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. 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 Blvd 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.
Jun 11: Intro by Mike Archibald, writer, editor and filmmaker
Still the best Hollywood movie ever made about Hollywood.
Andrew Sarris
Billy Wilder
Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Buster Keaton
USA
1950
English
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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
Also in This Series
Getting Real charts the evolution of screen acting in American film from 1945-1980, diving into the psychological realism which took audiences somewhere deeper and more authentic than ever before.