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Movies / On DVD / Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard

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Sunset Boulevard (1950)

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Reviews Counted:51

Fresh:50

Rotten:1

Average Rating:9.2/10

Consensus: Arguably the greatest movie about Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s masterpiece Sunset Boulevard is a tremendously entertaining combination of noir, black comedy, and character study.

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Billy Wilder's masterpiece SUNSET BOULEVARD, a corrosive black comedy that remains the most memorable assault on the emptiness and vanity of the movie business, stars William Holden as young,... Billy Wilder's masterpiece SUNSET BOULEVARD, a corrosive black comedy that remains the most memorable assault on the emptiness and vanity of the movie business, stars William Holden as young, down-and-out screenwriter Joe Gillis. Narrated in flashbacks by the now-deceased scribe, the film unwinds the series of events that left him lying face down in a pool. Unable to sell his most recent chef-d'oeuvre, and in hock up to his eyeballs, Joe stashes his car in the driveway of what appears to be an abandoned mansion on Sunset Boulevard while trying to elude some persistent repo men. Closer inspection reveals the decrepit property to be inhabited by grandiose former silent movie goddess Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), and her zombie-like manservant Max (Erich von Stroheim). Upon hearing that he's a writer, the lonely but still wealthy woman offers to pay him generously to stay at the house and work on her "comeback" script on the life of Salome. Although spooked by the people and the surroundings, in desperate straits, Joe takes the job, little suspecting the madness of the netherworld he's entered. Wilder's merciless portrait of the dangers of a profession that trades in fantasy cagily couples the cynical amorality of the never-was with the near-psychotic narcissism of the has-been to reveal the vacuity of wealth and the transience of fame. [More]

Starring: Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich Von Stroheim, Nancy Olson

Starring: Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich Von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, Lloyd Gough, Jack Webb, Franklyn Farnum, Charles Dayton

Director: Billy Wilder

Director: Billy Wilder
Screenwriter: Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett
Producer: Charles Brackett
Composer: Franz Waxman, Richard Strauss

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 11, 2008

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Reviews for Sunset Boulevard

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
08/19/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Sunset Boulevard's entire point of view is based on a gimmick. Whether one considers it an "artistic cheat" or a valid and audacious device depends up his ability and desire to suspend his disbelief.

Full Review Source: Bright Lights Film Journal | comment Comment
03/09/09
Tony Macklin
Tony Macklin
Bright Lights Film Journal

Tears away at the curtain that keeps reality away from fiction.

Full Review Source: Movie Views | comment Comment
12/08/08
Ryan Cracknell
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views

if you have the dream to make it to Tinsel Town, you might want to check this flick out because Hollywood is as hard on dreams as it was back in the 1950s

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment 9 Comments
11/12/08
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

...one of the best films ever made about Tinseltown and its effects on the people who work in it.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
11/06/08
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

No review available.

comment Comment
02/29/08
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

The casting is perfect.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
08/14/07
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

A tour de force for Swanson and one of Wilder's better efforts.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
08/14/07
Don Druker
Don Druker
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...They rate a nod for daring, as well as credit for an all-around filmmaking job that, disregarding the unpleasant subject matter, is a standout.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/28/07
William Brogdon
William Brogdon
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This cold-blooded satire is at once subtle and savage.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Colin Kennedy
Colin Kennedy
Empire Magazine

Still the best Hollywood movie ever made about Hollywood.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
09/29/05
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gloria Swanson and William Holden give definitive, Oscar-nominated performances as the fading star and hack writer, respectively, in Bily Wilder's darker than dark comedy about the inner workings of Hollywood at a crucial phase of the industry's change.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/04/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
03/26/05
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

A cynically dark recognition to Hollywood's forgotten stars.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment 1 Comment
02/20/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
11/25/04
Gregory Weinkauf
Gregory Weinkauf
New Times

No review available.

comment Comment
11/19/04
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A concentration of classic filmmaking at its peak, a specimen of director Billy Wilder at the razor's edge of his brilliance.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
10/15/04
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Few pictures are greater than Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder's scathing assault on Hollywood's magnetism, aura, and fear of watching it pass you by...

Full Review Source: Film and Felt | comment Comment
08/15/04
Gabe Leibowitz
Gabe Leibowitz
Film and Felt

Marvelous Hollywood-on-Hollywood satire, balanced exquisitely between All About Eve and Mulholland Drive.

comment Comment
06/24/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)
 
 
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