Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Sunset Boulevard(1950)

Starring: Joan Crawford, William Holden Directed by: Sir Billy Wilder Rating: NR Genre: Drama Other

Review "My head's too big for the screen!" thunders legendary medusa Joan Crawford as her manservant Mongo picks nits from her ever-shedding scalp. Sir Billy Wilder sure did it this time, creating a masterpiece by telling it like it is, one monstrous Hollywood moment at a time. William Holden plays a dead screenwriter brought back to life to write the biography of a mythical silent movie star whom no one remembers, and he's instantly caught in her spider's web of money, fame, glamour, putrifaction and money. When she discovers that he's young and she's old, the glamour queen goes mad and insists that he become old or dead, which he does once again. It's a metaphor for all that is wrong with the Hollywood of yesterday and, of course, of today. And to prove the point, Wilder's commentary track includes insult after insult of the current crop of stars, pointing out that not one of them made a silent picture, or even one in black and white. I couldn't agree more, and I expect that you'll find yourself nodding throughout this glorious, venomous paean to the shrews and megalomaniacs of yesteryear who made the films we turn to again and again, like this one which I know I'll watch over and over. Enjoy!