Sunset Boulevard

A classic for the must to be seen list. Gloria Swanson is magnificent.

Filipe Manuel Neto

November 16, 2022

10/10

**One of the great films of Hollywood's golden age.** This movie is really special. Not only does it show us a lot about the world of Hollywood during its golden age, but it also reveals a lot about the actors' egos, vanities and their titanic struggles to preserve their careers and stay in the limelight. Brilliantly directed by Billy Wilder, it is considered by many to be one of the great movie classics, combining entertainment, artistic value and cultural relevance. In 1951, it won three Os…

CinemaSerf

January 6, 2023

7/10

"Gillis" (William Holden) is a down-at-heel script writer who is struggling to keep his head above water. Not having had any successes for a while, his car is about to be repossessed and his erstwhile boss "Sheldrake" (Fred Clark) has nothing for him. On the run from the pursuing repo men, he turns his car into the drive of a decaying old mansion. Hiding his car in the garage, he is mistaken by the house's owner for an undertaker - she has a small matter that needs attending too! Realising her e…

r96sk

May 19, 2023

9/10

Ace! <em>'Sunset Boulevard'</em> is a splendid flick from 1950. I will note that I found the middle to be ever so slightly less interesting than the beginning and ending, though even so overall I most definitely enjoyed watching it. Love the dialogue, the score is excellent too. William Holden and Gloria Swanson are tremendous together onscreen, in what is a supremely well told story.

IMHO...This is a straight up Horror film. A demented, faded star of the Silent era takes in a down on his luck writer... and basically keeps him as a boy toy/hostage. She has a creepy attraction to the much younger man. Her house and butler are straight out of Hammer Film. That being said... I love this film. The casting is great. William Holden gives one of his best performances ever. Gloria Swanson plays deranged wonderfully. And Von Stroheim is a brilliant bit of casting. You get the f…

Billy Wilder's _Sunset Boulevard_ is a masterpiece of black comedy and savage Hollywood critique, a film so dark and so funny that it becomes something singular. Everything about it is wonderful: the performances, the direction, the audacity of its premise, the cruelty of its vision. It's a film about delusion and exploitation, about an industry that devours its own, and it tells that story with a viciousness that never stops being entertaining. Seventy-five years later, it remains one of the gr…