Reviews from a futon: Sunset Boulevard (1950)

SUNSET BOULEVARD

“All right, Mr. DeMille… I’m ready for my close up”

For some of us, we draw an image of Roger Rabbit… or perhaps Robin Williams in cold cream. For a lot of us it was a reference with no meaning, just the rambling of a cartoon rabbit.

This was a side revelation of this self directed study into cinema, putting context to dozens of dangling references in my memory. Jokes that flew over my head at the time, seemed to come together and make sense since I begun absorbing these 'cinema classics'.

Beginning with a narration,

we follow the police racing up the namesake street, to an old Hollywood mansion. A clever ‘from below’ shot of our narrator Joe Gillis… floating dead in a pool, flashbulbs and police silhouettes distorted by the water. The quick story slides along in a flashback forward. Billy Wilder often used the narrative introduction device as a means to drop us into a point of action in his films, dodging long winded expositions that tend to drag out other films of it’s era.

Joe Gillis, a down on his luck Hollywood writer is dodging repo men hot to take his car, and he’s down an agent. Last year, according to him he was writing with talent, this year, he is just trying to avoid packing in his dreams and moving home. A blown out tire forces him into a quick turn into the driveway of what seemed to be an abandoned house, into a ramshackle garage: this seems to be a fine place to stash his car until he can rake together some cash.

Making his way to the house, invited in under mistaken identity. A bizarre introduction to our star Norma Desmond, a once famous actress in the silent picture era. Now, with the advent of talking pictures, the world had moved on from Norma. Secluded in a mansion, complete with a ballroom Valentino himself had danced, a near empty pool, a butler named Max, and a deceased pet monkey in need of a casket.

Joe leverages the situation, or perhaps Norma does when he mentions being a hollywood writer. She hires him to ‘format’ her script. Her greatest film, to be directed by Cecil B Demille, her former director. Joe moves in over the garage and begins to work.

Norma begins to show signs of an infatuation with Joe, and her jealous nature forms. Soon enough, she has gifted him several new suits, a gold cigarette case and a tuxedo with tails, all at her insistence.   

The black and white through out the film is beautifully shot…

In particular, a moment in her living room where the only light is from a projector, replaying her greatest moments. She rises to her feet decrying the loss of craft… “words, weren’t needed, acting alone could carry the films”. Raising her arm as she vows to return, to not would deprive her fans, a stark image was cut. “We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!” Norma highlighted by the sharp light of a projector, with wisps of cigarette smoke in the air. Every shot is composed like a photograph, it is incredibly remarkable how well composed the cinematography is.   

At a New Year’s eve party for two in the ballroom, Norma confesses feelings for Joe, who leaves in a hurry. Briefly ditching out to a party, he makes arrangements to crash there for awhile. When he calls the house to arrange for his things, Max informs her that she has made an attempt on her life. Joe rushes back to the house and to Norma. It’s here where he seemingly commits to the life of the live-in boyfriend. Even telling old friends that he has quit even writing, no longer needing the trade. Spending his days beside the pool, and accepting Norma’s lavish lifestyle as his own.

Max, a once brilliant director, Norma’s one time husband, had taken such pity that he chose a life of servitude to her… as her butler, saying that Hollywood did it to her. Max serves to keep her sheltered from her faded star, writing her fan mail, and maintaining all appearances. He seemed the only one willing to atone for the sins of the city, the loss of his career more collateral damage.

While Norma endures a rigourous beauty regime, ensuring her appearance will be in top form when the cameras roll, Joe meets up with Betty, a Paramount ‘reader’. She encourages Joe to expand a character from an earlier script she enjoyed, seeing it as her own opportunity to break out into writing. Joe suggests Betty write it herself, but Betty is adamant he aids in the script.

Soon Joe is sneaking out to meet Betty (who is also his best friends Fiance) for writing sessions, so as to not upset Norma. Naturally, a budding romance is set in motion between Betty and Joe. Norma, goes mad upon discovery of the clandestine writing sessions, and begins harrassing Betty over the phone. Joe, upon discovering this… brings it all to an end, ultimately bringing about Norma’s break from reality, leading us back to the beginning… poor Joe Gillis, face down in the pool.

Betty seems to inhabit the youthful optimism in Hollywood, a contrast to Joe’s growing bitterness to the whole scene. Once regarded as a talented writer, he has resigned himself to packing it in, writing whatever would sell.

The actress Gloria Swanson herself was a silent film star brought out of retirement to fill the role, so even the casting was breathtaking. The publicity photos that decorated the home all were her own from her career.   

Buster Keaton makes a cameo as an old friend playing cards, while director Cecil B. DeMille plays himself when she visits the Paramount lot.

He treats her with kindness, and sadness… while he understands what hollywood’s machine has done to his young ingenue, he dodges her requests and queries to make her film. He gently pats her out the door. 

It’s a biting satire on stardom. The short life cycle of Hollywood. The temporary nature of fame, and the disposability of people.  It’s a harsh reminder of how society treats women as they age, even outside of the Hollywood system.

The picture of a former star, kept on the morphine drip of fame if only an illusion, surrounded by old press photos, used up by Hollywood, directors, and cast aside… When we meet Norma, we assume it is arrogance and madness of her own design, we soon come to see it is the machinations of Hollywood that have driven her to madness.

The world had moved on without her, but she never got the news. So, I offhand don't recall if my futon reviews included a scoring system... but, if they did, this would be a 10 out of 10 chesterfields. I absolutely adored this film, and was a jumping off point into the filmography of Billy Wilder, which I will explore in upcoming installments of this series. A further note; this film was also mentioned often as a favourite of David Lynch's, 'Mullholland Drive' being another famous Los Angeles street... he also cherry picked names from the film for Twin Peaks (his own character 'Gordon Cole', directly lifted from 'Sunset Boulevard').

And, for myself... this is the namesake of my side project "Oh, Norma", with many lyrical ideas springing from this film, even the soundtrack itself influenced the 'over the top' string arrangements that went into the songs.