like Buster Keaton pop up in a scene or two. And gossip columnist Hedda Hopper plays herself, as well.
'Sunset Blvd.' succeeds at all it sets out to do. It's a biting black satire, a moody film noir, & also a stellar character-centered melodrama. To that end, it also happens to be (for me) one of the greatest films about Hollywood ever put onscreen. The screenplay shines with 'in-the-know' observations about Tinseltown & memorable lines of dialogue. The acting is impeccable, with each performer completely inhabiting the skin of their character. And both the black-&-white camera work as well as Franz Waxman's score aid the story, as well. What a movie. When I think of great old school Hollywood dramas ... I think of 'Sunset Blvd'.