Film Friday: «Sunset Boulevard» (1950)
To celebr ate 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 acto rs in it, really) on the screen. This also happens to be one of my absolute favorite films of all time. Theatrical release poster 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, w hile f leeing from repossession men seeki ng his car , Joe has a b lownout and turns into the private driveway of a decaying 1920s mansion on Sunset Boulevard, where he hides the ve hicle in an empty g arage. He quickly discovers that the house belongs to Norma Desmond (Gloria S wanson), a long-forgotten silent film star , whose fragile illusions are preserved by her serv an...