Sunset Boulevard

Shot in black & white the incredibly watchable Sunset Boulevard begins at the end of the story where our 'everyman' character Joe Gillis (played by William Holden) is dead and floating in the swimming pool of faded silent movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) at her mansion on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. The film then goes on to explain the story of how Joe, a failed screen writer came to meet his untimely end like this.

Norma Desmond had been a big star "one of the biggest having millions of adoring fans and her films directed by De Mille. Time has moved on but Norma still lives in the past unable to face reality and still believes she's a big star. She delivers one of the best lines in movie history when Joe first meets her and remarks: 'You're Norma Desmond, you used to be in silent pictures, you used to be big' to which Norma replies: 'I am big, it's the pictures that got small!'

Joe Gillis is a failed writer in debt to the finance company and who is dodging the debt collectors as best he can when his car has a blow out, he limps into the drive of Norma's mansion where he hides the car in her garage believing the place to be deserted. As he is leaving he is seen from the house and mistaken for the funeral director (Norma's pet Monkey has died) It is soon established that Joe is a writer and Norma has a script she has been writing for years, Joe agrees to edit it for her to enable her to make a comeback, or as Norma puts it: 'a return to the millions of fans who have never forgiven me for leaving the screen.' Slowly but surely Norma falls in love with Joe and lavishes him with gifts; excited and driven she is building herself up for her big return to the movies which as it sadly turns out was never going to happen. Joe has other ideas and falls for a girl his own age and raging with jealousy Norma tries to intervene. Eventually this leads to Joes untimely death at the hands of a crazed Norma.

The film has lots of twists, turns and shock revelations throughout and deals with tragedy, comedy and pathos. Gloria Swanson is truly superb in the role of Norma Desmond playing her in a way only a true silent movie star could, with facial expression and body language that is quite stunning. As Norma said: 'I don't need dialogue, I can say anything I want with my eyes.' She portrays perfectly a woman on the edge, deluded, unbalanced and quite bizarre who slowly allows herself to be pushed right over the edge, brilliant, a must see for every film buff.