Sunset Blvd.

Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson and Nancy Olson
Directed by: Billy Wilder
Rating: ****-1/2


After having been a fan of the noir style and emersing myself in neo-noir films like Blade Runner/The Matrix or noir-esque dark comedies like The Big Lebowski or Fight Club I thought I would take a crack at the classic noir films and slowly but surely I've been working my way through some of them... Carol Reed's The Third Man, Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt and Roman Polanski's Chinatown is on my shelf ready to be watched... but now has the bar set pretty high after I have seen the masterpeice that is Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd.

Telling the story of mildly heralded B-movie writer named Joe Gillis (Holden) who is down on his luck and after some initial success can't sell a script to save his life (almost reminiscent of the Coen Brothers' Barton Fink character) and so while hopskotching across Hollywood trying to elude some repo men who have come for his car, he stumbles in to the dusty, old, and he thinks empty million dollar mansion of former silent movie star Norma Desmond (Swanson) who, in fact, still lives there. She mistakes Gillis for a delivery man who is dropping off a coffin for her recently desceased chimpanzee. Gillis admits his mistake and is in a hurry to get out of this insane woman's house, but when he mentions that he's a writer, Ms. Desmond ropes him in to writing the script for her big "don't call it a comeback" return to celluloid.

Both leads put on magnificent performances with Gillis as the subdued but cutthroat writer trying to make it in Hollywood, but it's Gloria Swanson, a former silent film actress herself, who goes so close to edge of parody in her portrail of a spurned actress that was tossed aside in the era of the "talkies" like many other actresses in Hollywood. What is so interesting about this character, who IS a character in the true sense of the word, is how sympathetic you are of her situation because everyone has that dream to be a Hollywood star and make it big. Swanson's over the top acting is also the perfect foil for the low-key Gillis who seemingly is in the same trappings as the woman who has trapped him in her home. There is a very Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery performance where melancholy is too nice of a word.

What also makes Sunset Blvd. so captivating is how much personal baggage is brought in to the film through on location shooting and cameos from big-name players like Cecil B. DeMille, Buster Keaton and H.B. Warner to make it a truely scathing take on the Hollywood machine mindset. Even Max ,the well meaning but ultimately damning butler/former director/former husband of Norma Desmond, played by former director Eric von Stroheim (who actually directed Swanson in the film that killed her career) brings so much truth to the words he speaks both when trying to protect Desmond from rejection and from the facade that had been put on by Gillis in trying to take advantage of his vein and lonely employer.

There were just so many small touches, mainly in the set design of Desmond's mansion, that really impacted the final message of the film including the home movie theater, the numerous silent-era pictures of the 50-something Desmond and turn on a dime reactions of Norma Desmond when she hears something she doesn't like or doesn't want to believe create a suspenseful atmosphere that is ultimately just a very sad look at how brutal Hollywood can be. A message that is captured perfectly in the haunting ending sequence of Swanson descending the staircase of her mansion, putting on her actress charm which now reeks with delusions of grandeur, as she is being led to a police car with news crews shooting. Her final lines as the audience is treated (or subjected) to a first person shot of Desmond creeping toward the camera lense are true to the film's dark look at the optimism of the American dream: "Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close up."

This film left me more chilled to the bone and yet hopelessly captivated more than most horror or suspense films I have seen. Just, the Citizen Kane-like character of Norma Desmond is so sympathetic but at the same time horribly dangerous (as Gillis, our narrator explains throughout his encounters including one very creepy New Years Party scene) that it just terrifies you that you could understand what she's been through and what she is going through having to deal with rejection. In an era of idol worship where stars are on a constant make or break pedastal, this film is as impactful and unwaveringly revealing as it was over 50 years ago.

Acting: *****
Teriffic performances all around from the leading actor and actress to the supporting cast to the extras. Obviously the major props here go to Swanson and Holden which is why the won the Golden Globes that year. Enough has been said about the acting in this film by myself and countless others already though, so no need to go in to it further.

Plot: ****
The plot for Sunset Blvd. is very good... although I felt it could have been a bit tighter in some places. The direction was near perfection to get the message across alright in the end, and key scenes in the plot were neccessary to get the desired effect in the end... although I think the (poor) attempt to hide the otherwise shocking ending through the opening narration was handeled badly (although the opening scene itself was magnificently shot) and the scene where we find out how the opening came to be (in classic noir fashion) almost seemed too forced. I thought it could have been more subtle.

Cinematography: *****
Another perfect example of art direction/cinematography/set design in this film. Just absolutely fabulous from the home movie scene where Norma Desmond's nosferatu-style shadow is cast on the screen while she's grabbing at the projecton light as if to attempt to hold it in her hands all the way to the perfectly shot staircase sequence. There was nothing at all to nitpick about how the film unfolded visually.

Direction: ****-1/2
Billy Wilder is a great director as evidenced by his track record of films before and after Sunset Blvd. (Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, Sabrina, Some Like it Hot) and there is nothing to discredit that assessment in Sunset Blvd. his casting choices, his choice of scenes, his use of dissolves and camera shot changes were all planned to their full effect. I think some of the story appeard a bit muddled in places and could have been tightened which, considering he helped write the script, falls on his head which is why he doesn't get a five-star rating.

Entertainment Value: ****-1/2
Entertaining is a word that you really can't use when describing Sunset Blvd... because of how dark and cynical its world view is. However, through all of the peices that described above, Sunset Blvd. is certainly CAPTIVATING and not only is it captivating, but it is so very strongly held together through getting the audience to be lost in the mood, the characters, the plot, and the meaning behind the story. There are parts of the film however that had me nervous as to whether or not I could keep being involved... but I think upon a second viewing, this movie will captivate me fully for the enitre 1 hour and 50 minutes.

I highly reccomend this film not only for noir fans, or even enthusiasts about film... but anyone who has ever had the dream of going to Hollywood, or has wished for even a second to be like the movie stars on television, Sunset Blvd. will shatter that dream in to millions of little peices just like the shattered psyche of Norma Desmond. This is a much darker, must more scathing Citizen Kane and, in my opinion, more effective and rewarding as a film.

So with those explinations we get these final ratings:

Acting: *****
Plot: ****
Cinematography: *****
Direction: ****-1/2
Entertainment Value: ****-1/2

and the final total of ****-1/2 out of 5 for Sunset Blvd.