Sunset Boulevard
Director: Billy Wilder Run Time: 110 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 1950
Starring: Erich von Stroheim, Gloria Swanson, Nancy Olson, William Holden
One of the most renowned and devastating of film noirs—and a caustic black comedy about the Hollywood system—SUNSET BLVD begins with a corpse floating in a swimming pool and ends with an indelible moment for star Gloria Swanson. Swanson plays Norma Desmond, a silent era screen goddess who has become a faded recluse sustaining herself on the glow cast from her past triumphs. Drawn into this deluded spider’s web is Joe Gillis (Holden), a down-on-his-luck screenwriter who jumps at the chance to work on Desmond’s comeback script—even if it is a stinker. Caught between trying to placate his diva and free himself from her increasingly suffocating grip, Gillis finds himself in a position that it’s impossible to escape from.
“One of the most remarkable pictures ever produced.” – Los Angeles Times
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