Gloria Swanson is a treat to watch in Sunset Blvd. In any other film she would have come off as overly dramatic, but as a washed-up silent era diva she is absolutely perfect with all of the accompanying hand-wringing, dramatic head angles, and intense eye glares. It's old school acting, where theatre was more of an influence than realism. William Holden's Joe is a typical macho hero of the Golden age: sounding grumpy and slightly shouty, but simultaneously emotionally blank. He typically calls his much younger love interest "kid", grabs her by the shoulders and smashes his mouth into hers as his interpretation of a passionate scene. I sort of dislike him. He takes advantage of Norma's wealth, but then acts like it's a burden, age shaming her to no tomorrow. At the same time, the movie is a wonderful satire of the realities of Hollywood. How sad that a woman past her early thirties is considered a has-been with no prospects? While not as bad nowadays, the practice seems to persist, with most movie moms with teen children being played by 30-year-olds. The structure is also neat, being told from the point of view of a murdered man. In the end, this film has an unmistakable tinge of gothic fiction - a tale of a haunted house, where the haunting is the apparition of regret, old glamour gone shabby, and madness. The monologue and snappy lines also put it squarely into a film noir territory - the quality kind, not overdone to death. Billie Wilder was a visionary filmmaker.

They say Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood, but when the movie's are this good, can you blame them? Compelling story, interesting character dynamics, iconic dialogue, and fantastic performances make this one easy to recommend. Now, with respect to performances, I will say that Gloria Swanson's portrayal of Norma Desmond was a bit hard for me to swallow. I'm sure it was all intentional, playing into her character's backstory, but it still felt a bit too theatrical/melodramatic for my tastes. With that said, it didn't detract much and there are plenty of her moments that still landed brilliantly. The highlight of the film for me was Norma's return to the Paramount lot and her visit to the stage where DeMille is shooting. The writing here is jealousy inspiring, with Norma's delusions of grandeur being superficially validated while DeMille recognizes a tragedy in the making and does his best to gracefully handle it. Beyond Norma, the other performances felt surprisingly natural for this era. The exchanges between Joe and Betty in particular were great, feeling like they'd easily hold up to the tastes of modern audiences.

This movie holds up a mirror in front of the Hollywood movie business from different perspectives. It shows how cruel it is to former stars, especially women, but also towards writers or newcomers who want to succeed in the business. It also shows how a former star does not want to admit that she cannot get back to her former glory. One line that sums up this tragedy is: “There is nothing tragic about being 50. Unless you try to be 25.”. An excellent movie that still works for today’s show business and even for many situations in everyday life. A masterpiece made 75 years ago and that warns that if you try and don't succeed, you must find the right moment to move on in order not to stay entangled in a situation that you cannot get out of as a winner.