SUNSET BOULEVARD

(August 1950, U.S.)

During Hollywood's Golden Age of the 1940's and '50's, even "Tinseltown" itself recognized just how merciless, cruel, corrupt and insane the entire industry was. Billy Wilder opens SUNSET BOULEVARD by telling us that life in Hollywood is not only a struggle, from the down-on-his-luck screenwriter to the forgotten star, but also deadly. At a dilapidated, old mansion on said boulevard, the body of Joe Gillis floats in the swimming pool. The film is also narrated by said corpse - something a little different, indeed. But how did it all happen? The flashback that follows relates to the bizarre events six months earlier that lead to Joe's tragic death.

Joe Gillis (played by William Holden), while trying to sell an otherwise hopeless script to Paramount, as well as avoiding the repo men looking to take back his car, stumbles upon what looks like a seemingly deserted mansion. What he discovers instead is Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson), a long-forgotten movie star of the silent era. The only other person with her is the butler Max (played by Austrian film director Erich von Stroheim), who cater's to "Madam's" every whim and desire, as if she were still the glamorous movie goddess she once was. Learning that Joe is a writer, Norma insists on his opinion of a script she's written for a film about Salome. She intends to play the role herself in a triumphant return to the screen. The script is hopeless, but he flatters her into hiring him to work on it, nonetheless. As he'll soon discover, the position of script doctor soon turns to that of kept man, if not personal live-in bitch. Joe realizes that Norma refuses to accept the hard fact that her fame has evaporated over the years and even the many fan letters she receives weekly were secretly written by Max in order to keep her emotionally fragile state in tact, for she has attempted suicide in the past (and will again after Joe temporarily leaves her).

Norma's hopeless script eventually reaches the hands of her former director Cecil B. DeMille (playing himself). She receives call from Paramount, and presuming it's because they want her and her precious script, she returns to the studio to discover (to everyone's surprise) that she's been missed and is still loved by the older members of the film crew who still remember her. Alas, however, we learn that Paramount only called her because they want to rent her unusual vintage 1929 Isotta Fraschini automobile for a movie. As Norma prepares for a comeback that will never happen, Joe is busy secretly pursuing his own script ambitions with a young script girl named Betty at the studio. As cliché would dictate, Joe and Betty hook up, but not before Norma finds out and pretty much goes insane in a jealous rage. Perhaps by now, you're starting to guess how Joe ended up dead in the pool? By this time, the flashback is over, and Norma's grand house is filled with police and parasitic Hollywood reporters ready to watch her go down for murder. Having lost all touch with reality at this point, Norma believes the newsreel cameras to be the movie cameras that will film her unworthy script. Max and the police play along with Norma's delusions, Max even pretending to be the film director. As the cameras roll, Norma dramatically descends her grand staircase of her house. She pauses and makes an impromptu speech about how happy she is to be making a film again, ending with that all-too-famous Hollywood line, "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." (later altered over time into "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.")

Just like classic film noir of the age, SUNSET BOULEVARD effectively works with dark, shadowy black and white cinematography. Like Billy Wilder's DOUBLE INDEMNITY, the film shows us the dark and sunny sides of Los Angeles by bringing together both dark and light without completely separating the drama of the two. Joe's world inside Norma's mansion is a dark one, while his seemingly more down-to-earth world with Betty at the studio is a lighter one. Still, this tale of Hollywood is a dark and cold one. Norma Desmond, who was once a great lady, is a discarded relic of the past, not too unlike the female protagonist in Charles Dickens's GREAT EXPECTATIONS (that comparison is even noted by William Holden in this film). The fact that the film is told through the eyes of a dead narrator may be considered highly original or perhaps a cheap and ineffective movie stunt - you decide. Gloria Swanson's performance is both drama and tragedy at its best, reminding us of just how fragile our egos, if not our very lives can be at the hands of those who once loved us and now have no need for us any longer. Hollywood is cruel, indeed, but the town can also be seen as darkly comical through the eyes of those just trying to survive inside of it.

I'm glad I've chosen to write blogs and books instead of scripts!

Favorite line or dialogue:

Joe Gillis: "You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big."
Norma Desmond: "I am big! It's the pictures that got small!"