BILLY WILDER: Sunset Blvd. (1950)
“I am big. It’s the pictures that got smaller.”
CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of murder, insanity, mental illness, Hollywood abuse, trauma, aging, ageism.
Our director series continues this week with a film steeped in Hollywood lore while being utterly disdainful of its treatment of actors. It’s a near masterpiece, but as we talk through it, it’s Billy Wilder’s directing that shines a bit more than his writing. Still, even the last 5 minutes of this film are enough to etch it as an instant classic, and the first two hours are pretty great as well. Equal parts dark comedy, thriller, and anti-romance, this movie defies description and style at numerous turns, and garnered 11 Oscar nominations in a year that is one of the best movies have ever seen. Open the gates for an undeniable star as we continue our Billy Wilder series with 1950’s Sunset Blvd., this week on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!
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Intro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive..
Excerpts taken from the film Sunset Blvd. is © 1950 by Paramount Pictures; Renewed 1978. All Rights Reserved. TM & 2008 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Excerpt taken from the “Overture” to the World Premiere Recording of the musical Sunset Boulevard, written and composed by Don Black, Christopher Hampton and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Copyright 1993 The Really Useful Group, Ltd.
Excerpt taken from “Episode 13,” retitled “Demons,” of Twin Peaks, © CBS Corp 2010.
Excerpt taken from the film Stalag 17 is © 1952 Paramount Pictures.
