Sunset Boulevard 1950
I feel like I tried to watch this movie one time and quickly gave up due to Gloria Swanson's over-the-top portrayal. But watching it for real this time, I'm not sure what happened, because Swanson doesn't show up for a while. Instead the movie is really more about William Holden's character, Joe Gillis, a struggling Hollywood writer who has been murdered in the opening scene. I like that story better than the crazed caricature of Swanson's Norma Desmond. It is more relatable. Not that Swanson doesn't do a superb job as Desmond, a faded star washed up for decades at the horrible old age of fifty. In fact, because she is only 50, she actually looks better than I thought, even though Swanson's career paralleled that of Desmond, getting her start in silent films.
Co-writer and director Billy Wilder has always been a mixed bag for me. I have found movies of his that I liked, but I still feel like he was overrated, churning out tons of movies, many of lesser quality, while hitting gold on a few. This movie has a lot of narration by Holden telling the story, which is a little annoying and overly easy. The story itself is fairly simple, but the two characters are great. Part of the acclaim for the movie has to be Hollywood loving movies about Hollywood, which still happens today with movies like La La Land, Mank, or even The Fabelmans. But I think the lasting reputation of this movie is ensured by the fact that it portrayed something that was really going on in Hollwood at that time. I don't want to spoil the movie, but if you have seen it and don't know the history of the actor playing Max, definitely look him up. Then you have Buster Keaton and Cecil B. DeMille as themselves, which is just phenomenal to see. No doubt this movie probably hit a little too close to home for the comfort of some Hollywood legends, and maybe still serves as a warning to those who are huge today.
Despite the great characters and some of the dark and darkly comical elements of the movie, I still feel like the movie has enough weaknesses, to drop it to an A-, though it is definitely required watching for any film buff.
Written: 23 Sep 2023
Owned on: Digital