A simply typed warning from wilder and screenwriter charles brackett graces the cover page. She was nominated for the academy award for best actress at the 1951 oscars ceremony, but unfortunately lost. This story set in 50s hollywood and the film industry during that time is more advances which sound or audio is coming in with the motion picture. Sunset boulevard original london cast andrew lloyd. Intro to film noirsunset boulevard lighting lighting. The rare classic film noir not to be adapted from preexisting material, sunset boulevard opens with the lifeless body of william holdens joe gillis floating facedown in a. The lighting in sunset boulevard is used as a symbol that represents loneliness and a yearning hopefulness to become successful. Sunset boulevard is a 1950 film noir directed by billy wilder, then and now hailed as one of the greatest films of all time a realworld melodrama about hollywood mythmaking, the film costars william holden as struggling writer joe gillis and former silent film actress gloria swanson as likewise faded screen goddess norma desmond, into whose comeback plans gillis is fatally.
Film noir, by translation alone, means dark film, and by that measurement sunset boulevard certainly fits the genre. Questions for reflection this weeks installment in the ethical dilemmas on film series at the state theatre is the 1950 film noir classic sunset boulevard. Why it crackles the classic noir that urges us all to lock ourselves away in our mansions and plot our delusional return to hollywood. Billy wilder uses the black and white colors to the films advantage. Sunset boulevard vintage movie herald gloria swanson billy. Intro to film noirsunset boulevard femme fatale femme. Here are some things to consider as you reflect on the film. Sunset boulevard alternate opening 1950 lost media. Why was sunset boulevard shot in black and white when color.
Sunset boulevard is typically classified as a quintessential film noir, a genre used to refer to highlystylized 1940s and 50s crime films saturated with a fatalistic. A gloomy story that follows a jaded and sarcastic protagonist, joe gillis from his initial dire circumstances to his untimely death, sunset blvd. A fascinating early script draft for sunset boulevard, billy wilders classic 1950 film noir with gloria swanson and william holden. Seitz, asc who had previously worked with director billy wilder on the noir classics double indemnity 1944 and lost weekend 1945. Sunset boulevard is sunset boulevard really a film noir. Billy wilders classic film noir from 1950, sunset boulevard is a dark take on the film industry and the fleeting nature of fame, to this day one of hollywoods most scorching and yet wistful depictions of itself. Sunset boulevard, american film noir, released in 1950, that is often cited as one of hollywoods greatest films, especially noted for gloria swansons portrayal of a fading movie star.
Movie analysis of sunset boulevard film studies essay. Banned in occupied countries during the war, these films became available. The golden age of film noir the cinema of the disenchanted. A glamorous mansion located in real life closer to wilshire becomes a deathtrap for a young screenwriter in sunset boulevard. The lifeless body of a young man, joe gillis holden floats in the swimming pool of a palatial mansion. Sunset boulevard is typically classified as a quintessential film noir, a genre used to refer to highlystylized 1940s and 50s crime films saturated with a fatalistic, cynical mood. Sunset boulevard billy wilders seminal 1950 noir on faded hollywood grandeur, which was subsequently embraced by the gay community. The movie reflects the grand old days of hollywood, yet with a harsh, cynical edge. The film employs film noir conventions like the femme fatale and male antihero archetypes, high contrast lighting, voiceover narration, a downbeat ending, and a bleak, cynical tone. An analysis of the reception of sunset boulevard in. Sunset boulevard is a 1950 film noir directed by billy wilder. Billy wilder uses the black and white colors to the film s advantage. The film is highly regarded as a classic, considered billy wilders greatest work. Sunset boulevard was the last major hollywood film shot on nitrate negative.
It always shows the characters in a dark side that reflect the bad cultural of the society and violence, it tends to make it as a reflection which people could actually see from the society and from there understand more on. In this weeks video essay, we take a look at film noir and the american dream. Sunset boulevard lost alternate opening from noir film. A screenwriter is hired to rework a faded silent film stars script, only to find himself developing a dangerous relationship. This weeks film noir is also a comedy a dark, sardonic comedy, but a comedy nonetheless. Gloria swanson gives her greatest performance as the silent star norma. Perhaps never before or since has the deadpan tone of noir narration been so appropriate to a character as with gillis. In a september 1950 article on sunset boulevard, ac editor herb lightman observed that seitz believed. The film noir genre is a grim category in terms of its outlook on human existence, and director billy wilders sunset boulevard is one of the more depressing instances of an already dark tradition. But its also a love story, and the love keeps it from becoming simply a waxworks or a freak show. A harsh atmosphere of danger, doubt, anxiety, and suspicion that anything can go wrong, gray area of realism, hopelessness, and defeat are the characteristics of film noir.
It is a classic black comedydrama, and perhaps the most acclaimed, but darkest film noir story about behind the scenes hollywood. Something as simple as lighting can give a film a noir aspect. Low lighting is portrayed when scenes are shot inside and the urban night is the usual exterior setting. Billy wilders sunset boulevard is the portrait of a forgotten silent star, living in exile in her grotesque mansion, screening her old films, dreaming of a comeback. The film begins with the conclusion, protagonist and narrator joe gillis floating dead in the pool, immediately followed by a flashback of joe giving up on his dying career as a film writer.
Meanwhile, the shared aspects of film noir which the plot involving crime and violence and the fatalistic narrative that filled with bitter plot turns and bad endings, for instance in the film of sunset boulevard billy wilder, 1950 where the main male character has bad ending in the structured story plot of the film, it shown the dark. A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return. However, sunset boulevard s fusion of different genres also subverts these conventions. Essay about film noir and billy wilders sunset boulevard. The film starred famous silent film actress, gloria swanson, in what is now her most famous role. Joseph wambaugh discusses his attraction to film noir and how the film sunset boulevard deploys certain film noir techniques that really enhances the film. As much a black comedy as it is film noir, sunset boulevard 1950 benefits greatly from stylish lighting by john f. Film noir is easily identified by its dark, pessimistic and paranoiac mood in order to generate the emotion to the people. Sunset boulevard 1950 is a classic black comedydrama, and perhaps the most acclaimed, but darkest filmnoir story about behind the scenes hollywood, selfdeceit, spiritual and spatial emptiness, and the price of fame, greed, narcissism, and ambition. Description in one of hollywoods best films, an outofwork screenwriter attaches himself to a tragically. As you explore this site you will have a better understanding of the conventions relating to film noir.
Sunset boulevard, american film noir, released in 1950, that is often cited as one of hollywoods greatest films, especially noted for gloria swansons portrayal of. While the characters are deeply flawed, some of them beyond any redemption, the film still presents them each as complex, sympathetic, and even endearing. Following the relatively intimate and commercially disappointing aspects of love, musical theater composer andrew lloyd webber has sought another blockbuster on the order of evita or phantom of the opera in sunset boulevard, an adaptation of director billy wilders 1950 film noir classic about the relationship between a cynical, downonhisluck screenwriter and a deranged. Early examples of the noir style include dark, stylized detective films such as john hustons the maltese falcon 1941, frank tuttles this gun for hire 1942, otto premingers laura 1944, and edward dmytryks murder, my sweet 1944. Sunset boulevard opens with a slain man recounting how he was murdered, the audience is about to learn about. I havent seen sunset boulevard, so i cant comment specifically on that. The general population of postwar america liked the film while executives in hollywood despised it. Sunset boulevard, the 1950 film noir classic directed and cowritten by billy wilder, did a lot to change that and other myths of old hollywoodlike the real. Sunset boulevard preliminary draft with original opening scenes and montgomery clift listed on cast sheet, 1948. What follows is an excerpt from my biography of wilder, on sunset boulevard. Masterfully snappy dialogue like only billy wilder and the golden age of 40s and 50s filmnoir can deliver. Sunset boulevard, directed by billy wilder in 1950, is considered to be the greatest film about hollywood ever put on celluloid by hollywood. So get out there and watch or rewatch sunset boulevard, and really consider throughout the film that the narrator is telling you the tale of his own death in the past tense.
Sunset boulevard accomplishes the difficult task of being an intriguing story primarily focused on endings and false starts. Its shadowy world of deceit and selfdeception is perfectly captured in the dark noir cinematography and lighting. Even if one is fortunate enough to carve out a career in hollywood, what happens after ones starpower inevitably fades. The mood of the film is immediately established as decadent and decaying by the posthumous narrator a dead man. Some people dont want to consider sunset boulevard as noir, but as i mentioned above, all the key elements of film noir are in this movie. Why was sunset boulevard shot in black and white when. Sunset blvd questions for reflection penn states rock. A comeback performance from gloria swanson to redefine the very notion of a comeback i still cant get over how expressive her face is. Sunset boulevard employs many elements of film noir, but its seamless fusion of genres cements the film as one of the most beloved american films ever made like most film noirs, sunset. As the police begin converging on the house joes voice narrates, in flashback style, the events leading up to his. The 1950s film noir movie you watched in class sunset boulevard is represented as an example to show the different angles that make up this specific art genre. Sunset boulevard offers no parachute after the ripcord is pulled, and it is a. Sunset boulevard is a 1950 american film noir directed and cowritten by billy wilder, and produced and cowritten by charles brackett. The film noir genre was emerging from the woodwork following the end of world war ii.