2. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Dir. Billy Wilder Cast: Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Eric von Stroheim and Nancy Olsen Sunset Boulevard starts out with a corpse been dragged out of a pool. It turns out the corpse is William Holden and hes our narrator. He tells the story of how he used to be Joe Gillis, a living, breathing, hack screenwriter down-on-his-luck. To escape the people trying to repossess his car, he hides in what he thinks is an old abandoned old house. It actually belongs to former silent film actress Norma Desmond, though she doesnt see herself as a forgotten star: I am big, its the pictures that got small. Joe initially sees the situation as a chance to make some money, but soon Norma finds it very hard to let Joe go... Sunset Boulevard is a film noir but with strong touches of gothic horror and black comedy. Norma Desmond appears like a Miss Havisham, alone par her butler and her old movies. Gloria Swansons performance is exceptionally creepy as she uses silent film acting techniques, which get more pronounced as Norma loses grip on reality. For a film geek like myself, the movie contains a few winks and nods to the history of Hollywood and the death of the silent film. Id like to watch this and The Artist back to back- one a fond take on silent films, the other a cynical movie that loves and hates the world its in. This is the second film by Billy Wilder on the list as he has a deeply noir tone- cynical but with a very wry sense of humour. Sunset Boulevard has some very funny moments but ultimately this is noir territory and we know the hero will end up dead by the movies end. A true classic, rich in ironic, humour and horror. Key line: Norma: We didnt need dialogue. We had faces!