Friday, April 3, 2009

Sunset Boulevard

Day 81 - 3/22/09 - Movie #78

BEFORE: More proof that fame is a bitch - screw "The Maltese Falcon", THIS is a classic movie. I think they made us watch this in film school, but that was so long ago, I forgot most of the details...

THE PLOT: A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

AFTER: It's great to see a film about filmmaking that just regards the whole process as a crock, as if Hollywood is a big house of cards, ready to collapse at any moment. Of course, this was set back in the day when no self-respecting man would let a woman pay his expenses, or earn more than he did. William Holden seems to have studied at the Humphrey Bogart school of monotone delivery, and Gloria Swanson grossly over-emotes, but since she plays an aging actress, it works.

RATING: 6 out of 10 close-ups.

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