Sunset Boulevard

 

Moviedrome Introduction

Film Details

Release Date: 1950

Director: Billy Wilder

Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond
William Holden as Joe Gillis
Nancy Olson as Betty Schaefer
Erich von Stroheim as Max von Mayerling

Plot Summary

The film opens with a corpse floating in a swimming pool—our narrator, Joe Gillis (William Holden), a struggling screenwriter who tells us how he got there. While fleeing debt collectors, Joe stumbles into the crumbling mansion of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a former silent film star who refuses to accept that her career is over. She hires him to rewrite a screenplay she believes will mark her triumphant return to the screen, but Joe soon realizes she is lost in a delusion. Trapped by financial dependence and her growing obsession, he begins an affair with her, despite his feelings for young script reader Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson).

As Joe tries to break free, Norma’s jealousy spirals into violence. She shoots him as he attempts to leave, sending him to his doom in the mansion’s pool. The film ends in a chilling, surreal moment—Norma, now fully unhinged, mistakes the news cameras for a film crew, delivering her famous final line: “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”

Personal History

Aware but never watched.

Current Review

Season 2 of Moviedrome comes to an end. Not 100% successfully, but usually of interest. I would much rather have a film like this than the 1980s Sci-Fi which have disappeared into obscurity.

This is a Gothic, norish drama. Like most of the 1950s films, we start at the end - in this case, a corpse floating in a pool - before going back to tell the story. A penniless scriptwriter, William Holden, tries to hide his finance car in a dilapidated mansion. Strangely, it is a woman expecting help in burying a dead chimp. I am sure there is some symbolism here. 

The woman is an unhinged former silent movie star, living with her loyal butler in faded glory. Once she realises Holden is a screenwriter, she enlists his help in developing a script for Cecil De Mille. She falls in love with him, but the age difference (barely noticeable from looks alone - he is 31 she is 50) ultimately ends in disaster.

Despite never having seen it - the quotes are world famous. Its certainly interesting and like nothing else. Some things just don't make sense though. The house and gardens are decrepit, yet Norma has so much money to chuck around dressing Joe and organising parties that only the two attend.

Gloria Swanson seems perfectly cast. There must be an autobiography out there. A quick look at wiki and she had 6 husbands and was a silent movie star herself.

Incredibly for a film 75 years old at the time of watching, Nancy Olson is still alive.

Quirky Facts

According to Gloria Swanson's daughter, Michelle Amon, her mother stayed in character throughout the entire shoot, even speaking like Norma Desmond when she arrived home in the evening after filming. On the last day of shooting, Swanson drove back to the house she, her mother and daughter shared during production, announcing "there were only three of us in it now, meaning that Norma Desmond had taken her leave

The butler was a real life director - directing Gloria Swanson in one her 1920s films - the very film shown in one of the scenes.

David Lynch's favourite movie. Probably for the chimp scene.

Cecil B. DeMille appears in the film on a studio set. This was the actual set of Samson and Delilah (1949), which de Mille was making at the time.

The photos of the young Norma Desmond that decorate the house are all genuine publicity photos from Gloria Swanson's heyday.

Quotes

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.

Joe Gillis: I didn't know you were planning a comeback.
Norma Desmond: I hate that word. It's a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen.

[last lines]
Norma Desmond: [to newsreel camera] And I promise you I'll never desert you again because after 'Salome' we'll make another picture and another picture. You see, this is my life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, and the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!... All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.

Future Inspiration

The top 5 Billy Wilder Films (with one already watched in Moviedrome) are;

• Sunset Boulevard (1950) – Dark Hollywood noir about fading stardom and obsession.
• Some Like It Hot (1959) – Classic screwball comedy with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe.
• The Apartment (1960) – Bittersweet romantic comedy-drama about corporate ambition and loneliness.
• Double Indemnity (1944) – Quintessential film noir with murder, betrayal, and sharp dialogue.
• Ace in the Hole (1951) – Cynical media satire starring Kirk Douglas as a ruthless journalist.

Films
Mulholland Drive (2001) – David Lynch’s surreal neo-noir explores Hollywood dreams turned nightmares, much like Sunset Boulevard.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) – A gothic tale of two aging former stars trapped in a decaying mansion, echoing Norma Desmond’s isolation.

Maps to the Stars (2014) – David Cronenberg’s satirical drama about washed-up Hollywood figures facing psychological breakdowns.

TV Series - American Horror Story - Delicate.

Books;

Feel that Swanson on Swanson, her autobiography, should be read. If only to understand the husband situation.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – A fictional Hollywood icon’s dramatic life story, filled with secrets and longing for lost fame.

Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger – A controversial book exposing dark Hollywood scandals, much like Sunset Boulevard's critique of the industry.