Sunset Boulevard

Last night I took my Mom to see Sunset Boulevard as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series and we both loved it.  I had seen the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical but I had never seen the Billy Wilder classic film before and I was really excited for the opportunity to see it for the first time on the big screen!  Joe Gillis (William Holden) is a down and out Hollywood screenwriter who turns into a driveway on Sunset Boulevard to avoid having his car repossessed.  The driveway belongs to Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) a former actress of silent movies who has been forgotten but lives in a fantasy world where she is still a star.  She is aided and abetted in this fantasy by her butler Max (Erich von Stroheim) who is in reality her first director Max von Mayerling and her first husband.  Gillis cunningly arranges a job writing a screenplay for Desmond and moves into her mansion.  Soon Gillis realizes that Desmond is in love with him and he tries to leave but, when she threatens suicide, he returns to her to become a kept man.  When Desmond's illusions of making a Hollywood comeback are dashed and she realizes that Gillis is in love with someone else, she comes undone in one of the most famous scenes in film.  Sunset Boulevard is a classic example of film noir with atmospheric lighting, black and white cinematography, and a pessimistic portrayal of the underbelly of Hollywood.  I also think it is a great example of a dark comedy.  Both my Mom and I found ourselves laughing but immediately stifled that laughter because it seemed inappropriate given the drama.  Swanson gives the performance of her career and, while she is imperious and hysterical, she is somehow incredibly sympathetic as a woman trapped in the past.  Holden is very charismatic (and quite good looking) as a man who despises what he has become but can't bring himself to leave.  The production design is incredible.  Desmond's house is suitably ghoulish and ostentatious (I particularly loved all of the photos of her in her glory days) and her costumes are fantastic (the feathers!).  I am glad that I finally had the chance to see such a classic movie and it was so much fun with my Mom!