Review of Sunset Boulevard (1950) by Joe C — 12 Jan 2015

Billy Wilder tears off the hand that feeds and burns his remaining industry bridges with this scathing satire on the dark side of Tinseltown, attacking an empty-headed and -hearted Hollywood with devastating satirical savagery.

Stars William Holden and Gloria Swanson are a perfectly balanced double-act, playing a hack screenwriter who sells his dignity to write a doomed script for money, and a mentally unstable washed up actress from the golden era whose delusion threatens to destroy her, respectfully.

From the moment you realize the film is narrated by a corpse, it's obvious that this is a deeper, darker tale than the movies of the time. And it's all dead monkeys, rip-roaring dialogue, decaying morals, and bewitching noir-tinged cinematography from there.

Hollywood has never looked so lustrous and yet so utterly hollow.