Film Friday: Sunset Boulevard (1950)
To celebrate William Holden's 98th birthday, which is on Sunday, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the first film I ever saw him in. Incidentally, this was my first Billy Wilder picture, as well as the first time I saw Gloria Swanson (and all the other actors in it, really) on the screen. This also happens to be one of my absolute favourite films of all time. Directed by Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard (1950) tells the story of Joe Gillis (William Holden), a debt-ridden screenwriter «with a couple of B pictures to his credit.» One day, while fleeing from repossession men seeking his car, Joe turns into the private driveway of a decaying 1920s mansion on Sunset Boulevard, where he hides the vehicle in an empty garage. He quickly discovers that the house belongs to Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a long-forgotten silent film star, whose fragile illusions are preserved by her servant and former director, Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim). When Norma learns that Joe is a s...