Sunset Boulevard (English & Foreign language, DVD)

Reviews

Reviewed by Micky B - 1 December 2008

Together with Minelli's equally bitter <i> The Bad and the Beautiful </i> that was made a year or so later, this Billy Wilder cinematic masterpiece is possibly the harshest anti-Hollywood film ever made! Out-of-work hack screenwriter Joe Gilles (William Holden) accidentally comes across and befriends aged silent-movie actress Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) who is pathetically keen to do anything to make a comeback to the screen. He reluctantly agrees to help her in her quest to do so. But who is the mysterious Max von Meyerling (Erich von Strroheim) who lives in her home as a kind of butler and Jack-of-all-trades? The acting from the three principals is of the highest order, while capable supporting roles are filled by cute Nancy Olson (whatever happened to her?) Fred Clark and Jack Webb. Playing themselves, we also see director Cecil B DeMille; Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper; ageing silent comedian Buster Keaton; and veteran actors H B Warner, Ray Evans, and Jay Livingston. Footnote: The final scene of the picture has been slightly modified in this video presentation. For the big-screen version: Miss Desmond's ingratiating speech is allowed to slip slightly out of synchronisation. Remember, she <i>had</i> been a <i>silent</i> actress! Not realising this, some modern technician at Paramount has laboriously re-edited the sound so that in now comes across as perfectly in synch! But the film is otherwise none the worse for this unfortunate blunder!