Sunset Boulevard
Paramount Pictures (1950)
Drama, Film Noir, Queer Themes/Interest, Romance
In Collection
#641
7*
Seen ItYes
(3/9/2017 Home)
IMDB   8.4
110 mins USA / English
DVD  Region 1
H.B. Warner H.B. Warner
Nancy Olson Betty Schaefer
Gloria Swanson Norma Desmond
Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper
William Holden Joe Gillis
Fred Clark Sheldrake
Buster Keaton Buster Keaton
Larry J. Blake 1st Finance Man
Charles Dayton 2nd Finance Man
Franklyn Farnum Undertaker
Lloyd Gough Morino
Jack Webb Artie Green
Gertrude Astor Courtier
Anna Q. Nilsson Anna Q. Nilsson
Erich von Stroheim Max von Mayerling
Jay Livingston Jay Livingston
Danny Borzage Accordionist
Ray Evans Ray Evans
Ken Christy Homicide Captain
Fred Aldrich Cop Who Drags Joe's Body from Pool
Joel Allen Prop Man #2
Cecil B. De Mille Cecil B. DeMille
Director
Billy Wilder
Producer Charles Brackett
Writer/Composer Billy Wilder
Charles Brackett
D.M. Marshman Jr.
Cinematography John F. Seitz
Music Franz Waxman


In Hollywood of the 50's, the obscure screenplay writer Joe Gillis is not able to sell his work to the studios, is full of debts and is thinking in returning to his hometown to work in an office. While trying to escape from his creditors, he has a flat tire and parks his car in a decadent mansion in Sunset Boulevard. He meets the owner and former silent-movie star Norma Desmond, who lives alone wit her butler and driver Max von Mayerling. Norma is demented and believes she will return to the cinema industry, and is protected and isolated from the world by Max, who was his director and husband in the past and still loves her. Norma proposes Joe to move to the mansion and help her in writing a screenplay for her comeback to the cinema, and the small-time writer becomes her lover and gigolo. When Joe falls in love for the young aspirant writer Betty Schaefer, Norma becomes jealous and completely insane and her madness leads to a tragic end. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Edition Details
No. of Discs/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 3/5/2017
Location Personal Library
Owner Deitz
Purchase Price $9.59
Links ++ Review: Roger Ebert (1999)
‡ Advocate: #95, "The Top 175 Essential Films of All Time for LGBT Viewers"
Sunset Boulevard at Core for Movies
IMDB
TheMovieDb.org
References
Lists ‡ 175 Essential Films for GLBT Viewers from Advocate (6/23/2014)
Festivals & Awards Academy Awards 23rd (1950)

Notes
While deliciously campy,it's a fine film in its own right, I don't quite understand why the Advocate magazine has included it in its "The Top 175 Essential Films of All Time for LGBT Viewers."