Review of Sunset Boulevard (1950) by Chris B — 10 Jan 2010

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950) - Opening with a a corpse floating in a swimming pool, Wilder's film is both a benchmark film noir, and exploration of the Hollywood system, as it was during the early 20th century.

The plot revolves around a hack screenwriter, chased by creditors, who stumbles across the mansion of a former silent film star, and agrees to help her return to the screen by editing a script that she has been working on for the past twenty years.

As typical of the genre, the narrative unfolds in the form of a flashback, with William Holden's protagonist, becoming increasingly embroiled in the delusions of Gloria Swanson's faded star. Six years prior to this, director Billy Wilder had provided the archetypal femme fatale in 'Double Indemnity' (Barbara Stanwyck's 'Phyllis Dietrichson'), and Swanson's faded star is very much in this mould.

Moreover, this noir style is complemented by black and white cinematography, and a voice over narration. However whilst many films of this genre would revolve around a private eye, for example Tourneur's 'Out of the Past (1947) and Huston's 'The Maltese Falcon' (1941), Wilder's Sunset Boulevard signalled a move away from this approach at the beginning of the 1950s.

Furthermore, his decision to have a screenwriter as the lead protagonist facilitated a cynical depiction of the Hollywood system, which is also atypical of the genre.