Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition) DVD

Average Rating:

The late great Billy Wilder wrote the screenplay (with Charles Brackett) and directed this must have 1950 masterpiece that has not lost one iota of its power to entertain and disturb.

The level of writing is superior and sustained. After they first meet, Holden says, "You used to be big." Swanson replies, "I am big. It's the pictures that got small." Holden mutters, "I knew there was something wrong with them."

Erich von Stroheim, who actually directed Swanson in the ill-fated Queen Kelly (1928), steals the show as Norma Desmond's faithful butler, protector (and first husband) Max.

Swanson's bold and daring performance was overlooked by the Academy but has since become iconic. She was only 53 when the film was made and close ups of her face show reveal undamaged skin, smooth and youthful (she was a health nut). By the way, Desmond's house "in the 10,000 block of Sunset" was really the overgrown and empty home of one of J. Paul Getty's ex-wives a few blocks away on Wilshire. It is now a gas station.

The meticulous transfer is crisp and clean and the extras include a fascinating making of documentary and an insightful commentary by Wilder scholar Ed Sikov.

Telling the story of a deranged, May-December romance between a has-been movie star and a hack writer, Sunset Boulevard was one of the first films to bite the hand that was feeding it, and left a gaping wound in the process.

As Glenn Close firmly states, Norma Desmond is one of the best drawn characters in human history. She is comic, tragic, melodramatic, and ultimately insane, a depth of a role any actress should have eaten up. But, it's Gloria Swanson's shining moment on the screen. Her command of the role, her subtle insanity, is the mark of a masterful actor at work. Who tires of watching her famous staircase decent, her decent into delusion?

William Holden also nails his role. Without him, this film would be off kilter and unbelievable. He's asked to play a struggling writer, a lover, and a sarcastic wiseguy through this picture. Much credit should go to him, and Erich von Stroheim, for tour de force performances.

While the film holds up extremely well, the DVD 's bonus features are somewhat lacking. The documentary, while revealing, is somewhat short. The best part of it was hearing the reflections of Nancy Olson, even more beautiful now than she was in the film. The additional commentary, by Billy Wilder historian Ed Sikov, is sporadic. When he does speak, he does illuminate certain features, but not nearly enough. Perhaps a better choice would have been Sam Staggs who wrote the definitive book on this movie, "Close-up on Sunset Boulevard". And why wasn't Nancy Olson included on the commentary? Certainly she would have much to add about the making of this movie.

The film easily scores a five star rating, they don't get much better than this. The DVD brings it to a three star rating, but don't be swayed. If you are a fan of the movie, the DVD certainly must be added to your collection. If you are not, rent the DVD and enjoy, and pity, the tragic life of Norma Desmond, created by a Hollywood system gone wacky, which, I'm afraid, hasn't changed all that much.