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What Makes this Film Great | Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Continuing our look at the seedy side of Hollywood with this American classic from 1950 - is there anything to say about Sunset Blvd that hasn't been said? Let's see . . .
More on the film:
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The original Variety review by William Brogdon (1950): variety.com/19...
Roger Ebert, writing about the film in 1999: www.rogerebert...
Short, but insightful take on the film's cinematography by David E. Williams at American Cinematographer (2018): ascmag.com/art...
- - - - - -
Title music: "Adventure"
www.bensound.com​​​​​​​

Пікірлер: 124

  • @charliewest1221
    @charliewest1221 Жыл бұрын

    Erich von Stroheim, in my opinion, delivers one of the finest performances, ever, in a supporting role. Truly a masterclass.

  • @paulfrantizek102

    @paulfrantizek102

    Жыл бұрын

    He was a historically great director, so it's not a surprise.

  • @charliewest1221

    @charliewest1221

    Жыл бұрын

    @@paulfrantizek102 I watched him recently in "I was an Adventuress" with Peter Lorre. He's brilliant there as well (in a surprisingly different role).

  • @juancervantes4085

    @juancervantes4085

    Жыл бұрын

    ​@@charliewest1221 There was nothing like Old Hollywood! I have a collection of 8 by 10 glossies that I bought at Cinema Collectors in Hollywood at Sunset and Wilcox during the times that I have visited Los Angeles. Also visited the old Hollywood Park Cemetary now known as Hollywood Forever Cemetary. I love to read and learn about Old Hollywood such as homes, movie locations and famous sites such as hotels, bars, hangouts. Can't get enough!

  • @charliewest1221

    @charliewest1221

    Жыл бұрын

    @@juancervantes4085 Hi ho, Juan, I was very happy to read your post. Thank you for sharing this. You are very fortunate to have have had the privilege of visitng Hollywood. You will enjoy "Hollywood Story" (1951) which stars Richard Conte, Julie Adams and Fred Clark (if you haven't watched it). Let me know. Cheers for a great weekend.

  • @juancervantes4085

    @juancervantes4085

    Жыл бұрын

    @@charliewest1221 Thank you Mr. West for your feedback and recommendation. I have not seen it however will certainly look for it. Richard Conte I believe played Don Barzini in Godfather I. VAYA CON DIOS!

  • @FicelleProductions
    @FicelleProductions7 ай бұрын

    I saw it in the theater a few weeks ago. I was knocked out all over again, especially by Gloria Swanson. She’s unbelievable.

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p
    @LaurenceDay-d2p2 ай бұрын

    The picture is well-written and superbly paced, with no unnecessary dialog, or slow spots. The picture moves smoothly from one scene to another. The skillful editing by Doane Harrison keeps the picture moving towards its climactic scene.

  • @RandalSterling
    @RandalSterling Жыл бұрын

    Notice in the scene at Paramount when she’s in DeMille’s chair, a boom mic encroaches on her and she pushes it away, annoyed. The microphone is her nemesis since “talkies” killed the silent era.

  • @beyourself2444

    @beyourself2444

    10 ай бұрын

    I always loved that, Swanson was brilliant

  • @johnradovich8809

    @johnradovich8809

    2 ай бұрын

    Great point! Watched the film many, many times and just saw that scene 30 min ago in another video. Never picked up on that.

  • @michaelburnham4749
    @michaelburnham47492 жыл бұрын

    As harsh and cruel as Joe was in the breakup scene with Betty, in a way I felt that this was Joe's too late and misguided attempt to be the "stand-up guy" he thought he once was. He knew he had been corrupted, sunk into the depths of his "relationship" with Norma, accept her gifts and control as a metaphor for accepting the riches of Hollywood, and he didn't want Betty to be corrupted too. It was a cruel version of "Its too late for me, save yourself." My key for feeling that way is after cruelly breaking up with Betty he attempts to leave Norma too, not for, or with, Betty but on his own and then ends up face down in the pool for it. Which is of course the metaphor for Hollywood not allowing you to leave until IT'S done with you. - Just a thought.

  • @AaronHunter

    @AaronHunter

    2 жыл бұрын

    I think you're right - he's definitely trying to shield her or free her from getting further enmeshed in the situation he's got himself into. You could say there's something admirable about that, but I think the way he goes about it - knowing that the entire situation is a complete surprise and shock to Betty - is particularly cruel because he doesn't even give her a chance to understand what's going on. It's a superb scene, but a hard one.

  • @forreal245

    @forreal245

    2 жыл бұрын

    Michael, you nailed it.

  • @jtt6650

    @jtt6650

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@AaronHunter ​ ​ I agree with Michael. I think Joe was trying to be noble. When he overheard Norma on the phone with Betty, he looked disgusted and totally embarrassed and probably decided then that that was the last straw and he was going to leave Norma, Hollywood, and cut ties with fresh faced Betty to save her from association with his sleaze; he also probably felt really guilty about betraying Artie. So he was intentionally cruel to Betty, not because he wanted to (on the contrary), but because he believed if he gave her a soft landing she would rationalize and make excuses for him and try to hang on. By then there was no time to explain anything anyway. In retrospect, if she hadn’t left when she did, crazy Norma would’ve probably shot her too.

  • @andrewdewar8159

    @andrewdewar8159

    2 жыл бұрын

    I found it hard to understand why he would break up with Betty. Norma has him in a disfunctional relationship, she is manipulating him and trying to make him stay under threat of suicide. But they say that when we pick partners that are disfunctional, its because we are disfunctional ourselves, and healthy people don't pick disfunctional partners, we pick them because it fulfills some function of our own problems.

  • @andrewdewar8159

    @andrewdewar8159

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jtt6650 Maybe he feels ashamed of himself as well, and maybe he thinks he's not worthy of Betty, when people fall in love they often feel -oh I dont deserve [the other person].

  • @catherineaiello7136
    @catherineaiello7136 Жыл бұрын

    Gloria Swanson is incredible in Sunset Boulevard.

  • @andrewdewar8159
    @andrewdewar81592 жыл бұрын

    When Betty and Joe walk into the room at 43:25 of your video, in the film they stop walking and they are framed by the two arches there. Each of them framed by an arch but the big portrait of Norma is right in the middle, she is litterally coming between them, visually. I think there are so many composition features in this film, but I'm not clever enough to work them out, I just know how they make me feel.

  • @SM-gl8yo
    @SM-gl8yo Жыл бұрын

    2:00 Franz Waxman's Oscar-winning score....dated?? No, it's timeless. Mysterious, sardonic, haunting, subtle, climatic. Brilliant.

  • @jonathanmartinsegundera2593

    @jonathanmartinsegundera2593

    Жыл бұрын

    Couldn't agree with you more... the soundtrack is a perfect example how music heightens rhe mood and emotions in the film without being obstrusive... Truly a work of genius!

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p

    @LaurenceDay-d2p

    2 ай бұрын

    The skillful score adds to the overall mood and tone of the film, especially the eerie dubbed-in organ music.

  • @pacldawson
    @pacldawson Жыл бұрын

    I first saw this film as a 12-year-old, and at that young age I noticed a lot of things in its scenic design that enhanced the feeling that Joe is trapped in the world he’s stumbled into. An excellent example of this is the secondary front door, a door made up of bars that makes the house feel like a prison cell. Another note about the scenic design: my first thought as a 12-year-old was “this house feels like a huge attic”. I think that is an apt description of the world of Norma Desmond.

  • @Halcyonblonde-pg8lg
    @Halcyonblonde-pg8lg2 ай бұрын

    This was the movie that I turned my son on to years ago. He has loved old movies ever since!! Good choice!

  • @user-js6rz4vk6d
    @user-js6rz4vk6d3 ай бұрын

    Schwabs Pharmacy was even featured in this classic film. There were good golden era stars in the movie too. The oldness makes it so good.

  • @andrewdewar8159
    @andrewdewar81592 жыл бұрын

    It is said thar the cinematography of Sunset Boulevard is a masterpiece of photographic composition. I watched this film just to learn about composition. The rules of composition, like rule of thirds, frame within frame (his car windscreen) and all that, like the drapes in Normas bedroom are curved and reflect the curves of her form.

  • @a.p.murdock4081
    @a.p.murdock4081 Жыл бұрын

    A response to your shadow analysis, what I realized is the "romanticism" of shadows and lights. I enjoyed your study of BOULEVARD. Incredible filmic mind.

  • @et313
    @et313 Жыл бұрын

    Fantastic discussion, Aaron. I like your son’s observation that Sunset Boulevard seems filmed at night.

  • @AaronHunter

    @AaronHunter

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks! Ha ha, he comes up with some pretty trenchant observations sometimes - as you probably know, kids seem to lack filters (which isn't always great, lol), which allows them to see right to the heart of things sometimes!

  • @MegaJackpinesavage
    @MegaJackpinesavage Жыл бұрын

    I remember seeing SB first as a small boy ( no doubt adding to my lifelong dread of ever growing up) & too young to fathom the details I sat petrified by the "ghosts that haunt a swimming pool & spooky old house". More than 60 yrs on now & after many viewings I'm pleased that my initial take on this national treasure, er, still holds water.

  • @MegaJackpinesavage

    @MegaJackpinesavage

    Жыл бұрын

    Glad we agree, sir. It may be a stretch, but I've never been able to shake the idea that Wilder's SB greatly influenced Hitchcock's "Psycho" --- a master's nod in a good natured duel perhaps --- as well an even darker take on Hollywood.

  • @Allison_Wonderland.
    @Allison_Wonderland. Жыл бұрын

    Hi, Aaron. I just love your interpretation of one of the finest films I have ever seen (in my top 20). As per Sunset Boulevard, I would like to mention the notion of being a 'kept' man. I have seen many thousands of movies in my time, and the subject is extremely rare. In fact, I cannot think of another example off the top of my head just now. However, one of my very favorite songs, Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," is a great example. The kept man in that song is very different from Joe, as in the song he is telling his meal ticket that he is leaving her. He suggests to her that there are other men out there who would be perfectly willing to be in his place, all the while degrading her. The lines, "Maybe you'll get a replacement, there’s plenty like me to be found - mongrels who ain’t got a penny sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground.” And the of course, “So goodbye Yellow Brick Road, where the dogs of society howl. You can’t plant me in your penthouse, I’m goin’ back to my plow…” I’m sure many people know this famous song. I find it sad and chilling, and every time I hear it it reminds me of SB, and watching SB reminds me of the song. Well that was my 2 cents. Any thoughts on that, anyone out there? And again, Aaron, I love your film analyses. I am a new subscriber. With love from Wonderland.

  • @AaronHunter

    @AaronHunter

    Жыл бұрын

    That's a really cool interpretation - I've never thought of that song (which I've heard. a million times) like that. Thanks!

  • @Allison_Wonderland.

    @Allison_Wonderland.

    Жыл бұрын

    @@AaronHunter I hear ya. I grew up listening to that song, and never fully realized what it really meant until one day when I listened very intently, and then something clicked, and I said, "aaah" (or Eureka, if you like). I was in my early or mid 20's.

  • @musiknutz

    @musiknutz

    11 ай бұрын

    Very interesting comment and quite enjoyable to read. But I have to admit that it was a shock finding out about the “meaning “ of one of my all time favourite songs!! I WAS only about 12 years old when it came out and couldn’t have figured THAT out.

  • @thesecondYouTube

    @thesecondYouTube

    10 ай бұрын

    Breakfast at tiffany's. Paul Varjak.

  • @Allison_Wonderland.

    @Allison_Wonderland.

    9 ай бұрын

    @@thesecondKZread thanks, I'll have to check it out. Can't believe I haven't seen that one by now anyway. One more I can think of is B.F.'s daughter from 1948. Not bad.

  • @cree8vision
    @cree8vision6 ай бұрын

    I never thought of it before but Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place (which I have on DVD) was a Hollywood screenwriter who is down on his luck.

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p

    @LaurenceDay-d2p

    2 ай бұрын

    Unemployed actors and writers are a truthful cliche in Hollywood. Out of the 50,000-odd scripts submitted to studios each year, only a handful ever make it to the screen. Most are stuck in Development Hell forever - if they even manage to be put into development.

  • @MrMarcelWiel
    @MrMarcelWiel Жыл бұрын

    Thanks so much for your work on this vlog ... and your passion! Kind regards from Marseille

  • @nmslists1028
    @nmslists1028 Жыл бұрын

    Wow this was really great! Sunset Blvd is a favorite and I've seen it many many times. This discussion of it brought out many aspects I hadn't really understood or saw. Great video essay.

  • @michaelharrington7656
    @michaelharrington7656 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for a brilliant analysis, I want to see all your stuff now. What strikes me about Sunset Boulevard ,which I have never seen mentioned ,is that it is basically a gothic vampire movie brought up to date in a creative way.

  • @AaronHunter

    @AaronHunter

    Жыл бұрын

    I like that analogy!

  • @Stroheim333
    @Stroheim333 Жыл бұрын

    One thing that amaze me with movie history, is that so ridiculously many movies among the "all time classics" are horror movies, or at least profoundly inspired by the genre, like Sunset Boulevard. Billy Wilder's movie is a neo-gothic masterpiece, and it reminds us of Citizen Kane. The horror genre is _in theory_ the lowest of genres, but _in reality_ movie makers are fascinated by it.

  • @AaronHunter

    @AaronHunter

    Жыл бұрын

    Great insight! The ability of movies to depict our greatest fears is immense, regardless of their generic packaging (although, I have a lot of colleagues who would disagree with the categorisation of horror as low, lol!).

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p

    @LaurenceDay-d2p

    2 ай бұрын

    The excellent black and white photography is also appropriate. The picture would not have the same mood if filmed in color.

  • @lindydomanick8498
    @lindydomanick849810 ай бұрын

    ❤My OCD has run rampent with this priceless movie,for years! I have stydied every frame of this movie and to me,EVERYTHING about it is perfection,including the score. Your take on it is so good I really enjoyed it,thank you😊❤

  • @peterlewis6324
    @peterlewis63243 ай бұрын

    Wonderful ,I learnt so much,about this brilliant classic.

  • @siegess
    @siegess Жыл бұрын

    i think i was about 12 when i first saw this, and most of the Billy Wilder catalog without knowing that they WERE all Billy Wilder,i hadn't started poring over credits yet 😮. Once i figured out credits, and then started receiving a Leonard. Maltin book every year,i was in movie buff heaven. But, "Sunset" has everything,plus Gloria watching "Queen Kelly" with Von Stroheim running the projector. Boggles the mind. And the 'waxworks'. Hedda Hopper playing herself is Wilders' nasty little joke on nasty little Hedda. And the list goes on. A film that broke the mold. A good double feature with "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane".

  • @andrewdewar8159
    @andrewdewar81592 жыл бұрын

    Norma's look at Joe before he embraces her after her suicide attempt seems to say, yes its worked, she's managed to maniplate him. I think she knows what she is doing, but she probably can't help herself, she can't not do it because she's messed up.

  • @Mooseman327
    @Mooseman327 Жыл бұрын

    Film noir is not a genre. It's a style. And Sunset Boulevard fits completely into that style.

  • @joeblow2069

    @joeblow2069

    10 ай бұрын

    Well said.

  • @jerilynnwilson930
    @jerilynnwilson930 Жыл бұрын

    My favorite film of all time.

  • @RoosterCogburn1008
    @RoosterCogburn10082 жыл бұрын

    Great analysis! Just saw this movie the other month, loved it. Thanks for going through the layers.

  • @rbthegardennannyllc4219
    @rbthegardennannyllc4219 Жыл бұрын

    Wow you did a wonderful job sharing MORE to this. Who knew I would watch it from beginning to end. Thank you for your insight and I look forward to watching this with fresh new eyes.

  • @AaronHunter

    @AaronHunter

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks, much appreciated! Hope you have a very happy new year!

  • @gAMAchunk
    @gAMAchunk10 ай бұрын

    Gillis mentions at one point that audiences forget that movies are written, that actors make it up as they go along. This is perhaps the perfect expression of dialogue so real, casting so true to character, that you can't tell what's acting and what's made up.

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p

    @LaurenceDay-d2p

    2 ай бұрын

    Note: Some actors do make up lines on-set, and some of the best lines n films were ad-libbed.

  • @gAMAchunk

    @gAMAchunk

    2 ай бұрын

    @@LaurenceDay-d2pWilder still didn't understand American street slang so fluently in noires like Sunset Boulevard and loved using it wherever he could, sometimes improperly.

  • @maykit
    @maykit Жыл бұрын

    brilliant

  • @dannyhood8857
    @dannyhood88572 жыл бұрын

    I watched it last year on TMC. I had to see again.

  • @jcjcviews
    @jcjcviews6 ай бұрын

    45:00 I had a similar life. I lived in L.A., West L.A., and Santa Monica. My background was also in performance, emphasizing acting and directing. I also had "entanglements" that led to tragedy, the events of some unknown to this day. I relate to this moment in how people learn about what should otherwise seem inevitable. What is most likely bound to happen to those undeserving is, for the first and last time, being revealed. From my perspective, Joe is recognizing that he's failed as a man to meet the challenges of life and what would make him deserving of life, and he is making a confession. He's an imposter, in other words. Hence, this foreshadows his end in celluloid logic. If you haven't noticed, I sympathize with Joe. The reason is that Joe has yet to succeed as a writer. Let's remember that Betty is the gatekeeper. Joe is emasculated from the beginning. He's forced into the role of a Giggolo and playing second fiddle. Last but not least, let's not fail to appreciate that Joe, the narrator, is already dead. The man is dead.

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p
    @LaurenceDay-d2p2 ай бұрын

    Amusing Note: After watching the film, silent star Mae Murray remarked, "None of us floozies were THAT nuts!"

  • @terryolsson4145
    @terryolsson4145 Жыл бұрын

    Have seen the movie and like yourself was swept up into it. So I have super enjoyed listening to your breakdown and analogy of this iconic story. Thank you.

  • @ddburdette
    @ddburdette Жыл бұрын

    If you drive east on Sunset Boulevard, does it eventually become Sunrise Boulevard? :)

  • @forreal245
    @forreal2452 жыл бұрын

    Norma keeps Joe as her "financial hostage".

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p

    @LaurenceDay-d2p

    2 ай бұрын

    He knows he is being kept, and she knows he knows. In one line of dialogue he asks "What right do you have?" and Norma snaps: "What right? Do you want me to tell you?" Joe's acceptance of the role of kept male whore doesn't say much for his character. Keeping young studs is a common practice among wealthy Hollywood women - and men.

  • @MrNurserob
    @MrNurserob Жыл бұрын

    When Joe talks about his writing difficulties and his almost resignation that he’ll have to go back to Ohio and work for his hometown newspaper and endure the people there whom he imagines- and likely accurately- will talk about how he couldn’t make it in Hollywood or California more broadly, that’s a very relatable fear for people who’ve moved a long distance from where they grew up to ‘make it’ in California. For the many of us who’ve done that and followed our California dreams to make a life for ourselves in the sunshine, whether in Hollywood or in whatever we’re doing, the fear of having to go back because we couldn’t make it work is a very real one. I used to have bad dreams about it, lol. So when he focuses on that as the narrator, it’s instantly relatable and authentic.

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p

    @LaurenceDay-d2p

    2 ай бұрын

    As Thomas Wolfe wrote "You can't go home again." Joe Gills was just one of thousands of men and women who had their dreams destroyed by the Hollywood jungle. I suspect that his efforts to sell his writing were what Billy Wilder himself endured when he first came to Hollywood as a European refugee. Wilder's life itself would make a fascinating motion picture.

  • @guilfordcigarman
    @guilfordcigarman Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for your wonderful insights. I have always loved this film, one of my favorites!

  • @TangSongs
    @TangSongs8 ай бұрын

    Great observations of a great film!

  • @DarkForcesStudio
    @DarkForcesStudio4 ай бұрын

    Great analysis. Thanks.

  • @waynemitchell9
    @waynemitchell97 ай бұрын

    The only thing that drives me crazy is when William Holden's character goes up the driveway of Norma Desmond's mansion to escape the repo guys. Holden brings his car to a halt up the driveway then raises his head up like an ostrich to see the repo guy's car go by. I Would of told Billy Wilder, "Hey look, you've got to re-shoot this. Bill Holden should be diving down in the seat when he brings the car to a stop in the driveway." In real life, the repo guy riding shotgun would have probably spotted Holden with his head raised up high looking down the driveway. I think they should re-shoot this with a Bill Holden double, you could shoot it from behind the car, not seeing the double's face, the double would dive down into the seat, insert this into the original movie, then it would be perfect!

  • @markwardel6751
    @markwardel6751 Жыл бұрын

    Brilliant analysis of a masterpiece.

  • @nickd4310
    @nickd43102 ай бұрын

    A lot of Wilder's movies were like this. WW2 generation man against the soulless organization. No one better captured the era. Who else would have made movies about Hollywood, the media, a POW camp, the police, Coca-Cola and three insurance companies?

  • @judithortiz-velazquez4992
    @judithortiz-velazquez4992 Жыл бұрын

    What is best is your sincere enjoyment and willingness to share your thoughts with us

  • @julietcunningham852
    @julietcunningham852 Жыл бұрын

    Salome Herod's WIFE????? She was his step-daughter.

  • @FicelleProductions
    @FicelleProductions7 ай бұрын

    Aaron: These are interesting and fun. Keep going.

  • @Jeff-uj8xi
    @Jeff-uj8xi10 ай бұрын

    Was that really Schwab's Drug Store in the film or was it a recreation of it? Even a young Jack Webb was in the film. I wonder if that was his first film.

  • @jcjcviews
    @jcjcviews6 ай бұрын

    Betty is a woman on the move and a rounded character. I'm reminded again of the making of characters in Mulholland Drive.

  • @pepelemoko01
    @pepelemoko01 Жыл бұрын

    I always wonder what Billy Wyler was thinking, starting the movie with William Holden waking in the morgue, in the scene that was later cut out. The test audience fall about laughing when they saw it.

  • @TheHarryshelton
    @TheHarryshelton Жыл бұрын

    Great analysis!

  • @glennwhitehead6484
    @glennwhitehead6484 Жыл бұрын

    I first saw this movie in the 60s when I was a kid, always liked it, quite a frightening last staircase scene when you are a child. I must have watched it 20 times since, it gets better every time!... obviously now it's getting to be a peephole on history! It's amusing how " Norma" who was 50!!!! Was classed as a "has been", the thought of a 50 year old actually having sex!!!! With a younger man😢😢 shock, horror, court case! Try telling Countney Cox or Jennifer Anniston that!!!.... A different time, a different world! Love that Vicuna overcoat she buys him!!!

  • @LJAllen1000
    @LJAllen10009 ай бұрын

    When Norma goes to see a confused Cecil B at the studio he tells her to sit in his chair and make herself comfortable while he goes to speak to Gordon Cole to find out why he has been calling Norma. It's interesting to notice as she sits in the chair something irritates her by brushing against the feather in her hat? Realising it is a microphone she pushes it contemptuously aside, after all, it is the instrument that records the sound, the cause as she sees it, as the thing that ended her career. It's a wonderful subtle unspoken comment by Norma about her view of the world as it is in that present time.

  • @LaurenceDay-d2p
    @LaurenceDay-d2p2 ай бұрын

    The picture contains a few glaring flaws and inconsistencies. If such great pains had been taken to prevent Norma from committing suicide, such as removing all the door knobs, how did she get the gun? Also, it is an automatic, not a revolver. And having had no training in firearms, with a gun she had just purchased, she shoots Joe with pinpoint accuracy in the back and then in the chest - no way could she have done that. The scene is a vivid melodramatic climax, but no way could it have happened in real life.

  • @theconciergerecommends3981
    @theconciergerecommends398111 ай бұрын

    Excellent... this should be shown after the film in film study classes!

  • @glutenfree2068
    @glutenfree206815 сағат бұрын

    Salome was Herod’s step daughter.

  • @valinormons
    @valinormons6 ай бұрын

    Yeah, it's a great picture. I haven't seen it in a while. I'm not sure I wanna go back there...

  • @GrumpyYank26
    @GrumpyYank26 Жыл бұрын

    really enjoyed this... thanks so much. I got here from a little dive into Wes Anderson's films, specifically from watching the trailer for Asteroid which I watched and immediately was struck by all the white people, or rather, the absence of POC. The 'dive' was to see if others have a like reaction. Im not going to see it - don't want to collude or participate - rightly or wrongly. However, I am so glad to have stumbled on your channel. Good work. - olympic peninsula, wa, usa

  • @pauljackson2473
    @pauljackson2473 Жыл бұрын

    I know I’m late to responding to this. I enjoyed your commentary. But, how can this not be seen as a strait up noir? All the elements are there…in a Hollywood setting.

  • @AaronHunter

    @AaronHunter

    Жыл бұрын

    It's a good question - one of the difficulties of generic classification is that once we bore down into any particular genre, the elements that classify/qualify a particular film as a genre become more elusive. At the same time, it can become easier to see other generic elements creeping in (see the comment above that refers to SB as horror!). In this case, it has a LOT of the elements of classic noir, but it's missing the gumshoe, the central "crime" to be investigated (sort of), a particular type of femme fatale, etc. I wouldn't say the variations on those conventions make this NOT noir, but that they might be different enough to make categorisation less simple.

  • @airmark02
    @airmark028 ай бұрын

    Silent star Swanson playing someone who was in many ways her opposite was a real tour de'force.

  • @sunnysaturday1111
    @sunnysaturday1111 Жыл бұрын

    You have all got to read her bio, Swanson on Swanson. And then read, Gloria Swanson, The Ultimate Star by Stephen Michael Shearer and the please read the Vanity Fair Article that came out very recently!! Please read in that order! The uncovered truth on Swanson throughout those three books is incredible!! In the end, during the writing of her Bio - she became Norma Desmond!! I won't spoil anymore of it for you. Read those three books in that order!!

  • @henry-bo3np
    @henry-bo3np9 ай бұрын

    If Joe does not want to leave Norma for Betty because he likes the set up, deal, then why shortly thereafter does Joe in fact leave Norma? This video never answers or even addresses that question.

  • @tommym321

    @tommym321

    8 ай бұрын

    Because he didn’t actually “like the set up.” He was ashamed of it, and his shame was too great to feel “worthy” of Betty. So he was cruel to her in order to make her lose her affection for him (affection he didn’t feel he “deserved” from her), and once that was accomplished, he planned to go back to Ohio, a failure.

  • @arnesahlen2704
    @arnesahlen27044 ай бұрын

    The music "dated"?? 😡 What options - Bach? A Liszt Rhapsody? Marilyn Manson? Music OF its time, for a same-era film, is not dated. *Be sure of quality things to say before posting them.*

  • @JJJBRICE
    @JJJBRICE10 ай бұрын

    Gloria Swanson was forever tied to this movie like Fay Wray was always tied to King Kong . This was despite a fabulous total career .

  • @yazanasad7811
    @yazanasad781128 күн бұрын

    Long shots, establishing shots part of the era Heel turn for narrative, up to now his sympathetic pov Gothic instability, close up shot and lots of reveals/twists. Hollywood using people and then victims becoming perpetrators. Vampiric element. Unsettling things like speaking from the dead. Betty as real tragedy, lured in from innocent position

  • @juancervantes4085
    @juancervantes4085 Жыл бұрын

    If I am not mistaken, Montgomery Clift was originally set to play Joe Gillis. However, he turned it down as his relationship with Torch Singer Libby Holman hit too close to home. By the way I know that the Norma Desmond Mansion was real and no longer exists and was torn down a while back. Does anyone have any pictures of the Mansion that you could share with all of us fans of Sunset Boulevard?

  • @Jeff-uj8xi

    @Jeff-uj8xi

    10 ай бұрын

    Hard to imagine that Montgomery Clift had a relationship with a woman, since Clift was gay. Maybe Libby Holman was a fag hag. I never heard of her. And anything going on between Holman and Clift could have been for appearance sake. Such things were done back then.

  • @scattysafari7742

    @scattysafari7742

    10 ай бұрын

    I do know they also used the house for the old mansion in Rebel Without a Cause.

  • @ahuddleston6512
    @ahuddleston6512 Жыл бұрын

  • @sunnysaturday1111
    @sunnysaturday1111 Жыл бұрын

    Theres a book out there, came out a few years ago. The monkey; what was the big deal about the monkey? This book posited that the writers, producers were subtly telling the audience that this has-been movie star was having se* with the monkey. The entire movie was sort of macabre but it was actually quite real. Surreal.

  • @tomperkins4965
    @tomperkins4965 Жыл бұрын

    It was film at stage 5 before the 1969-1974 tv classic Brady Bunch

  • @decdavey6470
    @decdavey64704 ай бұрын

    Norma is the voice of insanity, and Betty is the voice of reason.

  • @jcjcviews
    @jcjcviews6 ай бұрын

    Excuse me, sir, where I'm from, and based on the looks of it, this house would be considered a mansion. I know it sounds trite, but nuances matter if you're trying to do the best job of making a theory fundamental; I mean, selling it in place of a "construct" to lend a greater meaning to the subject. No, this is not just a decrepit house; it's a dilapidated mansion in the middle of "Holloweird." Having said this, the pitch is to sell you on comparing and contrasting the Mulholland Drive to Sunset Boulevard. Why? I think Mr. David Lynch thinks he's clever, but in reality, he's made a name for himself by stealing someone else's ideas. More than this, it will reveal more as it highlights more connections; for example, the name of the former is a salute to the last name of the man who gave us water in Chinatown, Los Angeles. Maybe this is all more babble for babble's sake, I don't know; ask your son about his opinion. Enjoyed your work, Mr. Hunter.

  • @catherinemalian9558
    @catherinemalian9558 Жыл бұрын

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  • @catherinemalian9558
    @catherinemalian9558 Жыл бұрын

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  • @catherinemalian9558
    @catherinemalian9558 Жыл бұрын

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  • @josephmetz890

    @josephmetz890

    Жыл бұрын

    That's easy for you to say.

  • @bobflewin3024
    @bobflewin30242 ай бұрын

    I wish he would show the film and just shut up

  • @tommym321
    @tommym3218 ай бұрын

    I’m an idiot and I just realized that Altman’s The Player is hugely influenced by this movie. Or a homage or a rip off etc.

  • @catherinemalian9558
    @catherinemalian9558 Жыл бұрын

    Crgvitlellerfeshgxfuhrdggrfgklmolecdhjrdjrdduekjrdftourhevhjrduufyiggicilrcetyyvreilbijhrrforyrvdcfvbkkuxikffgilegeuysttfftenknfhulmdjeuxfkiiplidugtfgikldkglejjfkjcfsbvvdvitkrumevldkkrrtfdytf

  • @catherinemalian9558
    @catherinemalian9558 Жыл бұрын

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