X
- 1950
- TV-PG
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 50 m
- 1950
- TV-PG
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 50 m
Summary Billy Wilder's 1950 classic stars Gloria Swanson as has-been silent film star Norma Desmond.
Directed By: Billy Wilder
Written By: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman Jr.
- 1950
- TV-PG
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 50 m
- 1950
- TV-PG
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 50 m
Sunset Boulevard
8.6
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Summary Billy Wilder's 1950 classic stars Gloria Swanson as has-been silent film star Norma Desmond.
Directed By: Billy Wilder
Written By: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman Jr.
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 32 Critic Reviews
94
100% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 32 Critic Reviews
94
100% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
In its precision, perversity and stinging wit, Sunset Boulevard still has mighty sharp teeth.
By Staff (Not Credited) FULL REVIEW
There's a long tradition of filmmakers poking fun at the movie business. But no one bit the hand that fed him more viciously or with sharper fangs than Billy Wilder in Sunset Boulevard.
User Score
Universal Acclaim Based on 140 User Ratings
8.6
94% Positive
131 Ratings
131 Ratings
4% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
3% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim Based on 140 User Ratings
8.6
94% Positive
131 Ratings
131 Ratings
4% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
3% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
Aug 3, 2025
"Sunset Boulevard" is perhaps the best film ever made about Hollywood. The film makes me feel like I understand the essence of this city, the film industry, and the people who live within it. And I did that without ever having been there. The dream factory thrives on the images it produces of itself. It's only fitting that images and films always depict a past moment, thus glorifying the past. A noir/comedy centered around a screenwriter by the name of Joe Gillis. Financially struggling and with no work to do, Joe is trying to avoid finance men so that they won’t take away his car. In a somewhat dramatic chase, Joe pulls up into the driveway of a seemingly abandoned mansion in order to hide due to his flat tire. He enters the home which is owned by an old but once very popular silent movie star, Norma Desmond. Norma is not over her **** and believes she can still make a return, not a comeback, as specified in the film. A return, “a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen.” The story does a good job of portraying round characters and their intricate relationships. You don't ever find yourself rooting for neither Norma nor Joe. You believe they both have faults and are simply trying to use each other. Norma wanted to make a return and so her opportunity literally walked in through her doors in the form of a screenwriter looking for work. Joe wanted to work and Norma had the money to pay him. However, as where all things get twisted, Norma seeked Joe for more than his writing, she wanted Joe in a romantic sense and tried to buy him with gifts. Joe did not want this, he felt as if Norma was invading every aspect of his life when he only signed up to revise a script, not to move in with Norma, or the fancy suits, or the dancing. It took a second watch for me to realize how funny this film is despite the obvious noir elements. A haunting masterpiece that breathes with decay and desperation If there’s a perfect classic film—one that defines Hollywood’s dark, glamorous, and tragic soul—it’s Sunset Boulevard. Everything about it seeps into your bones: the haunting cinematography, the air of faded grandeur, and the decayed beauty of Norma Desmond’s mansion, which feels less like a setting and more like a living, breathing character. From the rotting tennis court to the rusted Isotta Fraschini gathering dust in the garage, you can almost smell the film’s atmosphere. Every inch of the frame radiates age and lost glory, a physical manifestation of Norma herself—once magnificent, now withering away in a delusional haze of silent film memories. That tangible decay is what makes Sunset Boulevard so immersive. You don’t just watch it; you feel it. And at the center of it all is Gloria Swanson, who doesn’t just play Norma Desmond—she is Norma Desmond. Her every movement, every line, every flick of her fingers is infused with desperation, arrogance, longing, and madness. She’s wicked, tragic, grotesque, and mesmerizing all at once, commanding every frame with a performance so layered it becomes almost hypnotic. Her Norma is part grand dame, part ghost, part witch, and entirely unforgettable and Gloria Swanson is one of the most expressive film faces I've ever seen that suits the role and material. Billy Wilder’s direction is razor-sharp, the dialogue crackles, and the film’s bitter take on Hollywood’s cruelty remains just as relevant today. It’s a gothic horror story disguised as noir, a cautionary tale about fame’s fleeting nature, and a darkly poetic portrait of a woman who refuses to fade quietly. If there’s one classic film that embodies everything I love about cinema—atmosphere so thick you can taste it, a performance that burns itself into your mind, and a story that lingers long after the final shot—it’s Sunset Boulevard. Even the way the film closes is such a “full circle” moment because her ex husband, who was a film director, is the one directing the closing scene. Out of all the films I’ve watched in my film study classes this one is high on the list of favorites. "Sunset Boulevard" is always worth watching and, at 75 years old, is still relevant, funny, thrilling, and tragic. It’s not just a movie. It’s a spell.
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Mar 25, 2025
Perhaps the best film ever made about Hollywood. The film makes me feel like I understand the essence of this city, the film industry, and the people who live within it. And I did that without ever having been there. The dream factory thrives on the images it produces of itself. It's only fitting that images and films always depict a past moment, thus glorifying the past. Gloria Swanson is one of the most expressive film faces I've ever seen. "Sunset Boulevard" is always worth watching and, at 75 years old, is still relevant, funny, thrilling, and tragic.
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Although Billy Wilder's 1950 Hollywood noir Sunset Boulevard gets less attention as a travelogue, it's both an examination of the dark psychological landscape of out-of-fashion show-business types (as underlined by the title) and an actual trip through its physical environment.
Sunset Boulevard remains the best drama ever made about the movies because it sees through the illusions, even if Norma doesn't.
Billy Wilder’s cynical edge is finely honed in this darkly amusing satire, which won three Academy Awards. It’s a film that is perennially ready for its close-up.
By Don Druker FULL REVIEW
This brittle satiric tribute to Hollywood's leopard-skin past--it's narrated by a corpse-- is almost too clever, yet it's at its best in this cleverness, and is slightly banal in the sequences dealing with a normal girl (Nancy Olson) and modern Hollywood.
Jan 24, 2025
I loved this movie a lot and I'm here to say Norma was never the villain. for the time this film was created the depiction of mental health/deterioration was so good and this was such a good intro to the film noir/femme fatale type. Norma was such a fun character to dissect and get inside the brain of and she truly is a product of her environment
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Aug 22, 2018
Not exactly a hot take here, but this is nothing short of one of Billy Wilder's best works and one of the greatest film noirs ever made. The narrative, the structure, the dialogue, the acting, the camerawork - this is one of those impeccably rare occasions where every aspect of a film is so unbelievably well-executed that it really doesn't age. An easy, easy classic and one that should be seen by many, if not all, at one point or another.
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Oct 8, 2014
Billy Wilder’s paramount triumph of film-noir melodrama, piercing through the Hollywood industry’s utter callousness and an over-the-hill silent era actress’ poignant illusion of a comeback to garner the spotlight. The film begins like DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944, 8/10), our ill-fated protagonist Joe Gills (Holden), a 30 something hack writer for the Hollywood studio, narrates beyond his grave to reveal the tragedy ending - as shown in a majestic shot from the angle of the bottom of a swimming pool (a trick done by putting a mirror in the bottom and shot from its reflection), a man’s body is floating on the water, facing down, and for sharp eyes, it is obviously Joe himself. continue reading my review on my blog: google cinema omnivore, thanks
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Oct 26, 2018
On a déjà vu des films de ce genre qui traitent de vieilles gloires surannées du cinéma muet et qui n'ont pas passé le cap du parlant... et là blablabla... c'est le drame (si j'ose dire). A l'époque en 1950, peut-être que ça interpellait un certain public nostalgique mais de là à en faire une patate chaude de presque deux plombes, faudrait pas pousser Mamie dans les orties. Donc c'est William Holden qui s'y colle et je n'ai a priori rien contre lui, car ce n'est certainement pas le pire bellâtre de ce temps-là. Loin de là, même. Et William donc, scénariste minable devient gigolo à son insu ou pas totalement de la... (j'allais écrire la vieille bique, n'exagérons rien) de la vieille dame encore chouette mais pas tout-à-fait qui n'a pas encore imprimé que "le changement, c'est maintenant". La voix off tente de mettre du liant à cette histoire qui endormirait une tortue mais sans succès, hélas. Parce que de toute façon, pour blablater ça blablate, ça déblatère et on pique du nez à vitesse grand V. La mise en scène de poisson crevé dans le coma n'aide pas non plus à tenir la rampe tandis que la "star" du muet est décidément très loquace et une caricature totale, sans nuance et sans talent, y compris jusqu'à la fin grotesque. Remarquez, j'ai presque eu un film muet la plupart du temps : pendant qu'on accélére avec la télécommande, on entend plus leurs conneries. Ouf.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Wins & 11 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 4 Wins & 7 Nominations
National Board of Review, USA
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
