Episode #206

Sunset Boulevard

(1950)

Mister DeMille . . . I’m ready for my closeup!

Director Billy Wilder would all like us to know: there was an era of movies before the talkies, and we did those silent stars dirty when we made the switch. Gloria Sawnson is glorious (see what I did there?) as the cast-aside Norma Desmond living in a dilapidated mansion doing her best to re-live her glory days and slowly losing her mind. William Holden is Joe Gillis, the young up-and-coming screenwriter that serves as a catalyst for it all to fall apart. Is this Wilder’s best film? We discuss!