Sunset Blvd. (1950)

A screenwriter is hired to rework a faded silent film star's script, only to find himself developing a dangerous relationship.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder

Stars:

William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim

Top Rated Movies #56 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Holden	...	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
Larry J. Blake	...	1st Finance Man (as Larry Blake)
Charles Dayton	...	2nd Finance Man
Cecil B. DeMille	...	Cecil B. DeMille
Hedda Hopper	...	Hedda Hopper
Buster Keaton	...	Buster Keaton
Anna Q. Nilsson	...	Anna Q. Nilsson
H.B. Warner	...	H. B. Warner

Storyline

In Hollywood of the 50's, the obscure screenplay writer Joe Gillis is not able to sell his work to the studios, is full of debts and is thinking in returning to his hometown to work in an office. While trying to escape from his creditors, he has a flat tire and parks his car in a decadent mansion in Sunset Boulevard. He meets the owner and former silent-movie star Norma Desmond, who lives alone with her butler and driver Max Von Mayerling. Norma is demented and believes she will return to the cinema industry, and is protected and isolated from the world by Max, who was her director and husband in the past and still loves her. Norma proposes Joe to move to the mansion and help her in writing a screenplay for her comeback to the cinema, and the small-time writer becomes her lover and gigolo. When Joe falls in love for the young aspirant writer Betty Schaefer, Norma becomes jealous and completely insane and her madness leads to a tragic end.

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Plot Keywords:

silent film star | narrated from the grave | butler | jealousy | comeback | 

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Taglines:

A HOLLYWOOD STORY: Sensational...Daring...Unforgettable...Sunset Blvd.

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1950 (Australia)

Also Known As:

A Can of Beans

Filming Locations:

Bel-Air Country Club - 10768 Bellagio Road, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,752,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$5,123,000, 31 December 1950

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,303,175

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 104 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1998, the American Film Institute selected this as the 12th greatest film of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time.

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Goofs

When Max is telling Joe about directing Madam's first pictures, there is a bad dub of the word "sixteen". After the Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle trial and the subsequent establishment of the Hays Office to enforce the new Production Code, the producers were concerned that the original age of 14 would be considered child porn and had the line changed in post.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

The Paramount logo appears as a transparency over the opening shot. The words "Sunset Blvd." are shown stenciled on the curb of that street.

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Connections

Referenced in The X-Files: X-Cops (2000)

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Soundtracks

La Cumparsita
(1916) (uncredited)
Music by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez
Tango played by the band on New Year's Eve and danced by William Holden with Gloria Swanson

User Reviews

Better Late Than Never

Although this movie was made 8 years before I was, I saw it for the first time yesterday and I was blown away! I have spent my life missing what has just become one of my favorite movies of all time.

The acting was superb, the storyline riveting and the characters were people you could care about. Max was my personal favorite. There was a quiet, tragic dignity to him. I expected something to be revealed about him but was not prepared for the truth.

I've always liked William Holden but my experience with Gloria Swanson was limited to her brief role in "Airport 75". I will now look for more movies by her. What an expressive face.

It was fun to try to recognize some of the old time actors that were portraying themselves.

An all around excellent movie. One I truly regret having waited this long to see. But it is definitely a case of better late than never.