Greetings,
Hey, remember yesterday when I talked about a movie wherein a young woman had dreams of gaining stardom? Well, today, we're going to talk about the flip side, with a film wherein a...not so young woman has dreams of regaining stardom. But will those dreams become nightmares? WOW! That even sounds pretentious coming from a genius writer like myself. Anyway, let's get to talking about Sunset Boulevard.
Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, the aforementioned, desperate to get her fame back actress, and William Holden as Joe Gillis, a screenwriter who is not exactly having a successful career. Gee, I wonder which one I'll be relating to. When Joe happens upon a huge, seemingly abandoned house, he discovers that it is occupied by Norma. She shares a script she wrote with him, because the whole "actors want to be things other than actors" is nothing new apparently. Anyway, Joe reads it, and he is not crazy about. Oh, like he's one to judge. I don't see Louis B. Mayer knocking down his door. Still, she hires him to help fix it up and make it worthy of the comeback she wants so badly. Plus, Norma believes that she is not the only one who wants her to be back in the spotlight, providing fan letters as evidence of that. She believes that this young writer could play an important part in her return, even insisting that he move in to her house. Because that's normal. Though, as a writer, I wait patiently for the day when Ralph Fiennes will need someone like me to help usher in a comeback for him. Name it and claim it, I say.
Soon, Norma begins to spend a crap ton of money on Joe and giving him every moment of her attention. Look, I don't want to call him the "G" word, but it might be somewhat accurate. Point is, this is where things start getting a bit odd between them. Norma becomes more obsessed with Joe and with getting her stardom back, and Joe begins to build a life away from her. They are heading in opposite directions, though only one of them truly wants that. What we wait to see is who will get what they desire out of their life and career, if anyone.
Throughout this film, we see Norma going to great and even disturbing lengths to get something back that she lost. And yet, somehow, I wonder if she was so consumed with this quest that she never bothered to contemplate on how important it really was. Or was there any value in what she once had at all? I've always thought that was the moral of the story here. Wanting something so badly can often distort our vision of it, making it impossible for us to see that, perhaps, it's not as grand a thing as we believe it to be.
Now that I have finished waxing poetic, let's talk about these actors. It's interesting how, when people talk about two actors having chemistry in a film, they often refer to more pleasant stories about love and friendship. Though this story is obviously darker than those, I still feel as though Swanson and Holden had tremendous chemistry. It's one of the most memorable things, and, like with most movies, if that had not been there, it would not have worked as well. Lucky for us, everything fell into place. Including the rest of the cast. We had Erich von Stroheim as Max, Norma's longtime butler, Nancy Olson as Betty Schaefer, a script reader and the "other woman" of sorts for Joe, and finally, Jack Webb as Artie Green, another friend of Joe's who is also close to some other people in his life. Again, a good cast is one of the foundation blocks, and we're solid here.
And much like a good Muppet movie, this thing has a decent amount of celebrity cameos. None of them, though, more important than the director of my all-time favorite movie, Cecil B. DeMille. I mean, hello! He is, after all, mentioned in this film's most famous quote. I will not repeat it. If you don't already know it, you may leave now. Come back after you've done some research.
Now, I must make a comment about the writing of this film. It's really good. No surprise there. But, of course, I especially like the way it begins. I love a cinematic starting line that makes me look forward to the finish line. Few films do it better than this one, and it's just one more thing that it has in common with yesterday's film, All About Eve.
In closing, I am recommending Sunset Boulevard. If you're someone who is currently fascinated with the goings on of Hollywood types, perhaps, by way of a tabloid or two, let me give you some advice. Put down the rags for a minute and pick up a copy of this movie. Trust me, you'll get a better thrill and, certainly, a much deeper one.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
