Sunset Blvd. (1950)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Charles Brackett (written by) &
Billy Wilder (written by) ...

Release Date:

25 August 1950 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

A Hollywood Story

Plot:

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Mansion | Hollywood | Director | Madness

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

William Holden	...	Joseph C. 'Joe' Gillis
Gloria Swanson	...	Norma Desmond
Erich von Stroheim	...	Max Von Mayerling
Nancy Olson	...	Betty Schaefer
Fred Clark	...	Sheldrake
Lloyd Gough	...	Morino
Jack Webb	...	Artie Green
Franklyn Farnum	...	Undertaker - Chimp's Funeral
Larry J. Blake	...	First Finance Man (as Larry Blake)
Charles Dayton	...	Second Finance Man
Cecil B. DeMille	...	Himself
Hedda Hopper	...	Herself
Buster Keaton	...	Himself - Bridge Player
Anna Q. Nilsson	...	Herself - Bridge Player
H.B. Warner	...	Himself - Bridge Player

Also Known As:

Sunset Boulevard (UK) (USA) (alternative spelling)
A Can of Beans (USA) (fake working title)
Boulevard du crépuscule (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
El ocaso de una vida (Argentina) (Mexico) (Uruguay) [es]
Crepúsculo dos Deuses (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Alkony sugárút (Hungary) [hu]
Auringonlaskun katu (Finland) [fi]
Boulevard der Dämmerung (West Germany) [de]
Bulevar sumraka (Serbia) [sr]
Bulwar zachodzacego slonca (Poland) [pl]
De laan der schimmen (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
El crepúsculo de los dioses (Spain) [es]
El ocaso de una estrella (Argentina) (dubbed version) [es]
Sunset Boulevard (Denmark) [da]
Sunset Boulevard (Sweden) [sv]
Sunset Boulevard (Austria) [de]
Viale del tramonto (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

110 min | Argentina:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Hungary:14 | Brazil:Livre | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 (re-rating) (1982) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #13955) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Alto-Nido Apartments -1851 N. Ivar Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Billy Wilder wanted a fresh face for the part of Betty Schaefer. The part was only Nancy Olson's second film appearance.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Norma Desmond drives through the Paramount gate, Jonesy, the guard who let her in, dials his phone and speaks into the phone, asking for "stage 18" before the phone's dial has even returned to zero.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Joe Gillis: Yes, this is Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, California. It's about 5 0'clock in the morning. That's the homicide squad, complete with detectives and newspaper men.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "3rd Rock from the Sun: Fifteen Minutes of Dick (#2.23)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor, BWV 565

They Don't Make 'Em Like This Anymore

This is such a great film on so many levels I can't really settle on where to begin. It is so beautifully shot (in that stark black/white that only nitrate negative could achieve), has a witty, clever and extremely well-written script, features some of the best acting in film's history, acrobatically balances the main plot/subplots with expert precision, contains some of the best characters on celluloid, has many true-to-life parallels (Swanson's career/real life cameos/DeMille's involvement/etc) and is peppered with such great dialogue/narration that today's film writers should take note. If that weren't enough, there's even a cameo by silent film great Buster Keaton (among others).

One of the most appealing aspects of this film is how, in the story, an aging, forgotten star is trying to recapture a bygone era (the silent film era). What's interesting is that now, so many years later, we're looking back at her looking back. To present day viewers, Gloria Swanson of the 1950's is a long forgotten lost gem and to experience her own longing for the 1920's is especially captivating (and a little chilling, I might add). I don't think this film could have had that same effect when it debuted and maybe this added dimension holds so much more appeal for today's audiences. We all know that nothing lasts forever, but we don't often consider the abandoned participants; much like the veterans of a past war.

In response to the famous Swanson line (while watching one of her silent films): "...we didn't need dialogue; we had faces", I'd like to also add that they "didn't need movies; they had films."

They truly don't make them like this anymore. 10/10