I really enjoyed this film because of its realism. The seamy and unclean underside of "Hollywood" is given flesh and blood by both William Holden in his calculating manipulation and Gloria Swanson by her cold, grasping desperation. The technique of telling the story from the viewpoint of William Holden's character, who has already paid the price of his cynicism and greed, was so effective as to be priceless. What was best, for me however, was the sympathy that both the lead characters managed to evoke in spite of their obvious and outrageous flaws. What could be more realistic, pitiful, but superbly tragic than the butler writing phony fan letters to his faded star employer? The fact that Sunset Boulevard was filmed in black and white I believe added to the power of the acting and the effectiveness of the narrative in the sense that it lent a grimy aspect to what was truly a dirty little story of personal failure. I also believe that because it was in black and white, I was never distracted by the scenery or the beauty of the sets and I was able to concentrate on the central aspects of the acting of William Holden and Gloria Swanson and the story they were portraying. This was one of the greatest movies of all time!
Review of Sunset Boulevard
