---
product_id: 323111951
title: "Sunset Boulevard [Blu-ray] [1950] [Region Free]"
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reviews_count: 7
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---

# Sunset Boulevard [Blu-ray] [1950] [Region Free]

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## Description

Intense, enthralling, and unforgettable, Sunset Boulevard stars Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a faded silent-movie star, and William Holden as Joe Gillis, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter whom she enlists to help her make her triumphant "return to the screen". Directed and co-written by acclaimed filmmaker Billy Wilder, this mesmerising Hollywood classic won three Academy Awards®.Special Features: Sunset Boulevard: The BeginningSunset Boulevard: A Look BackThe Noir Side of Sunset BoulevardSunset Boulevard Becomes a ClassicTwo Sides of Ms. SwansonStories of Sunset BoulevardMad About the Boy: A Portrait of William HoldenRecording Sunset BoulevardThe City of Sunset BoulevardFranz Waxman and the Music of Sunset BoulevardMorgue Prologue Script PagesDeleted Scene: The Paramount Don't Want Me BluesHollywood Location MapBehind the Gates: The LotEdith Head: The Paramount YearsParamount in the 50sGalleries: Production, The Movie, PublicityTheatrical Trailer

Review: PCC version: Absolutely magnificent! A true classic featuring wonderful performances, a well-written story! - n 1950, director Billy Wilder who ha shad a string of cinema hits such as "Double Indemnity", "The Lost Weekend", "A Foreign Affair" began work on his next film "Sunset Boulevard" with writers Charles Brackett ("A Foreign Affair, "The Lost Weekend", "Ninotchka") and D.M. Marshman Jr. ("Taxi", "Second Chance"). For Wilder, it was his interest in how life has treated the talents of the silent film era. After all, it was known that many silent film stars were unable to transition to film when the "talkies" began. Many, who were so popular suddenly saw their careers ended abruptly. So, Wilder wrote a screenplay and an idea from Brackett in looking at Hollywood through the eyes of a forgotten silent-film star who wants to return to the big screen. It was all about finding the key components to take part in the film and thus Gloria Swanson (known for work in shaping Hollywood, challenging the "Hay's Code" with her 1928 film "Sadie Thomson" and her affair with Joseph P. Kennedy), who appeared in many silent films, was chosen as the main actress. William Holden ("Network", "Stalag 17', "Picnic"), former MGM director/actor/writer Erich von Stroheim ("Greed", "The Merry Widdow", "The Great Gabbo"), Nancy Olson ("Portrait of Jenny", "Union Station", "Pollyanna") and would also feature appearances by famous Golden Era director Cecil B. DeMille, former silent stars Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson and H.B. Warner. The film would earn eleven Academy Award nominations (winner of three), included in the American Film Institute's 100 best American films of the 20th Century (#12) and entered in the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress in 1989 for being deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". VIDEO & AUDIO: If there is one thing to say about the Paramount "CENTENNIAL COLLECTION" releases, many of these classic films have all been digitally remastered and look absolutely magnificent. These films containing the "CENTENNIAL COLLECTION" moniker are the definitive versions to own as they tend to have more features added and overall, like how CRITERION COLLECTIONS have spotlighted on films worldwide and have given top treatment, Paramount has done the same with several of their classic films. With that being said, I can only wish that a Blu-ray high definition transfer is in the works for these classic films because if they have been through a process of remastering, one can only expect how phenomenal these will look via HD. For now, "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection" is only available via DVD but this new version is remastered, in fullcreen and features Dolby Digital English/French and Spanish mono. The picture quality for a DVD is actually quite clean for a film over 50-years-old. The film looks absolutely great with blacks nice and deep, grays and whites are vibrant. With the film already remastered in HD, I really hope that Paramount is considering a Blu-ray release of this title. Overall, "Sunset Boulevard" has been given special treatment and fans of the film will not be disappointed. SPECIAL FEATURES: "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection" comes with special features on two discs. Here is what to expect on both discs: DISC 1: * Commentary by Ed Sikov - The author of "On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder". A well-done commentary that features a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stories of certain scenes, certain dialogue and more. DISC 2: * Sunset Boulevard: The Beginning - (22:45) How "Sunset Boulevard" the film came to be. From writing the script and adapting it to film and also the talent of Billy Wilder. * The Noir Side of Sunset Boulevard by Joseph Wambaugh - (14:19) Mystery writer Joseph Wambaugh talks about "Sunset Boulevard" and how the film that caught his attention and the film's dark/noir side. * Sunset Boulevard Becomes a Classic - (14:28) Interview with critic Andrew Sarris who talks about why he enjoyed "Sunset Boulevard". Featuring interviews with the cast of the film, Glenn Close who played Norma Desmond on the Broadway adaptation of "Sunset Boulevard" and more. * Two Sides of Ms. Swanson - (10:35) A featurette about Gloria Swanson and interviews with Brook Anderson (granddaughter of Gloria Swanson) who talks about her grandmother and interviews with her fellow co-actors who worked with her on other films and more. * Stories of Sunset Boulevard - (11:20) The making of "Sunset Boulevard", discussion about the original opening sequences, cast interviews and more. * Mad About the Boy: A Portrait of William Holden - (11:12) A featurette about the actor William Holden and how he was cast and discussion of his various films. * Recording Sunset Boulevard - (5:51) A featurette about the musical score of "Sunset Boulevard". * The City of Sunset Boulevard - (5:36) A featurette about "Sunset Boulevard" and the significance of the area. * Morgue Prologue Script Pages - The original cut of the film featured a different opening. Instead of the pool opening, it was a morgue prologue. The following are the two existing versions of the script from the original monologue. You can view the script and also the original, uncut shots (without audio). * Franx Waxman and the Music of Sunset Boulevard - (14:28) Franz Waxman's son John talks about his father and the music of "Sunset Boulevard". * Behind the Gates: The Lot - (5:05) Interviews with former producers who talk about their memories of Paramount Pictures in the earlier years. * Hollywood Location Map - A map of Hollywood in which people can learn about where the characters lived and where certain places such as Paramount Pictures, Schwab's Drug Store and Getty's mansion were located. When you click on the location, you get video and audio about the significance of these areas and what happened to these locations now. * Edith Head: The Paramount Years - (13:43) A featurette on famous Paramount fashion designer - Edith Head. * Paramount in the '50s - (9:36) A featurette about Paramount in the 1950's. Featuring popular films from the Paramount catalog. * Original Theatrical Trailer - (3:16) The unremastered original theatrical trailer. * Galleries - Using your remote, viewers can cycle through images from production, the movie or publicity. Included with the set is an 8-page guide about the directors and talent of the film. JUDGMENT CALL: "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection #1' was a magnificent start to the Paramount Centennial Collection. Following the steps of the Criterion Collection, Paramount has released a total of nine films (to this date) in a pretty slick presentation, bundled with many special features and the remastering in HD is phenomenal. For a classic film such as "Sunset Boulevard" which has been released in 2002 and packaged in the first Billy Wilder DVD collection, suffice to say that this Paramount Centennial Collection is the version you must own, if you are a fan of the film. With over a dozen special features, Paramount really went all out with this release and it shows. Finding classic interviews with the cast, interviewing family members and loved ones of the talent, finding the original deleted footage...I'm truly in awe with how much was put into this DVD release. With its remastering in HD, one may wonder if Paramount will be preparing a Blu-ray release. "Sunset Boulevard" is just a classic film that features magnificent performances by Gloria Swanson and William Holden. The fact that Billy Wilder and his fellow writers took on a film like this and made it feel authentic by casting real life silent film star Gloria Swanson and Cecil B. DeMille (who directed Swanson's silent films back then) plus bringing in former silent stars Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson and H.B. Warner is amazing. But to create a film based on the life of a former silent film star and just exploring that side of life of these forgotten stars is quite interesting. I like how the film was dark, noir-ish but at the same time, really eerie. To see how Norma Desmond just grappling on to the character of Joe is quite obsessive and disturbing. What I found interesting is that in modern films, the last time I felt this eeriness from a female character was Glenn Close as Alex Forrest in the film "Fatal Attraction" and coincidentally, Close played the character of Norma Desmond in the Broadway adaptation of the film with such rave reviews. Needless to say, the performance by Gloria Swanson as the silent film star who just can't let go of the limelight and is totally enveloped by her past life is just so creepy to watch, your just captivated to the screen and wait and see if Joe can escape this prison that he subjected himself into. And of course, the bombshell dropped by Erich von Stroheim's character Max, is indeed a shocker. As a silent film fan, you often read how many of these talents of the Silent Era (and some from the Golden Era) have shut themselves off in society and became recluse. Granted, not everyone was as bad as the character as Norma Desmond but makes you wonder how many silent film talents have dealt with losing their careers when audio became part of films. We know that there are stars such as Fatty Arbuckle, Louise Brooks, who were literally forgotten and some movie studios actually have done them wrong after these talents have put so much into the creation of this Hollywood system. So, it was very interesting to see how certain silent film stars especially Louis Mayer reacted to the film. Mayer was infuriated by the film and at Billy Wilder but of course, Billy Wilder had the better end of the deal creating many more magnificent films after "Sunset Boulevard". I can go on an on about how well the story was written, how magnificent the performances are and how superb this DVD release is. But I think you got the picture. "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection", the first in the Centennial Collection series is highly recommended!
Review: Ingenious! - It would be tempting to call Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard the best film ever made about a fading star (it certainly would be in my top five); it would also be tempting to call it the best film ever made about horrible screenwriting and moviemaking. Part of the reason why the film is great is because it's both. It is also a great film noir, working as a mystery as well as a satire and a scathing attack on Hollywood. Even some of the lesser-loved parts of the film attack the system in a harsh, cruel way that would never get by in today's industry (it barely got tolerated by peers in 1950). As with Wilder's earlier masterpiece Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard begins where the story ends: but instead of a man having just murdered someone, a man has been murdered, ironically dying in a swimming pool he always wanted. The man, Joe Gillis (William Holden), was in fact a screenwriter from Paramount Pictures; nobody really, just a couple of B-pictures to his credit. When we meet him, he's in financial trouble. He hasn't paid his rent for three months, and now the officials have come for his car. Desperate, he turns to his agent, his friend Artie Green, and the head of the studio; none of them would give him the amount of money he needed. Finally, Joe ends up in a car chase with the officials and gets a flat tire. He turns into a driveway of a mansion that looked deserted. In fact, it belonged to an old silent movie queen, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), who was planning a big return with her former director, Cecil B. DeMille. Reading her awful script, Joe takes a job on patching it up in time to take it to the studio, all the while staying at her mansion, having had his rent paid and his possessions brought to the house by her servant, Max (Erich von Stroheim). Just as he begins to feel suffocated in that glamorous prison, a hopeful writer named Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson) convinces Joe to write a script with her, keeping it a secret from both Norma and Max. I've now seen the film four times, and each time I like it more and more. Most of that, I think, has to do with the quality of the writing. It approaches a level of cynicism that no one would dare write these days. Writers these days are too safe and self-conscious. Billy Wilder did not fall into that trap. Along with fellow writer Charles Brackett (with whom he co-authored the Best Picture winner The Lost Weekend), Wilder knew no restraints, no restrictions. He wrote what he wanted, and the quality shows up on the screen. Sunset Boulevard has a miraculous screenplay, certainly one of the best ever written. Not only is the dialogue top-notch, but the characters are all superbly written: a cynic who feels he's all washed up, a gentleman whose loyalty goes beyond marriage, and a spirited young woman who has a dream of writing pictures. Then there's Norma Desmond. In real life, she and actress Gloria Swanson shared many of the same life events: both were actresses in the silent film era, both had several films directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and both had not made the transition to talkies well. The difference is that Swanson took the acceptance, and moved into radio and television. Norma didn't, saying, "We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!" Roger Ebert claimed that one could not know the history of silent film unless they know the face of Renee Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc. The same thing, I think, applies here: one does not know the history of film unless they know the face of Gloria Swanson, and more importantly, Norma Desmond. In Sunset Boulevard, she not only exemplifies a towering actress of the sound era with her booming voice, but also a silent film actress with the mystic qualities of her face. Note how in the final shot after she famously says "All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup", the camera slowly moves in on Swanson and she gives a look that is incredibly haunting: that of a psychotic beauty. Like in Casablanca, the art direction and cinematography in Sunset Boulevard are ageless. It would win an Oscar for the latter category (in the black-and-white half), and the cinematography was nominated as well. The director of photography, John F. Seitz, worked with Wilder on a number of films, and was also nominated for his work on Double Indemnity. In both films, the feel he creates is misty (it should be that way, as both are film noirs at the top of their class), whether it is the swimming pool where Joe lies dead or the house of Phyllis in the latter. The music by Franz Waxman is by my standards, the best film score he ever composed. It has much of the traditional film noir type music, but to get inside the psychological mind of Norma Desmond, he used a lot of styles of film scoring of the 1920s and 1930s (after all, she was a silent film star). It is a beautiful, haunting score, one of my favorites of the decade. In the end, Sunset Boulevard succeeds mostly because it knows no boundaries. The screenwriting is never afraid to give us another surprise, another great line of dialogue, or another cynical yet honest thought on the Hollywood system. It is amazing to this day that Academy voters had to choose between this film and All About Eve for the top prizes. In 1950, the latter was the winner. But these days, Wilder's film is generally held in higher regard as one of the top American films not just of the decade, but of all time. It is big. It's the other pictures that got small.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN  | B00AC7PJDY |
| Aspect Ratio  | 1.37:1 |
| Audio Description:  | None |
| Best Sellers Rank | #93,589 in Movies & TV ( See Top 100 in Movies & TV ) #275 in Music Videos & Concerts (Movies & TV) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,324) |
| Dubbed:  | French, Portuguese, Spanish |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer  | No |
| Language  | English (Dolby Digital 1.0), French (Dolby Digital 1.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 1.0) |
| Media Format  | Blu-ray, PAL |
| Number of discs  | 1 |
| Product Dimensions  | 6.69 x 5.31 x 0.47 inches; 0.01 ounces |
| Release date  | February 4, 2013 |
| Run time  | 1 hour and 50 minutes |
| Studio  | Paramount |
| Subtitles:  | English, French, Portuguese, Spanish |

## Product Details

- **Color:** Black & White
- **Format:** Blu-ray, PAL
- **Genre:** Music Videos & Concerts
- **Language:** English
- **Runtime:** 1 hour and 50 minutes

## Images

![Sunset Boulevard [Blu-ray] [1950] [Region Free] - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91ygKZLBCGL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ PCC version: Absolutely magnificent! A true classic featuring wonderful performances, a well-written story!
*by K***Y on February 5, 2010*

n 1950, director Billy Wilder who ha shad a string of cinema hits such as "Double Indemnity", "The Lost Weekend", "A Foreign Affair" began work on his next film "Sunset Boulevard" with writers Charles Brackett ("A Foreign Affair, "The Lost Weekend", "Ninotchka") and D.M. Marshman Jr. ("Taxi", "Second Chance"). For Wilder, it was his interest in how life has treated the talents of the silent film era. After all, it was known that many silent film stars were unable to transition to film when the "talkies" began. Many, who were so popular suddenly saw their careers ended abruptly. So, Wilder wrote a screenplay and an idea from Brackett in looking at Hollywood through the eyes of a forgotten silent-film star who wants to return to the big screen. It was all about finding the key components to take part in the film and thus Gloria Swanson (known for work in shaping Hollywood, challenging the "Hay's Code" with her 1928 film "Sadie Thomson" and her affair with Joseph P. Kennedy), who appeared in many silent films, was chosen as the main actress. William Holden ("Network", "Stalag 17', "Picnic"), former MGM director/actor/writer Erich von Stroheim ("Greed", "The Merry Widdow", "The Great Gabbo"), Nancy Olson ("Portrait of Jenny", "Union Station", "Pollyanna") and would also feature appearances by famous Golden Era director Cecil B. DeMille, former silent stars Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson and H.B. Warner. The film would earn eleven Academy Award nominations (winner of three), included in the American Film Institute's 100 best American films of the 20th Century (#12) and entered in the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress in 1989 for being deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". VIDEO & AUDIO: If there is one thing to say about the Paramount "CENTENNIAL COLLECTION" releases, many of these classic films have all been digitally remastered and look absolutely magnificent. These films containing the "CENTENNIAL COLLECTION" moniker are the definitive versions to own as they tend to have more features added and overall, like how CRITERION COLLECTIONS have spotlighted on films worldwide and have given top treatment, Paramount has done the same with several of their classic films. With that being said, I can only wish that a Blu-ray high definition transfer is in the works for these classic films because if they have been through a process of remastering, one can only expect how phenomenal these will look via HD. For now, "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection" is only available via DVD but this new version is remastered, in fullcreen and features Dolby Digital English/French and Spanish mono. The picture quality for a DVD is actually quite clean for a film over 50-years-old. The film looks absolutely great with blacks nice and deep, grays and whites are vibrant. With the film already remastered in HD, I really hope that Paramount is considering a Blu-ray release of this title. Overall, "Sunset Boulevard" has been given special treatment and fans of the film will not be disappointed. SPECIAL FEATURES: "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection" comes with special features on two discs. Here is what to expect on both discs: DISC 1: * Commentary by Ed Sikov - The author of "On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder". A well-done commentary that features a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stories of certain scenes, certain dialogue and more. DISC 2: * Sunset Boulevard: The Beginning - (22:45) How "Sunset Boulevard" the film came to be. From writing the script and adapting it to film and also the talent of Billy Wilder. * The Noir Side of Sunset Boulevard by Joseph Wambaugh - (14:19) Mystery writer Joseph Wambaugh talks about "Sunset Boulevard" and how the film that caught his attention and the film's dark/noir side. * Sunset Boulevard Becomes a Classic - (14:28) Interview with critic Andrew Sarris who talks about why he enjoyed "Sunset Boulevard". Featuring interviews with the cast of the film, Glenn Close who played Norma Desmond on the Broadway adaptation of "Sunset Boulevard" and more. * Two Sides of Ms. Swanson - (10:35) A featurette about Gloria Swanson and interviews with Brook Anderson (granddaughter of Gloria Swanson) who talks about her grandmother and interviews with her fellow co-actors who worked with her on other films and more. * Stories of Sunset Boulevard - (11:20) The making of "Sunset Boulevard", discussion about the original opening sequences, cast interviews and more. * Mad About the Boy: A Portrait of William Holden - (11:12) A featurette about the actor William Holden and how he was cast and discussion of his various films. * Recording Sunset Boulevard - (5:51) A featurette about the musical score of "Sunset Boulevard". * The City of Sunset Boulevard - (5:36) A featurette about "Sunset Boulevard" and the significance of the area. * Morgue Prologue Script Pages - The original cut of the film featured a different opening. Instead of the pool opening, it was a morgue prologue. The following are the two existing versions of the script from the original monologue. You can view the script and also the original, uncut shots (without audio). * Franx Waxman and the Music of Sunset Boulevard - (14:28) Franz Waxman's son John talks about his father and the music of "Sunset Boulevard". * Behind the Gates: The Lot - (5:05) Interviews with former producers who talk about their memories of Paramount Pictures in the earlier years. * Hollywood Location Map - A map of Hollywood in which people can learn about where the characters lived and where certain places such as Paramount Pictures, Schwab's Drug Store and Getty's mansion were located. When you click on the location, you get video and audio about the significance of these areas and what happened to these locations now. * Edith Head: The Paramount Years - (13:43) A featurette on famous Paramount fashion designer - Edith Head. * Paramount in the '50s - (9:36) A featurette about Paramount in the 1950's. Featuring popular films from the Paramount catalog. * Original Theatrical Trailer - (3:16) The unremastered original theatrical trailer. * Galleries - Using your remote, viewers can cycle through images from production, the movie or publicity. Included with the set is an 8-page guide about the directors and talent of the film. JUDGMENT CALL: "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection #1' was a magnificent start to the Paramount Centennial Collection. Following the steps of the Criterion Collection, Paramount has released a total of nine films (to this date) in a pretty slick presentation, bundled with many special features and the remastering in HD is phenomenal. For a classic film such as "Sunset Boulevard" which has been released in 2002 and packaged in the first Billy Wilder DVD collection, suffice to say that this Paramount Centennial Collection is the version you must own, if you are a fan of the film. With over a dozen special features, Paramount really went all out with this release and it shows. Finding classic interviews with the cast, interviewing family members and loved ones of the talent, finding the original deleted footage...I'm truly in awe with how much was put into this DVD release. With its remastering in HD, one may wonder if Paramount will be preparing a Blu-ray release. "Sunset Boulevard" is just a classic film that features magnificent performances by Gloria Swanson and William Holden. The fact that Billy Wilder and his fellow writers took on a film like this and made it feel authentic by casting real life silent film star Gloria Swanson and Cecil B. DeMille (who directed Swanson's silent films back then) plus bringing in former silent stars Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson and H.B. Warner is amazing. But to create a film based on the life of a former silent film star and just exploring that side of life of these forgotten stars is quite interesting. I like how the film was dark, noir-ish but at the same time, really eerie. To see how Norma Desmond just grappling on to the character of Joe is quite obsessive and disturbing. What I found interesting is that in modern films, the last time I felt this eeriness from a female character was Glenn Close as Alex Forrest in the film "Fatal Attraction" and coincidentally, Close played the character of Norma Desmond in the Broadway adaptation of the film with such rave reviews. Needless to say, the performance by Gloria Swanson as the silent film star who just can't let go of the limelight and is totally enveloped by her past life is just so creepy to watch, your just captivated to the screen and wait and see if Joe can escape this prison that he subjected himself into. And of course, the bombshell dropped by Erich von Stroheim's character Max, is indeed a shocker. As a silent film fan, you often read how many of these talents of the Silent Era (and some from the Golden Era) have shut themselves off in society and became recluse. Granted, not everyone was as bad as the character as Norma Desmond but makes you wonder how many silent film talents have dealt with losing their careers when audio became part of films. We know that there are stars such as Fatty Arbuckle, Louise Brooks, who were literally forgotten and some movie studios actually have done them wrong after these talents have put so much into the creation of this Hollywood system. So, it was very interesting to see how certain silent film stars especially Louis Mayer reacted to the film. Mayer was infuriated by the film and at Billy Wilder but of course, Billy Wilder had the better end of the deal creating many more magnificent films after "Sunset Boulevard". I can go on an on about how well the story was written, how magnificent the performances are and how superb this DVD release is. But I think you got the picture. "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection", the first in the Centennial Collection series is highly recommended!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ingenious!
*by T***S on June 24, 2013*

It would be tempting to call Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard the best film ever made about a fading star (it certainly would be in my top five); it would also be tempting to call it the best film ever made about horrible screenwriting and moviemaking. Part of the reason why the film is great is because it's both. It is also a great film noir, working as a mystery as well as a satire and a scathing attack on Hollywood. Even some of the lesser-loved parts of the film attack the system in a harsh, cruel way that would never get by in today's industry (it barely got tolerated by peers in 1950). As with Wilder's earlier masterpiece Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard begins where the story ends: but instead of a man having just murdered someone, a man has been murdered, ironically dying in a swimming pool he always wanted. The man, Joe Gillis (William Holden), was in fact a screenwriter from Paramount Pictures; nobody really, just a couple of B-pictures to his credit. When we meet him, he's in financial trouble. He hasn't paid his rent for three months, and now the officials have come for his car. Desperate, he turns to his agent, his friend Artie Green, and the head of the studio; none of them would give him the amount of money he needed. Finally, Joe ends up in a car chase with the officials and gets a flat tire. He turns into a driveway of a mansion that looked deserted. In fact, it belonged to an old silent movie queen, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), who was planning a big return with her former director, Cecil B. DeMille. Reading her awful script, Joe takes a job on patching it up in time to take it to the studio, all the while staying at her mansion, having had his rent paid and his possessions brought to the house by her servant, Max (Erich von Stroheim). Just as he begins to feel suffocated in that glamorous prison, a hopeful writer named Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson) convinces Joe to write a script with her, keeping it a secret from both Norma and Max. I've now seen the film four times, and each time I like it more and more. Most of that, I think, has to do with the quality of the writing. It approaches a level of cynicism that no one would dare write these days. Writers these days are too safe and self-conscious. Billy Wilder did not fall into that trap. Along with fellow writer Charles Brackett (with whom he co-authored the Best Picture winner The Lost Weekend), Wilder knew no restraints, no restrictions. He wrote what he wanted, and the quality shows up on the screen. Sunset Boulevard has a miraculous screenplay, certainly one of the best ever written. Not only is the dialogue top-notch, but the characters are all superbly written: a cynic who feels he's all washed up, a gentleman whose loyalty goes beyond marriage, and a spirited young woman who has a dream of writing pictures. Then there's Norma Desmond. In real life, she and actress Gloria Swanson shared many of the same life events: both were actresses in the silent film era, both had several films directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and both had not made the transition to talkies well. The difference is that Swanson took the acceptance, and moved into radio and television. Norma didn't, saying, "We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!" Roger Ebert claimed that one could not know the history of silent film unless they know the face of Renee Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc. The same thing, I think, applies here: one does not know the history of film unless they know the face of Gloria Swanson, and more importantly, Norma Desmond. In Sunset Boulevard, she not only exemplifies a towering actress of the sound era with her booming voice, but also a silent film actress with the mystic qualities of her face. Note how in the final shot after she famously says "All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup", the camera slowly moves in on Swanson and she gives a look that is incredibly haunting: that of a psychotic beauty. Like in Casablanca, the art direction and cinematography in Sunset Boulevard are ageless. It would win an Oscar for the latter category (in the black-and-white half), and the cinematography was nominated as well. The director of photography, John F. Seitz, worked with Wilder on a number of films, and was also nominated for his work on Double Indemnity. In both films, the feel he creates is misty (it should be that way, as both are film noirs at the top of their class), whether it is the swimming pool where Joe lies dead or the house of Phyllis in the latter. The music by Franz Waxman is by my standards, the best film score he ever composed. It has much of the traditional film noir type music, but to get inside the psychological mind of Norma Desmond, he used a lot of styles of film scoring of the 1920s and 1930s (after all, she was a silent film star). It is a beautiful, haunting score, one of my favorites of the decade. In the end, Sunset Boulevard succeeds mostly because it knows no boundaries. The screenwriting is never afraid to give us another surprise, another great line of dialogue, or another cynical yet honest thought on the Hollywood system. It is amazing to this day that Academy voters had to choose between this film and All About Eve for the top prizes. In 1950, the latter was the winner. But these days, Wilder's film is generally held in higher regard as one of the top American films not just of the decade, but of all time. It is big. It's the other pictures that got small.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by C***. on January 5, 2024*

“Viale del Tramonto” è un viaggio affascinante attraverso la decadenza di Hollywood e della società americana del tempo. La regia magistrale di Billy Wilder cattura con maestria le sfumature sociali, esplorando il lato oscuro del successo e la disillusione di un’epoca. La protagonista, Norma Desmond, incarna la fragilità di chi è stato dimenticato dalla società, offrendo uno sguardo penetrante sulle pressioni e le aspettative del mondo dello spettacolo. La sceneggiatura brillante si intreccia tra la narrazione cinematografica e la critica sociale, evidenziando la rapida trasformazione della cultura hollywoodiana nel periodo del passaggio dal muto al sonoro. La metafora del tramonto di Norma Desmond riflette non solo la fine di una carriera cinematografica, ma anche il declino di una società che stava affrontando cambiamenti radicali. La dipendenza da una forma di celebrità anacronistica, incarnata da Norma, diventa simbolo di un’industria che spesso dimentica il suo passato per abbracciare l’innovazione a discapito delle persone coinvolte. “Viale del Tramonto” rimane una pietra miliare del cinema che sfida e stimola la riflessione sulla natura mutevole della celebrità e sulla società che la nutre.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Sunset Boulevard [Blu-ray] [1950] [Region Free]
- The Third Man [Blu-ray]
- Touch of Evil (4KUHD)

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*Product available on Desertcart Nicaragua*
*Store origin: NI*
*Last updated: 2026-03-14*