Even though Hollywood is its setting – a city known for its glitz and glamour – the movie is decidedly dark in tone. In a lot of ways, “Sunset Boulevard” ranks among the films noir (French for “black films”) which sprung out of the post-war American psyche.

DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up,” are just two classic lines out of the brilliantly-written script. “I am big it’s the pictures that got small,” and “ Mr. Wilder’s Academy Award-winning screenplay showcases the genius’ trademark humor, as well as his cutting cynicism. She keeps Joe trapped inside her house – and her madness – while he writes her (futile) try at a comeback, similar to the basic plot of Stephen King’s “ Misery.” Norma Desmond could not have been portrayed any other way and nobody else could have portrayed her. Swanson herself was from the silent era, and her performance is deliberately and deliciously campy, hearkening back to that exaggerated acting style. Norma Desmond is an aging silent film star who lives a life of delusion, refusing to acknowledge that her glory faded long ago. William Holden stars as a debt-riddled screenwriter named Joe Gillis, who hides from his creditors behind the walls (and the pocketbook) of Norma Desmond, played to such perfection by Gloria Swanson that superstar Barbara Stanwyck kissed the hem of her skirt at the premiere. Mayer was also Jewish, making his insult all the more hateful. Wilder’s family was killed in the Holocaust only a few years prior. Mayer was so outraged over this damning exposé of Hollywood that he told Wilder to go back to Germany.

Ad Sunset Boulevard (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Īnd it was “big.” Studio executive Louis B.

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