Sunset Boulevard (film)
"Sunset Boulevard" is a classic film directed by Billy Wilder, featuring the iconic Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a reclusive silent film star who struggles to accept her faded glory. The narrative follows Joe Gillis, played by William Holden, a struggling screenwriter who becomes entangled in Desmond's delusions of a comeback. As he takes refuge in her decaying mansion, the dynamic between them shifts from professional to romantic, despite the film's limitations on explicit content. The story unfolds with a dark twist, leading to tragedy as Desmond's dreams of returning to the silver screen culminate in violence. The film is notable for its unique narrative style, as it is told from Gillis's perspective, with the audience unaware of his death until the conclusion. Although it received critical acclaim and multiple Academy Award nominations, "Sunset Boulevard" faced harsh criticism in Hollywood and struggled to attract mainstream audiences. Its exploration of the darker sides of fame and ambition has cemented its place in cinematic history, influencing subsequent films and even inspiring a successful musical adaptation by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Sunset Boulevard (film)
Identification Film about Hollywood
Date Released in 1950
Director Billy Wilder
Sunset Boulevard was the first major film to show the broken dreams and thwarted ambitions underlying the Hollywood film industry.
Key Figures
Billy Wilder (1906-2002), film director
Written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D. M. Marshman, Jr., Sunset Boulevard featured film legend Gloria Swanson playing the character of faded silent film star Norma Desmond. Desmond refuses to see that time and change have destroyed her career. Her illusions are abetted by her servant, Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim). Into her gloomy Sunset Boulevard mansion comes Joe Gillis (William Holden ), a failed scriptwriter fleeing from creditors. Desmond supports him in the hope that he can write a script that will enable her to make a spectacular comeback in films. He becomes her lover, though censorship prohibited specific sexual references. A miscommunication convinces Desmond that director Cecil B. DeMille (played by DeMille himself) will give her a starring role, which proves to be another of her illusions. When Gillis tries to escape her, her hopes of perpetual fame and glamour are finally threatened, and she kills him. (An unusual feature of the film is that it is narrated by Gillis, who audiences do not learn is already dead until the film ends.)
Impact
A critical success in metropolitan areas and abroad, Sunset Boulevard, with its emphasis on the illusions and despair underlying American lust for glamour and fame, did not attract mainstream audiences and was harshly criticized in Hollywood. It was nominated for Academy Awards in eleven categories, including best motion picture and best director, but won in only three. However, it has had a lasting influence on later films about Hollywood and on other forms of entertainment. Stage director Andrew Lloyd Webber opened his own musical version of the story in 1993.
Bibliography
Perry, George. “Sunset Boulevard”: From Movie to Musical. New York: Henry Holt, 1993. First seventy-nine pages provide a richly illustrated study of film, its makers, and its background.
Sikov, Ed. On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder. New York: Hyperion, 1998. This well-researched volume contains detailed information about the film.
Staggs, Sam. Close-Up on “Sunset Boulevard”: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002. Staggs provides a detailed study of the creative and technical talents behind the film.