Sunset Boulevard
Watched this today while watching the kid. I enjoyed it a lot. Sunset Boulevard had many interesting points to it:
- Gloria Swanson was great as Norma Desmond. I loved how the prop designers used her old photos and films as set decor.
- The movie is surprisingly dark and weird. Like how Joe Gillis calls Norma’s old acting peers “the waxworks.” Or how she buries her pet chimp in the backyard at midnight with the help of her butler. When Norma is doing her old routine for Joe (especially the Chaplin bit), it has such an odd vibe… like it’s pathetic, but also endearing.
- The surreality of the finale of Sunset Boulevard is really something. Something felt very meta about seeing the Paramount news division cameras rolling up to presumably shoot newsreel footage of the murder scene. And when the butler directs Norma’s descent down the stairs, and the news photographers and cops all freeze… chills.
- I did not realize that Cecil DeMille was a trained actor before he was in movies. His cameo was surprisingly well-done. Loved seeing Buster Keaton as well.
I feel like in general I have never given old movies enough credit. But Sunset Boulevard was highly entertaining, and I’d recommend watching it.