Sunset Boulevard (1950) | |
| Director(s) | Billy Wilder |
| Producer(s) | Charles Brackett |
| Top Genres | Drama, Film Noir |
| Top Topics | Fame |
Featured Cast:
Sunset Boulevard Overview:
Sunset Boulevard (1950) was a Drama - Film Noir Film directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Charles Brackett.
SYNOPSIS
Wilder's acid-etched portrait of Hollywood must be placed at the top of any classic-movie fan's required-viewing list. From the macabre opening scene, which establishes the film's narrator as a dead man, through Swanson's final, sweeping exit, there is not a frame or line out of place. B-movie screenwriter Holden floats facedown in a pool as he begins the story of his demise. Ditching his about-to-be-repossessed car in a Hollywood mansion's driveway, Holden wanders the premises until he's mistaken for the undertaker meant to preside at a funeral for aging silent-film queen Swanson's pet monkey. When she discovers that Holden is instead a screenwriter, Swanson envelops him in a web of gifts, flattery, money, and curiosity that makes Holden the monkey's stand-in. Holden continues to feed Swanson's delusions, aided by her faithful butler-former director-former husband von Stroheim, until he can't find a way out - even when studio script reader Olson offers him her heart and help with a screenplay. Out of many resonant moments, the highlights include the weekly card game with silent-era stars Keaton, Anna O. Nilsson, and H. B. Warner; Swanson's viewings of her own performance in Queen Kelly, a disastrous silent picture actually directed by von Stroheim; and Swanson's slow march down the grand staircase, fully lost in her past, as her eloquent face portrays all the elation and fear that lead to the film's last line, "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up now."
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.Sunset Boulevard was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1989.
Academy Awards 1950 --- Ceremony Number 23 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Actor | William Holden | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor | Erich von Stroheim | Nominated |
| Best Actress | Gloria Swanson | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actress | Nancy Olson | Nominated |
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction: Hans Dreier, John Meehan; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer | Won |
| Best Cinematography | John F. Seitz | Nominated |
| Best Director | Billy Wilder | Nominated |
| Best Film Editing | Arthur Schmidt, Doane Harrison | Nominated |
| Best Music - Scoring | Franz Waxman | Won |
| Best Picture | Paramount | Nominated |
| Best Writing | Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D. M. Marshman, Jr. | Won |
BlogHub Articles:
William Holden and Gloria Swanson are prisoners of Sunset Boulevard
By Stephen Reginald on Nov 7, 2023 From Classic Movie ManWilliam Holden and Gloria Swanson are prisoners of Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard (1950) is an American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, and Eric von Stroheim. The screenplay was written by Charles Brackett, Wilder, and D. M. Marshman Jr. The su... Read full article
Sunset Boulevard (1950, Billy Wilder)
By Andrew Wickliffe on Jun 15, 2018 From The Stop ButtonThe third act of Sunset Boulevard just gets darker and darker. The film digs down into one level, then finds another, then another, then maybe even another. Director Wilder and co-writers Charles Brackett and D.M. Marshman Jr. find a way to fully condemn the film?s setting?Hollywood, with Paramount ... Read full article
Win Tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Sunset Boulevard” (Giveaway runs through April 28)
By Aurora Bugallo on Apr 6, 2018 From Classic Movie Hub BlogWin tickets to see “Sunset Boulevard” on the big screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun May 13 and Wed May 16! “They took the idols and smashed them, the Fairbankses, the Gilberts, the Valentinos! And who’ve we got now? Some nobodies!” CMH continues into our?3rd year ... Read full article
1001 Classic Movies: Sunset Boulevard
By Amanda Garrett on Jan 16, 2017 From Old Hollywood FilmsSunset Boulevard (1950), starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, and Erich von Stroheim, is one of the 1001 classic movies you should see. Each Monday, I'm going to recommend a classic movie you should see (for the reasons behind the 1001 series and reviews of earlier films covered go here). Jan... Read full article
Sunset Boulevard: But What about the Monkey?
By FlickChick on Sep 9, 2016 From A Person in the DarkNo, I don't think he committed suicide..... I can’t help it. I want to know more about Norma Desmond’s monkey. Monkey, we hardly knew you..... Oh sure, we know he’s dead, and that he serves as the plot device to get Joe Gillis into Norma’s cage, but, really, who was he?... Read full article
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Quotes from
Joe Gillis: [narrating] How could she breathe in that house full of Norma Desmonds? Around every corner, Norma Desmonds... more Norma Desmonds... and still more Norma Desmonds.
Joe Gillis: Norma, you're a woman of 50, now grow up. There's nothing tragic about being 50, not unless you try to be 25.
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Facts about
The drugstore where Joe Gillis meets up with his old movie industry friends is Schwab's Pharmacy, then a real pharmacy/soda fountain at the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and Crescent Heights Blvd. in West Hollywood. It was widely known as a top Hollywood hangout for many actors, directors, writers and producers. F. Scott Fitzgerald suffered a heart attack while in Schwab's in 1940. (Contrary to legend, Lana Turner was not discovered by a talent agent in Schwab's but, rather, in a drugstore across from Hollywood High School, about three miles to the east.) Schwab's was torn down in 1988 to make way for a movie theater and a shopping center.
When Joe Gillis and Norma Desmond watch one of Norma's old silent movies, they are watching a scene from Queen Kelly, starring a young Gloria Swanson. Erich von Stroheim, who directed Swanson in Queen Kelly plays Max the butler, who serves as the projectionist in the scene. Later in the film, Max tells Joe Gillis that he was the silent movie director who discovered Norma Desmond, and put her in films. According to Billy Wilder, it was von Stroheim's idea to use a clip from Queen Kelly in Sunset Blvd., as a way of "art imitating life."
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