Sunset Blvd was produced in 1950 and tells the tale of an aging Hollywood star and her lost youth and career.
It was directed by Billy Wilder who made many other classic movies and its name provides the basis for its setting. The title is the famous Boulevard in Los Angeles and the playground of the rich and famous movie stars.
Leading actor William Holden plays the hack movie writer and Gloria Swanson stars as Norma Desmond, the aging actress that refuses to give up right until the fatal end.
The plot centers around Holden in character as Joe Gillis, a young screenplay writer who is down on his luck. He owes money and has dreams of grandeur, which his pay check can not compete with. He meets Norma Desmond, a now aging star of the silent screen, and given his limited options he agrees to write a screenplay for her to relaunch her career.
Desmond falls in love, but Joe is only using the relationship as a stopgap until the big time. He eventually gets tired of being a kept man and tried to leave, but Norma's suicide attempt has him returning out of guilt.
Desmond believes that her career will flourish again, but she is more mature in years now and the film company has no interest in her script.
In secret Joe works on a script with a younger writer Betty and the two of them fall in love. He is determined to leave Norma, but she fires a shot and he falls dead into the swimming pool at her lavish mansion.
At this point Desmond in her deranged, mentally unstable state delivers her classic line "I'm ready for my close up". She is unable to cope with reality preferring to switch to a fantasy world where she is at the center stage.
The movie is pretty tragic and its themes of aging, greed and fame are still very significant today. The film has a timeless quality and has relevant themes that many people will relate to.
She is a sad reminder of an industry that worships the young over everything else. This is particularly poignant in this day and age of cosmetic enhancement and shows how an individual can suffer once they lost their film making appeal.
Her servants reinforce how important her look are to her and are always complimentary. They have learned to be this way. Youth and beauty are given priority over age and experience and they are a sad reminder of the values of our time. This gives the film a timeless perspective that will appeal to all.
Ultimately our sympathies lie with Desmond. All her possessions and material wealth can not help her instability and refusal to accept growing old gracefully. Her heartbreak and fear that she has lost her last chance at love lead her to commit the tragic acts that ensue.
Gillis is greedy and heartless and shows how people can exploit others to get what they want. The film, Sunset Blvd, is well worth watching and ultimately evokes sympathy for the characters.
It was directed by Billy Wilder who made many other classic movies and its name provides the basis for its setting. The title is the famous Boulevard in Los Angeles and the playground of the rich and famous movie stars.
Leading actor William Holden plays the hack movie writer and Gloria Swanson stars as Norma Desmond, the aging actress that refuses to give up right until the fatal end.
The plot centers around Holden in character as Joe Gillis, a young screenplay writer who is down on his luck. He owes money and has dreams of grandeur, which his pay check can not compete with. He meets Norma Desmond, a now aging star of the silent screen, and given his limited options he agrees to write a screenplay for her to relaunch her career.
Desmond falls in love, but Joe is only using the relationship as a stopgap until the big time. He eventually gets tired of being a kept man and tried to leave, but Norma's suicide attempt has him returning out of guilt.
Desmond believes that her career will flourish again, but she is more mature in years now and the film company has no interest in her script.
In secret Joe works on a script with a younger writer Betty and the two of them fall in love. He is determined to leave Norma, but she fires a shot and he falls dead into the swimming pool at her lavish mansion.
At this point Desmond in her deranged, mentally unstable state delivers her classic line "I'm ready for my close up". She is unable to cope with reality preferring to switch to a fantasy world where she is at the center stage.
The movie is pretty tragic and its themes of aging, greed and fame are still very significant today. The film has a timeless quality and has relevant themes that many people will relate to.
She is a sad reminder of an industry that worships the young over everything else. This is particularly poignant in this day and age of cosmetic enhancement and shows how an individual can suffer once they lost their film making appeal.
Her servants reinforce how important her look are to her and are always complimentary. They have learned to be this way. Youth and beauty are given priority over age and experience and they are a sad reminder of the values of our time. This gives the film a timeless perspective that will appeal to all.
Ultimately our sympathies lie with Desmond. All her possessions and material wealth can not help her instability and refusal to accept growing old gracefully. Her heartbreak and fear that she has lost her last chance at love lead her to commit the tragic acts that ensue.
Gillis is greedy and heartless and shows how people can exploit others to get what they want. The film, Sunset Blvd, is well worth watching and ultimately evokes sympathy for the characters.
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When the train reaches its destination, Santa himself materializes and offers the boy whatever his heart desires. Online Movies Rental Sharp-shooting farm boy Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) finds himself thrust into this bloody environment. Back then, if you wanted to buy a movie, you had to go to the store and buy a VHS tape.
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