Snack Bar Films

Sunset Boulevard

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Story

Down on his luck screenwriter, Joe Gillis (William Holden) becomes the editor of ex-silent film star, Norma Desmond’s (Gloria Swanson) screenplay she hopes will get her back into stardom. While helping her, she becomes infatuated with him and barely lets him out of her sight. This causes problems for Gillis and writer friend Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson), whom hope to get Gillis back on his feet. This noir combines all of the best parts of the genre, like dark scenes, suspense, and the cynical hero we hope will escape his captor.

My Thoughts

I think it is safe for me to say that Sunset Boulevard is one of my favorite movies! The way that it’s poking fun at silent film stars and highlighting some negatives of the movie making process, in addition to the pessimistic view the movie has – being told from a dead man and all – makes it incredibly cool. Learning about the film made it even cooler, as aspects of the movie pair almost side by side with real life, like Norma being silent film star and Paramount Pictures princess Gloria Swanson, and her butler/ex-husband being an actual silent-film-era director that directed a Swanson film. I seriously said “OMG!” when Mr. Gower (aka H.B. Warner) and Buster Keaton were part of Norma’s “waxworks” group. I loved everything about this film, from the choice of black and white shooting, when it could have been in color, to the sass delivered by William Holden, to the characters themselves, and the overall story that’s going on. Even though the beginning is telling us that Joe Gillis is dead and giving us the story of what happened to him, I still GOL’ed – gasped out loud – when Norma shot him.

The style of the movie and filming also made it fun to watch, too, with the brooding light in some scenes making it look like a horror film, or how the shading of the grayscale added an illusion of color to the film. I also really liked the depth of the film, and how it takes a realistic look at the life of those not in front of the camera, and the way the screenwriters were thought of. The way Norma was not only the antagonist of the film, but also represented the idea of the consequences of not being in touch with reality also were evident and added to the uncanniness of her actions. (Though if I had the chance, I would kill for her beauty routine montage.)

As I was watching, I thought it was an incredibly odd film, with things like the dead chimp, and the way that it seemed Norma was holding Gillis hostage at some points, not to mention the way she was just enamored by him, and he couldn’t care less. However, these things grew on me, and I couldn’t help but hanging on to every word every character said. I also really liked the way another parallel story was playing out: Gillis’ midnight writing rendezvous with Betty, and the romance blossoming there. Characterization is huge for this film, and you can see that there are … perpendicular (?) characters in the story, i.e. Betty is the exact opposite of Norma, with her grasp on reality and ability to be flexible. I was seriously ticked off when Norma called Betty to tell her what was really going on, and this is what really cemented Norma’s craziness for me – not the many, many other things that would have made more sense. While on this topic, learning about the film leads to the knowledge that Norma’s closeup in the end wasn’t even a close up at all, and this resolidified that her comeback would never happen.

One of my favorite parts of the film class I took in school was writing a screenplay analysis paper. Of course, I chose this one because it is my absolute favorite film (not kidding, check my Letterboxd lol). Upon writing this paper, I discovered “The Five Key Turning Points of all Successful Movie Scripts,” written by Michael Hauge. His article describes the nitty gritty of writing screenplays and where each section of a movie lines up. For this film, some of my favorite stages and “key turning points” include the third stage, titled “Progress,” where we see Gillis’s progression from writer / editor to live-in boy toy, with scenes like Norma’s movie night, the shopping sprees, his moving into her house. This is also where we get the New Year’s Eve party Norma throws for just the two of them, which is the start of turning point three, “The Point of No Return.” Another favorite stage is the fifth, the “Final Push.” This one starts off with a bang: Max shares with Gillis his story and relationship with Norma, we see that Norma has found his new script under the working name, “Untitled Love Story,” and Betty confesses her love for Gillis. In turning point five, “The Climax,” Norma begins to taunt Betty with phone calls, and Gillis explains his situation to her and tells her to go be with Artie. Gillis tries to end things with Norma, packs his things, and explains to her that everything she had been told – her hoards of fan mail each day and her new big break with “Salome” – was a lie. If you get the chance to go piece by piece through a film, using Hauge’s steps makes it really interesting, and gives you a better understanding of the film.

Overall, I loved Sunset Boulevard. The way that this movie seemed like it could be so close to real life – the way it kept real names and included the cameos of other silent film stars – made it seem so realistic, despite it being a murder story with a dead monkey. The film noir genre is so interesting, with its heavy focus on lighting and dark story telling. Mr. DeMille, I think I’m ready for my closeup now!

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