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Sunset Boulevard film image; glamourous woman poses for cameras

Sunset Boulevard

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Hollywood on Hollywood: the tale of a screenwriter, Joe Gillis (William Holden), who stumbles into the orbit of a now-forgotten movie star, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), and realizes this silent film diva could be his meal ticket.

It’s sobering to recall the year was 1950 — just 22 years after The Jazz Singer ushered in the sound era. Folks, that would make 2002 today’s equivalent throwback. Imagine, say, Halle Berry as the analogous Norma Desmond figure (Berry won the Oscar in 2002), for a measure of the movie’s cruelty — or the industry’s.

Billy Wilder apparently imagined Greta Garbo in the role, or the former vamp Pola Negri, with Monty Clift as the writer. But Swanson is imperious and indelible in the part. At 4’9 she really sells the movie’s most famous line: “I AM big. It’s the pictures that got small.”

Styled as a film noir, Sunset Boulevard is a vicious comedy about Hollywood’s delusions of grandeur. It’s equally cynical about modern (mid-century) show biz — such was Wilder’s way.

 

Media Partner

Director

Billy Wilder

Cast

Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Buster Keaton,

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

1950

Language

English

Focus
19+
111 min

Book Tickets

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Credits

Screenwriter

Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman Jr.

Cinematography

John F. Seitz

Editor

Arthur P. Schmidt

Original Music

Franz Waxman

Art Director

Hans Dreier, John Meehan

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