Search - Sunset Boulevard [Special Collector's Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1950 DVD Release: 11/26/2002 Format: DVD - Black and White - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 50 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 19 Genres: Drama, Satire, Showbiz Drama See Also: Sunset Boulevard [Paramount Centennial Collection], Sunset Boulevard [Circuit City Exclusive] [Checkpoint]

Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard ranks among the most scathing satires of Hollywood and the cruel fickleness of movie fandom. The story begins at the end as the body of Joe Gillis (William Holden) is fished out of a Hollywood swimming pool. From The Great Beyond, Joe details the circumstances of his untimely demise (originally, the film contained a lengthy prologue wherein the late Mr. Gillis told his tale to his fellow corpses in the city morgue, but this elicited such laughter during the preview that Wilder changed it). Hotly pursued by repo men, impoverished, indebted "boy wonder" screenwriter Gillis ducks into the garage of an apparently abandoned Sunset Boulevard mansion. Wandering into the spooky place, Joe encounters its owner, imperious silent star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Upon learning Joe's profession, Norma inveigles him into helping her with a comeback script that she's been working on for years. Joe realizes that the script is hopeless, but the money is good and he has nowhere else to go. Soon the cynical and opportunistic Joe becomes Norma's kept man. While they continue collaborating, Norma's loyal and protective chauffeur Max Von Mayerling (played by legendary filmmaker Erich von Stroheim) contemptuously watches from a distance. More melodramatic than funny, the screenplay by Wilder and Charles Brackett began life as a comedy about a has-been silent movie actress and the ambitious screenwriter who leeches off her. (Wilder originally offered the film to Mae West, Mary Pickford and Pola Negri. Montgomery Clift was the first choice for the part of opportunistic screenwriter Joe Gillis, but he refused, citing as "disgusting" the notion of a 25-year-old man being kept by a 50-year-old woman.) Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running musical version has served as a tour-de-force for contemporary actresses ranging from Glenn Close to Betty Buckley to Diahann Carroll. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Holden - Joe Gillis
Gloria Swanson - Norma Desmond
Erich Von Stroheim - Max Von Mayerling
Nancy Olson - Betty Schaefer
Fred Clark - Sheldrake

Billy Wilder's 1950 masterpiece starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden gets a long-awaited release on DVD from Paramount. The image is fully restored in beautiful black-and-white with the original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. Audio is available in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono in English or French. Billy Wilder biographer Ed Sikov provides the commentary track; however, he offers little analysis into the film's production. First off, this disc offers versions of the film's original opening in the morgue, shown with different drafts of the script. One of the best features on the disc is "Edith Head: The Paramount Years," a documentary about the costume designer and her contributions to the film. "Sunset Boulevard: A Look Back" is a 25-minute history of the film, featuring interviews with last surviving principal cast member Nancy Olson, producer A.C. Lyles, film critic Andrew Sarris, and other industry types. "The Music of Sunset Blvd." is a short featurette about Franz Waxman's award-winning musical score. Other features include theatrical trailers, photo galleries, and Hollywood location maps. For a first-ever release of such a landmark film, this disc comes highly recommended as a welcome release for classic Hollywood fans as well as those seeing Sunset Blvd. for the first time. This title is also available as part of the three-disc set =The Billy Wilder Collection. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide