Un scénariste est engagé pour retravailler le texte d'une ancienne vedette du cinéma muet qui espère un retour triomphant avec ce rôle. De cette collaboration naquit une dangereuse relation ... Tout lireUn scénariste est engagé pour retravailler le texte d'une ancienne vedette du cinéma muet qui espère un retour triomphant avec ce rôle. De cette collaboration naquit une dangereuse relation amoureuse.Un scénariste est engagé pour retravailler le texte d'une ancienne vedette du cinéma muet qui espère un retour triomphant avec ce rôle. De cette collaboration naquit une dangereuse relation amoureuse.
- Récompensé par 3 Oscars
- 19 victoires et 20 nominations au total
- 1st Finance Man
- (as Larry Blake)
- Cop Who Drags Joe's Body from Pool
- (non crédité)
Histoire
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesUnlike the character she played, Gloria Swanson had accepted the fact that the movies didn't want her anymore and had moved to New York, where she worked on radio and, later, television. Although she had long before ruled out the possibility of a movie comeback, she was nevertheless highly intrigued when she got the offer to play the lead.
- GaffesWhen Max is telling Joe about directing Madam's first pictures, there is a bad dub of the word "sixteen". After the Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle trial and the subsequent establishment of the Hays Office to enforce the new Production Code, the producers were concerned that the original age of 14 would be considered child porn and had the line changed in post.
- Citations
Joe Gillis: Wait a minute, haven't I seen you before? I know your face.
Norma Desmond: Get out! Or shall I call my servant?
Joe Gillis: You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.
Norma Desmond: I *am* big. It's the *pictures* that got small.
- Crédits fousThe Paramount logo appears as a transparency over the opening shot. The words "Sunset Blvd." are shown stenciled on the curb of that street.
- ConnexionsEdited into Les Amoureux du cinéma (1987)
- Bandes originalesThe Paramount-Don't-Want-Me Blues
(1950) (uncredited)
Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Performed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans at Artie's party
The images of this beautiful black and white powerhouse are fascinating and unforgettable: the dead writer floating in a pool, eyes wide open, looking right at us at the beginning; the eerie pipe organ that plays by the breeze in the middle of one of the most deep and dustiest sets ever; the funeral ceremony of the dead monkey in Norma's courtyard ("That must have been one important chimp. The grandson of King Kong perhaps." says Holden in a delightfully crisp and wise voice-over.) Holden pulls his car into a driveway off of the boulevard that will change his life forever. He is the emblem of the struggle to get notoriety. He has only a few B Movies to his credit. Swanson as Norma Desmond is the symbol of lost fame and has become the talk of legend. What is ironic about her character is that she may be playing herself in an odd way. She WAS an actual silent star whose career went down the tubes after the talkies came about. Her madness combined with Holden's last drop of naiveté combine to give us one of the most electrifying "give and take" between actors I've ever witnessed.
Both lead parts were passed over by several actors. Holden was eventually forced into it as a contract player. How could you pass on such a script? Even "wax figures" (as Holden calls them) Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson come to Norma's to play bridge, of course being Hollywood outcasts themselves, after the invention of sound in film. Some of the dialogue takes a swing at actual movies and people (GONE WITH THE WIND, Zanuck, Menjou). This must have brought the house down in Hollywood screening rooms throughout the town. Louis B. Mayer even condemned Billy Wilder for "ruining the industry". The film is sad and darkly humorous depicting the antics of Norma, who is quite insane, and Holden who is going along with what Norma is giving him, but has plans of his own. Another wax figure still alive and kicking in 1950 appears as himself in an important role. Cecil B. Demille, who once directed Norma/Gloria back in the silent heyday, tries to set her straight, telling her pictures have "changed". They had indeed, especially after this searing comment on celebrity status. I wonder if they knew what they were creating while making this gem.
Scenes are shot right on the lot of Paramount Studios (even the front gate), and Norma's mansion is an unforgettable piece of history and gloom with a floor that "Valentino once danced on." There is so much to discuss, but little to enlighten you on how great SUNSET BLVD is without you seeing it. Just two years later, films began to crop up with the same tainted view of Hollywood, most with varying degrees of deception. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, one of the all-time entertainments quietly had a nasty taste in its mouth regarding celebrity and the invention of sound movies. Watch these films closely and see the skeletons of the modern Hollywood bash films.
RATING: 10 of 10
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Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Langue
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- El ocaso de una vida
- Lieux de tournage
- 10060 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, Californie, États-Unis(Norma Desmond's driveway gate)
- Société de production
- Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro
Box-office
- Budget
- 1 752 000 $US (estimé)
- Montant brut aux États-Unis et au Canada
- 299 645 $US
- Week-end de sortie aux États-Unis et au Canada
- 169 067 $US
- 13 mai 2018
- Montant brut mondial
- 309 467 $US
- Durée1 heure 50 minutes
- Couleur
- Rapport de forme
- 1.37 : 1