Essential Wilder
Billy Wilder had a long and much-honored career as a director. He made some of the best light comedies of his or any other era, but his best and most essential films pushed the boundaries of Hollywood at the time. From The Long Weekend's devastating look at the reality of alcoholism, to the frank discussion of changing societal norms in The Apartment, to making Holmes and Watson homosexual lovers in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Wilder was always breaking new ground in what could be shown on the big screen.
Sunset Blvd. may be his crowning achievement in boundary pushing, just because it is one of the most savage attacks on the mythos of Hollywood ever created. He spares no expense to bite the hands that feeds him, digging way deep beyond the glamor and into the reality of stars, former stars, and wannabes. The casting is dead-on, with Gloria Swanson and Ericj von Stroheim in particular--they had both been eaten up by the Hollywood system some time before 1950.
Sunset Blvd's self-reflexive deconstruction of Hollywood myth would be enough by itself, but it's actually just one layer of many in a truly great film. It's also a fairly gripping detective story, downright funny in moments, and absolutely horrific in others--Swanson's famous "I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. Demille" in particular can still send shivers down your spine. Besides being one of the all-time great directors, Wilder was a hell of a writer who collaborated with some of the best screenwriters in the business; his long partnership with I.A.L. Diamond is legendary, but this is the last of 13 collaborations with Charles Brackett, who brought just the right amount of pathos and tragedy to the script, no doubt aided by his experience working behind the camera in Hollywood for years.
If you are a film buff or a student of Golden Age Hollywood, you will likely add Sunset Blvd. to your list of all-time greatest movies, but you don't have to be a film student to enjoy it either. It's dramatic, funny, chilling, and really just a joy to watch unfold. Many great films of the late 1940s and early 1950s are still enjoyable to this day, but even the best of them can seem somewhat dated today. Not so with Sunset Blvd., which is as potent and stunning as it was in 1950. One of the all-time best films, Sunset Blvd. is highly recommended viewing.
Sunset Blvd. may be his crowning achievement in boundary pushing, just because it is one of the most savage attacks on the mythos of Hollywood ever created. He spares no expense to bite the hands that feeds him, digging way deep beyond the glamor and into the reality of stars, former stars, and wannabes. The casting is dead-on, with Gloria Swanson and Ericj von Stroheim in particular--they had both been eaten up by the Hollywood system some time before 1950.
Sunset Blvd's self-reflexive deconstruction of Hollywood myth would be enough by itself, but it's actually just one layer of many in a truly great film. It's also a fairly gripping detective story, downright funny in moments, and absolutely horrific in others--Swanson's famous "I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. Demille" in particular can still send shivers down your spine. Besides being one of the all-time great directors, Wilder was a hell of a writer who collaborated with some of the best screenwriters in the business; his long partnership with I.A.L. Diamond is legendary, but this is the last of 13 collaborations with Charles Brackett, who brought just the right amount of pathos and tragedy to the script, no doubt aided by his experience working behind the camera in Hollywood for years.
If you are a film buff or a student of Golden Age Hollywood, you will likely add Sunset Blvd. to your list of all-time greatest movies, but you don't have to be a film student to enjoy it either. It's dramatic, funny, chilling, and really just a joy to watch unfold. Many great films of the late 1940s and early 1950s are still enjoyable to this day, but even the best of them can seem somewhat dated today. Not so with Sunset Blvd., which is as potent and stunning as it was in 1950. One of the all-time best films, Sunset Blvd. is highly recommended viewing.
- lcrews
- May 2, 2011