Summary:
Billy Wilder's noir-comic classic about death and decay
in Hollywood remains as pungent as ever in its power to
provoke shock, laughter, and gasps of astonishment. Joe
Gillis (William Holden), a broke and cynical young screenwriter,
is attempting to ditch a pair of repo men late one afternoon
when he pulls off L.A.'s storied Sunset Boulevard and into
the driveway of a seedy mansion belonging to Norma Desmond
(Gloria Swanson), a forgotten silent movie luminary whose
brilliant acting career withered with the coming of talkies.
The demented old movie queen lives in the past, assisted
by her devoted (but intimidating) butler, Max (played by
Erich von Stroheim, the legendary director of Greed and
Swanson's own lost epic, Queen Kelly). Norma dreams of making
a comeback in a remake of Salome to be directed by her old
colleague Cecil B. DeMille (as himself), and Joe becomes
her literary and romantic gigolo. Sunset Blvd. is one of
those great movies that has become a part of popular culture
-- but it's no relic. Wow, does it ever hold up.
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