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Sunset Boulevard [1950]
![Sunset Boulevard [1950]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51G1D1HGGBL._SL160_.jpg)
Sunset Boulevard isn't without pathos, most notably in Erich von Stroheim's protective butler who wants only to shield his mistress from the stark truths that are massing against her. But its view of human beings at work in a ruthlessly cannibalistic industry is bleak indeed. Nobody, not even Nancy Olson's sparkily ambitious writer Betty Schaefer, is untainted. And neither are we, "those wonderful people out there in the dark". Norma might be ready for her close-up, but it's really Hollywood that's in the frame. No wonder Wilder incurred the charge of treachery from his peers. It's cinematic perfection. On the DVD: Sunset Boulevard lends itself effortlessly to a collector's edition of this quality. The film itself is presented in full-frame aspect ratio from an excellent print and the quality of the mono soundtrack is faultless: the silver screen comes to life in your living room. The extras are superb, including a commentary from film historian Ed Sikov and a making-of documentary which includes the memories of Nancy Olson. Interactive features such as the Hollywood location map add to the fun. --Piers Ford
RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £4.70 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
More than half a century after its release in 1950, Sunset Boulevard is still the most pungently unflattering portrait of Hollywood ever committed to celluloid. Billy Wilder, unequalled at combining a literate, sulphurous script with taut direction, hits his target relentlessly. The humour--and the film is rich in this, Wilder's most abundant commodity--is black indeed. Sunset Boulevard is viciously and endlessly clever. William Holden's opportunistic scriptwriter Joe Gillis, whose sellout proves fatal, is from the top drawer of film noir. Gloria Swanson's monstrously deluded Norma Desmond, the benchmark for washed-up divas, transcends parody. And her literal descent down the staircase to madness is one of the all-time great silver-screen moments.
Editorial
Special Features
Commentary by Ed Sikov
The Making of Sunset Boulevard
Theatrical Trailer
Hollywood Location Map
Photo Galleries
Original Morgue Prologue
Script Pages
Edith Head: The Paramount Years featurette
The Music of Sunset Boulevard featurette
Aspect ratio: Full Frame
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Dolby Digital mono
Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, English. Arabic, Bulgarian, Croat, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Editorial
Synopsis
Billy Wilder's masterpiece, a corrosive black comedy that remains the most memorable assault on the emptiness and vanity of the movie business, it stars William Holden as young, down-and-out screenwriter Joe Gillis. Narrated in flashbacks by the now-deceased scribe, the film unwinds the series of events that left him lying face down in a pool. Unable to sell his most recent chef-d'oeuvre, and in hock up to his eyeballs, Joe stashes his car in the driveway of what appears to be an abandoned mansion on Sunset Boulevard, while trying to elude some persistent repo men. Closer inspection reveals the decrepit property to be inhabited by grandiose former silent movie goddess Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), and her zombie-like manservant Max (Erich von Stroheim). Upon hearing that he's a writer, the lonely but still wealthy woman offers to pay him generously to stay at the house and work on her 'comeback' script on the life of Salome. Although spooked by the people and the surroundings, in desperate straits, Joe takes the job, little suspecting the madness of the netherworld he's entered. Wilder's merciless portrait of the dangers of a profession that trades in fantasy, cagily couples the cynical amorality of the never-was with the near-psychotic narcissism of the has-been to reveal the vacuity of wealth and the transience of fame.
"I'm ready for my close-up....."
Review date: 2008-02-16 Rating: 10 out of 10
She's ready, but are you ready for her? In this magnificent film, Billy Wilder bites the hands that feeds him. Gloria Swanson dazzles as desperate, faded silent movie star Norma Desmond, who is trying to claw her way back to the top after years of seclusion in her Hollywood mansion on Sunset Boulvard. However, her time has been and gone, and at fifty years old, this seems impossible. When Joe Gillis (Holden), an equally desperate screenwriter, happens upon her mansion while fleeing some debt collectors, he finds the perfect way to make some money by using Norma. However, will he be able to escape her wrath when she discovers the truth? After all, in the immortal words of Desmond, "No-one ever leaves a star, that's what makes one a star....."
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Reviews
One of the greatest films
Review date: 2008-01-24 Rating: 10 out of 10
Sunset Boulevard is rightly considered by The American Film Institute to be one of the greatest films of all time. The story of an aging actress and a young struggling writer has timeless appeal. This movie should be noted for the importance of its various settings - Norma Desmond's house, the Hollywood film studios, the writer's office - which play a very important role in the story. The choice of narrator is a particularly innovative one and makes the plot even more compelling. The acting is superb; Gloria Swanson perfectly portrays Norma Desmond's increasing narcissism and vulnerability and the inclusion of various older Hollywood stars who play a bridge game with Norma was a nice reminder of the silent era.
A TIMELESS CLASSIC
Review date: 2007-12-11 Rating: 10 out of 10
Until 1950, American films were strictly entertainment, some deeper than others. Studio executives were very protective of image and star-making. In essence, everything seemed perfect. Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and D.M. Marshman, Jr. created a stunning work of art that splits the Hollywood sign in two and exposed a dream factory for what it really is: a struggle to both gain and keep notoriety in the limelight. "Norma Desmond" and "Joe Gillis" are at opposite ends of this warped Hollywood mindset, with Gillis, played by that most cynical of actors, William Holden trying to pay the rent and Norma (Gloria Swanson) living a lie as a silent queen whose star burned "10,000 midnights ago". How a picture with such a snide look at the industry could come out in 1950 is simply mind-boggling, considering some of the light fodder that came out of Hollywood at the time. It has inspired many modern day disciples such as Altman's THE PLAYER, and Sonnenfeld's GET SHORTY, both of which took their vicious, hilarious parodies to the jugular of the movie capital of the world. SUNSET BLVD is the father of all socially oriented pictures regarding the movies and is by far the best.
The images of this beautiful black and white powerhouse are fascinating and unforgettable: the dead writer floating in a pool, eyes wide open, looking right at us at the beginning; the eerie pipe organ that plays by the breeze in the middle of one of the most deep and dustiest sets ever; the funeral ceremony of the dead monkey in Norma's courtyard ("That must have been one important chimp. The grandson of King Kong perhaps." says Holden in a delightfully crisp and wise voice-over.) Holden pulls his car into a driveway off of the boulevard that will change his life forever. He is the emblem of the struggle to get notoriety. He has only a few B Movies to his credit. Swanson as Norma Desmond is the symbol of lost fame and has become the talk of legend. What is ironic about her character is that she may be playing herself in an odd way. She WAS an actual silent star whose career went down the tubes after the talkies came about. Her madness combined with Holden's last drop of naiveté combine to give us one of the most electrifying "give and take" between actors I've ever witnessed.
Both lead parts were passed over by several actors. Holden was eventually forced into it as a contract player. How could you pass on such a script? Even "wax figures" (as Holden calls them) Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson come to Norma's to play bridge, of course being Hollywood outcasts themselves, after the invention of sound in film. Some of the dialogue takes a swing at actual movies and people (GONE WITH THE WIND, Zanuck, Menjou). This must have brought the house down in Hollywood screening rooms throughout the town. Louis B. Mayer even condemned Billy Wilder for "ruining the industry". The film is sad and darkly humorous depicting the antics of Norma, who is quite insane, and Holden who is going along with what Norma is giving him, but has plans of his own. Another wax figure still alive and kicking in 1950 appears as himself in an important role. Cecil B. Demille, who once directed Norma/Gloria back in the silent heyday, tries to set her straight, telling her pictures have "changed". They had indeed, especially after this searing comment on celebrity status. I wonder if they knew what they were creating while making this gem.
Scenes are shot right on the lot of Paramount Studios (even the front gate), and Norma's mansion is an unforgettable piece of history and gloom with a floor that "Valentino once danced on." There is so much to discuss, but little to enlighten you on how great SUNSET BLVD is without you seeing it. Just two years later, films began to crop up with the same tainted view of Hollywood, most with varying degrees of deception. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, one of the all-time entertainments quietly had a nasty taste in its mouth regarding celebrity and the invention of sound movies. Watch these films closely and see the skeletons of the modern Hollywood bash films.
RATING: 10 of 10
Love this
Review date: 2007-07-07 Rating: 10 out of 10
Saw for first time on telly as a little boy and it's followed me since. I've seen thousands of films I this is one of them I remember best. A must own for film freaks! Great story and adaption. Great story and acting. A revolution (for it's time) in storytelling.
Timeless classic still shocking.
Review date: 2007-01-20 Rating: 10 out of 10
I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone who hasn't seen this film but suffice to say the story is still fascinating and disturbing today, i can only wonder how if was percieved when it was released. You have to be a real black and white movie buff to spot all the cameos, I admit I don't know who a lot of the people are, but it doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the film. When you take a truely original script, brilliantly shot, which gives a beautiful picture of hollywood in the 40s/50s you end up with a film lovers dream.
Interestingly Sam Mendes thanked Billy Wilder when he received his Oscar for American Beauty. When you see this film it will be clear to see why, this film was clearly a major influence. It's definately in my top 5 films of all time.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Nancy Olson
Erich von Stroheim
William Holden
Gloria Swanson
Fred Clark
Creators:
William Holden (Primary Contributor)
Gloria Swanson (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment
EAN: 5014437806635
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2003-04-07
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 105 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1950-08-04
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: Bulgarian (Subtitled)
Language: Czech (Subtitled)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: Hebrew (Subtitled)
Language: Hungarian (Subtitled)
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Language: Italian (Subtitled)
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Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: German (Dubbed)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)