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
Billy Wilder
Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Buster Keaton,
USA
1950
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
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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