What is perhaps most surprising about Sunset Boulevard - not just a Billy Wilder classic, but point blank a cinema classic - is how much of real Hollywood is in it. Gloria Swanson was, like Nora Desmond, a silent film star at Paramount (and one of their hottest tickets). She didn't go mad (though she was "aged" out of the business when talkies took over and hadn't been in a feature in more than 15 years). but others like her did have well-reported struggled with mental health (like Clara Bow). C.B. DeMille appears in person as himself. We see producers, scriptwriters, readers, technicians. And it seems like Wilder is making a couple of indictments. One is the very idea of sending actresses (never seemed to happen to the chaps) out to pasture after they hit 35. Nora (and Swanson!) is only 50 years old and treated like a hag ("I thought she died"), and yet, Swanson here proves she can do it all - tragedy, comedy, horror, subtlety as well as theatricality. But Nora is also used to undermine nostalgia for the silent era. She's one of those people who say "they don't make them like that anymore" with a measure of bitterness, and Sunset Boulevard is filled with the words she so hates, with narration on top of witty dialogue. Wilder is a talky writer-director and he affirms himself. Or does he? He still celebrates the silent era here, and his hero is a hack writer who gets killed for his trouble (in a kind of reverse of Video Kill the Radio Star). And so the film has that push and pull between the visual and the writer's mediums - the film maker's internal struggle. And of course, it's well made, has some great classic lines AND visuals. It certainly wasn't my first viewing.
Great movie! Moves quickly and includes my favourite older-movie trope, Fast Talking High Trousers! It also has a bit of a crazy ending and a few twists which is lovely. Would recommend to a friend that doesn't mind black and white films (this is a deal-breaker sometimes).
Probably my favorite noir film. So many of the scenes are so classically dark and spooky it almost makes you shiver. It almost didn't get made because it attacked the culture of Hollywood and its stars. It's amazing that many of the themes of ego and self-worth are just as relevant in the movie industry today as they were when it was made. Gloria Swanson gives a chilling performance that is downright scary and William Holden with Erich von Stroheim rounding out a stellar cast.
Another amazing side story of this movie was just how closely the movie script matched the actors and the real life situations they had been through. Holden plays a struggling writer and in reality was at his wits end as a career actor. Swanson was a faded star at that point and had effectively left her movie career behind with many of her mannerisms and extreme behavior matching her character. Even DeMille who plays himself had directed Swanson numerous times at Paramount and even referred to Norma Desmond in the movie as "young fella" which was the same nickname he always called Swanson. In my years of watching cinema I've never come across a movie that mirrored the life behind the actors so completely, no doubt it is a factor in the wild success and quality of the movie.
I must admit that apart from Hitchkock and Welles I have been avoiding classical Hollywood for the longest, but after watching three of Billy Wilder's movies there's no denial it was also a place for true cinema, not only mindless blockbusters. This is my favorite so far of Wilder's oeuvre, but I will sure check out the rest.
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Siskoid
What is perhaps most surprising about Sunset Boulevard - not just a Billy Wilder classic, but point blank a cinema classic - is how much of real Hollywood is in it. Gloria Swanson was, like Nora Desmond, a silent film star at Paramount (and one of their hottest tickets). She didn't go mad (though she was "aged" out of the business when talkies took over and hadn't been in a feature in more than 15 years). but others like her did have well-reported struggled with mental health (like Clara Bow). C.B. DeMille appears in person as himself. We see producers, scriptwriters, readers, technicians. And it seems like Wilder is making a couple of indictments. One is the very idea of sending actresses (never seemed to happen to the chaps) out to pasture after they hit 35. Nora (and Swanson!) is only 50 years old and treated like a hag ("I thought she died"), and yet, Swanson here proves she can do it all - tragedy, comedy, horror, subtlety as well as theatricality. But Nora is also used to undermine nostalgia for the silent era. She's one of those people who say "they don't make them like that anymore" with a measure of bitterness, and Sunset Boulevard is filled with the words she so hates, with narration on top of witty dialogue. Wilder is a talky writer-director and he affirms himself. Or does he? He still celebrates the silent era here, and his hero is a hack writer who gets killed for his trouble (in a kind of reverse of Video Kill the Radio Star). And so the film has that push and pull between the visual and the writer's mediums - the film maker's internal struggle. And of course, it's well made, has some great classic lines AND visuals. It certainly wasn't my first viewing.MilenaFlaherty
One of my all-time favorites, which I finally got to see on the big screen.buteberry
Extraordinary. Fascinating.americanadian25
A masterpiece in every sense of the word. This is as close to perfect as a movie can get.demagogo
It might've been something back in the day, but 66 years later seems a pretty damn cheesy movie.BigAwesomeBLT
Great movie! Moves quickly and includes my favourite older-movie trope, Fast Talking High Trousers! It also has a bit of a crazy ending and a few twists which is lovely. Would recommend to a friend that doesn't mind black and white films (this is a deal-breaker sometimes).DisneyStitch
Probably my favorite noir film. So many of the scenes are so classically dark and spooky it almost makes you shiver. It almost didn't get made because it attacked the culture of Hollywood and its stars. It's amazing that many of the themes of ego and self-worth are just as relevant in the movie industry today as they were when it was made. Gloria Swanson gives a chilling performance that is downright scary and William Holden with Erich von Stroheim rounding out a stellar cast.Another amazing side story of this movie was just how closely the movie script matched the actors and the real life situations they had been through. Holden plays a struggling writer and in reality was at his wits end as a career actor. Swanson was a faded star at that point and had effectively left her movie career behind with many of her mannerisms and extreme behavior matching her character. Even DeMille who plays himself had directed Swanson numerous times at Paramount and even referred to Norma Desmond in the movie as "young fella" which was the same nickname he always called Swanson. In my years of watching cinema I've never come across a movie that mirrored the life behind the actors so completely, no doubt it is a factor in the wild success and quality of the movie.
nick-samuel
Did anyone else seem to think that the Artists aped a lot it's aesthetics from this? Billy Wilder is THE man.tcfaria
Amazing!creole
For a movie from the 50's it's immensely creepy in a subtle way. Not many modern movies can emulate this style.KaramAkerfeldt
How can something be so perfect?vmunda
I am overwhelmed.nicolino
amazing acting, I really liked this metatheatrical and self-referring noir.idjutt
I must admit that apart from Hitchkock and Welles I have been avoiding classical Hollywood for the longest, but after watching three of Billy Wilder's movies there's no denial it was also a place for true cinema, not only mindless blockbusters. This is my favorite so far of Wilder's oeuvre, but I will sure check out the rest.Pallium Invisibilitatem
Gloria Swanson is scary at times in this brilliant masterpiece...Showing items 1 – 15 of 42