Sunset Boulevard (styled in the main title on-screen as SUNSET BLVD.) is a 1950 American black comedy, film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. It was named after a major street that runs th…
Sunset Boulevard (styled in the main title on-screen as SUNSET BLVD.) is a 1950 American black comedy, film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. It was named after a major street that runs through Hollywood, the center of the American film industry.
The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her deranged fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. Erich von Stroheim plays Max von Mayerling, her devoted butler, and Nancy Olson, Jack Webb, Lloyd Gough, and Fred Clark appear in supporting roles. Director Cecil B. DeMille and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper play themselves, and the film includes cameo appearances by leading silent-film actors Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson.
Praised by many critics when first released, Sunset Boulevard was nominated for 11 Academy Awards (including nominations in all four acting categories) and won three. It is often ranked among the greatest movies ever made. As it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the U.S. Library of Congress in 1989, Sunset Boulevard was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1998, it was ranked number 12 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best American films of the 20th century, and in 2007, it was 16th on their 10th Anniversary list.
Cast & Characters:
William Holden as Joe Gillis
Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond
Erich von Stroheim as Max von Mayerling
Nancy Olson as Betty Schaefer
Fred Clark as Sheldrake, film producer
Lloyd Gough as Morino, Joe's agent
Jack Webb as Artie Green
Franklyn Farnum as undertaker
Larry J. Blake as finance man #1
Charles Dayton as finance man #2
Jack Warden as New Year's Eve party guest
Cecil B. DeMille as himself
Hedda Hopper as herself
Sidney Skolsky as himself
Buster Keaton as himself (bridge player)
Anna Q. Nilsson as herself (bridge player)
H. B. Warner as himself (bridge player)
Ray Evans (pianist at Artie's party)
Jay Livingston (pianist at Artie's party)
Robert O'Connor as Jonesy (older guard at Paramount gate)
Henry Wilcoxon as actor on DeMille's Samson and Delilah set (uncredited)
