Sunset Boulevard Resources

WEBSITES

Get to Know the Basics

This Internet Movie Database page has the full lowdown on all of Sunset Boulevard's trivia and quirks, in addition to providing lots of information on the cast, the director, etc.

Old-School Reviews, Anyone?

On Rotten Tomatoes, you can read some of the sterling reviews and appreciative pieces Sunset Boulevard has received over the years. Aside from a tiny cadre of skeptics, it's all pretty positive.

The Film Site

This site provides a little background on the movie—just a little mental nosh. (If you want an in-depth analysis and summary, you'll have to look elsewhere, like, say Shmoop.)

MUSICAL ADAPTATIONS

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard

Although it initially received mixed reviews, Webber's adaptation of the movie had a series of successful runs in London, New York, and L.A. Billy Wilder liked it—and that's what counts.

REFERENCES AND ALLUSIONS

Astrology

Astrology is a classic L.A. interest, then and now—and Norma Desmond is an adherent, sending her script to DeMille in tune with the planetary calendar and agreeing to work with Joe because he is a Sagittarius.

The Black Dahlia

Artie Green jokes that Joe is a "Black Dahlia suspect," a reference to an extremely brutal and famous L.A. murder that occurred in 1947. The victim was a young woman, Elizabeth Short, whom the newspapers nicknamed the "Black Dahlia."

Great Expectations

What's life without a little Dickens? Joe compares Norma's house—and by extension Norma—to Miss Havisham, who fell into a state of decay by being angry at the world and at the man who left her at the altar.

The Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty

Mack Sennett's "Bathing Beauties" appeared in some of Sennett's short comedy films. As you can guess by the title, they were women in bathing suits. Norma Desmond pretends to be a Bathing Beauty for Joe's amusement at one point.

The Naked and the Dead

Joe sarcastically tells Sheldrake that he'll write The Naked and the Dead next time, after Betty condemns his Bases Loaded script for being hollow hackwork. The Naked and the Dead (1948) is a famous World War II novel by Norman Mailer about American G.I.s fighting the Japanese Army in the South Pacific.

Salomé

Norma Desmond's screenplay is based on the story of Salomé, who was a princess who supposedly demanded—and received—the death of John the Baptist as a gift from her stepfather, King Herod.

Silent Stars

Some silent stars—like Swanson and Buster Keaton—actually appear in the movie, along with real directors from that era like DeMille and von Stroheim. Additionally, a ton of silent-era stars are mentioned or referenced, from Greta Garbo and Mabel Normand to Norma Desmond's impression of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp.

The Young Lions

At one point we see Joe reading The Young Lions (1948), a World War II novel by Irwin Shaw.

ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS

Wilder in Paris

The Paris Review normally covers fiction, poetry, and drama—but they interviewed Billy Wilder for their first "The Art of Screenwriting" installment.

Roger Ebert Knows His Stuff

No surprise—Ebert liked Sunset Boulevard. In fact, he gave it four stars and praised it for having one of the greatest last lines of all time.

The New York Times' Original Review of Sunset Boulevard

While the New York Times really liked Sunset Boulevard, the reviewer thought that the narrative device of having a dead man tell the story was "beneath" Wilder and Brackett. Now that narrative device is probably one of the most famous and distinctive aspects of the film. So eat it, old NYT guy.

Turner Classic Movies: Always A Good Source

TCM gives an extremely short paragraph synopsis of the movie, along with some details on how it was made, how casting worked, etc.

"Living with Norma Desmond" by Andrew Wilson

This article on Gloria Swanson's performance as Norma Desmond goes into crazy detail on her process—for instance, she stayed in character when she went home in the evenings—along with providing invaluable background detail on her career (and the occasional intermingling of gossip, like the affair Swanson had with John F. Kennedy's dad).

Way Back in the 90s

In this interview, an aging Wilder comments on the musical adaptation of his movie, featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber's music. It was rumored that Wilder wasn't pleased with that adaptation—but, here, he quashes that rumor.

Roger Ebert Interviews Gloria Swanson

Two giants in showbiz, ladies and gents. Although this interview ranges all over the place, Swanson does comment on her role in Sunset, particularly her Charlie Chaplin impression.

Mike Wallace Interviews Gloria Swanson

In this interview from way back in 1957, Swanson tells Mike Wallace that Norma Desmond isn't really that close to her personality, and that she doesn't have any corpses floating in her own swimming pool.

Roger Ebert Interviews William Holden

Did Ebert get to interview all the greats? We're jealous. In this one, Holden talks with Ebert about a lot more than Sunset Boulevard, though he does mention that Sunset originally began with a scene where corpses at the city morgue talked about how they died, and Joe Gillis's corpse narrates his death from there. It didn't really work with audiences, so Wilder substituted the scene where we see Gillis floating in the pool.

VIDEO

An Interview with Billy Wilder

It's a rare treat to see the man behind the script.

Video of Mike Wallace Interviewing Gloria Swanson

The silent film star talk-talk-talks.

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

Ah, one of the most famous lines in the movie—up there with, "Mr. DeMille I'm ready for my close-up."

Floating in a Pool…

… would be nicer under other—less dead—circumstances.

"As If We Never Said Goodbye" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard Musical

You can judge for yourself if the musical version was a good idea or a bad one.

AUDIO

Soundtrack Suite from Franz Waxman's Score for Sunset Boulevard

Waxman's score actually won "Best Score" at the Oscars in 1951—so this is classic film music. Put it in your library pronto.

Betty Buckley Sings "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from the Musical Version of Sunset Boulevard

Here's another rendition of one of the highlights from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of the movie. There aren't too many cat people in tight leotards in this one, though, so it's a little different from Webber's other work.

The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Conducted by Charles Gerhardt, Plays the "Suite" from Franz Waxman's Score

This is a re-vamped, re-recorded version of Waxman's score—something that was only available within the last 15 years.

IMAGES

Post Up, Boulevarders

In the original movie poster, we see a crazy-looking, giant Norma-head menacing Joe and Betty, plus a menacingly tied strip of film with the title on it.

Norma Desmond's Final "Close Up"

Swanson nails the insane look—but the reporters standing around look like they see this kind of thing all the time.

Gillis' Corpse, Floating in the Pool

We wonder how long Holden had to hold his breath to film this scene, considering that it took Wilder a while to get it right?

Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond

Here's another image of Swanson as Desmond, switching into utterly crazy mode.

William Holden as Joe Gillis

Here, Gillis is just relaxing with Norma… and probably hating himself.

Nancy Olson as Betty Schaffer

Here, Nancy discovers the truth about Joe's relationship with Norma—and she looks pretty upset, in consequence.

Cecil B. DeMille as Himself

Here, Cecil is meeting with Desmond, trying to delicately lower her expectations. This scene was filmed on the set of an actual movie DeMille was making at the time, Samson and Delilah.