Film: Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard received mixed reviews when it was released in 1950, mostly from the Hollywood in-crowd who are so expertly skewered by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. Of course, after they got over the shock of being lampooned on film, they settled down, let the irony sink in and Wilder's masterpiece became one of the most revered films ever made.

The story is excellent, and a Hollywood film had never before turned on its own with such wit and wry truth, which makes it even greater for having the courage to tread on unexplored and potentially career-ending ground. Norma Desmond, once the biggest silent film star in 1920s Hollywood, is now completely forgotten by a public who had adored her just 20 years earlier. A struggling Hollywood writer, Joe Gillis, comes to live with her in her palatial Sunset Blvd. mansion. He brings a healthy dose of disillusioned cynicism and biting sarcasm (New Hollywood), and she provides the wraithlike stranglehold on a past that refuses to fade with dignity. The result is Joe Gillis superbly narrating the story from beyond the grave.

Of course, the opposition between old guard and new has been around in literature and art forever. But until this film, no Hollywood studio had ever risked cannibalizing itself by exposing the dark, brutal nature of the biz and poking fun at it. Sunset Blvd was revolutionary in this aspect, and would open the door a few years later for Singing in the Rain and its critical analysis of Hollywood culture (albeit through sanitized song and dance numbers).

To add to the wonderfully symmetrical irony of this film, Wilder packed it with old silent film stars (Gloria Swanson, who plays Norma Desmond, was a big silent film star in the 20s) like Buster Keaton. Cecil B. DeMille (who actually directed Swanson in the 20s) plays himself. Wilder filmed DeMille filming his Technicolor epic Samson and Delilah, the exact kind of film that completely swallowed the careers of silent era starlets. There are all kinds of self-referential layers like that throughout the film which gives it this rich and complex texture.

Gloria Swanson is amazing. People call this a noir film, but I think that's oversimplifying and slapping the noir label around. For one, she completely reinvents the noir femme fatale. In 90% of noir films, the female character is some flighty neurotic nut; the acting in much of the 1940s and 50s was so formulaic you could exchange the female leads in almost any noir film and lose nothing. But Gloria Swenson fills Norma Desmond with such believable anguish, delusion, neurosis, pride; you feel her clinging to her glorious past and being completely out of touch with reality and you believe it. It's a terrific performance. Gillis is well acted, with his glib comments and cool demeanor, but the strength of the character lies with Wilder's dialogue more than anything. Some very famous lines in this film.

It's just a really wonderful Hollywood film about Hollywood and it doesn't pull any punches. It's open, honest, clever and executed extremely well.

Sunset Boulevard is a greta movie. I'm a big Billy Wilder fan and I would say this and Double Indemnity are neck and neck for being his best movie.
Movies about the dark underside of Hollywood had been around for as far back as What Price Hollywood (later remade as A Star Is Born). This one is probably the most entertaining on the subject.
However, I would say that no other movie perpetuates the myth that all silent film stars became immediately obsolete with the advent of sound more than Sunset Boulevard.
Truth is that more actors successfully transitioned to talkies than didn't. Most of the casualties were from the European stars that had thick accents (Pola Negri) or stars that were very difficult to work with (Louise Brooks, John Gilbert, Madge Bellamy).
While some were never as popular after sound (Clara Bow, Marie Prevost), many like Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, Clark Gable, and Greta Garbo became more popular than ever.

Anyway, Sunset Boulevard is great movie and was a comeback film for both Swanson and Holden. Holden had once been considered The Next Big Thing in the late 30's but his career had been on the skids after gaining a reputation as an alcoholic. Sunset Boulevard relaunched his career and he went on to star in Bride On The River Kwai, Stalag 17 and the Wild Bunch among other things.