There was a real satisfaction watching this as part of my journey through 1,001 films because it is so much more meaningful being familiar with the silent era and it's stars.
Down-on-his-luck screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) has so little money his car is threatened with repossession. Pursued by repo men, he turns into a driveway to escape them and what he initially believes is an abandoned mansion is actually the home of forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Norma is planning a comeback and Joe sees an opportunity to make some easy money by agreeing to improve her script for Salome. What he doesn't realise is that this will lead to Norma, with the aid of her butler Max (Erich von Stroheim), gradually enforcing him to stay at the house and become a bigger part of her life. The script is terrible but Norma is convinced Cecil B. DeMille will shoot it and she will become a star once more.
Joe references Miss Havisham early in the film and there is certainly an element of the Dickens character to Norma. She's a great character, extraordinarily wealthy and once very famous but now forgotten and alone. She is utterly convinced Hollywood will take her back despite very little evidence. Gloria Swanson gives a great performance in a meta role.
I love that this is firmly set within Hollywood with references to studios, most notably Paramount, and the world of filmmaking. There's a great scene where Norma is playing bridge with Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson. Most notably of all is Cecil B. DeMille playing himself. These appearances are a lot of fun but they also had a realism to the world and the character of Norma- if this was released in the internet age a lot of people would be Googling if Norma Desmond was real in the same way they thought Lydia Tár was real.
I love a Billy Wilder script. Beyond the great stories, they are just packed full of great dialogue and this film is no different. Nearly every line zings and there's a nice film noir style narration from Gillis that is also really pleasing to the ear.
Much admired and much imitated but never bettered.
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