Sunset Blvd.

Synopsis:
Billy Wilder's masterpiece Sunset Blvd., a corrosive black comedy that remains the most memorable assault on the emptiness and vanity of the movie business, stars William Holden as young, down-and-out screenwriter Joe Gillis. Narrated in flashbacks by the now-deceased scribe, the film unwinds the series of events that left him lying face down in a pool. Unable to sell his most recent chef-d'oeuvre, and in hock up to his eyeballs, Joe stashes his car in the driveway of what appears to be an abandoned mansion on Sunset Boulevard while trying to elude some persistent repo men. Closer inspection reveals the decrepit property to be inhabited by grandiose former silent movie goddess Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), and her zombie-like manservant Max (Erich von Stroheim). Upon hearing that he's a writer, the lonely but still wealthy woman offers to pay him generously to stay at the house and work on her "comeback" script on the life of Salome. Although spooked by the people and the surroundings, in desperate straits, Joe takes the job, little suspecting the madness of the netherworld he's entered. Wilder's merciless portrait of the dangers of a profession that trades in fantasy cagily couples the cynical amorality of the never-was with the near-psychotic narcissism of the has-been to reveal the vacuity of wealth and the transience of fame.

Nominations:
Best Actor in a Leading Role (William Holden), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Erich von Stroheim), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Gloria Swanson), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Nancy Olson), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture, 1951 Academy Awards, USA
Best Overall New Extra Features, Library Release, 2003 DVD Exclusive Awards
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, 1951 Directors Guild of America, USA
Best Cinematography - Black and White, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Erich von Stroheim), 1951 Golden Globes, USA

Awards:
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, 1951 Academy Awards, USA
Best Foreign Language Film, 1952 Blue Ribbon Awards
Best American Film, 1951 Bodil Awards
Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama (Gloria Swanson), Best Motion Picture Director, Best Motion Picture Score, 1951 Golden Globes, USA
Best Actress - Foreign Film (Gloria Swanson), Best Director - Foreign Film, 1951 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
Foreign Actress (Gloria Swanson), 1951 Jussi Awards
Best Actress (Gloria Swanson), Best Film, 1950 National Board of Review, USA
National Film Registry, 1989 National Film Preservation Board, USA
Best Written American Drama, 1951 Writers Guild of America, USA

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