Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Subject: Sunset Boulevard (1950) Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:16 pm

The IMDb calls this the greatest film noir film of all-time. I can't imagine this is better than The Maltese Falcon but we'll see.

Subject: Re: Sunset Boulevard (1950) Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:59 am

That takes care of that movie. As predicted, it is not as good as The Maltese Falcon. This was still a very good movie though.

It stars some people I had never previously heard of. One of those people is Gloria Swanson who plays a former silent film star who didn't make a transition to talking pictures. Like her character, Swanson was a silent star who didn't do much after the transition to talking pictures. In fact, this was the first film she made in 9 years. She only appeared in one more film after this. Swanson was outstanding in this film and nominated for an Oscar. I am interested in her other films after seeing this one.

The film also stars William Holden who the AFI calls the 25th greatest male actor of all-time. Holden was also nominated for an Oscar for his performance. He did a pretty good job as well.

As for the plot, this was great. I said in my Singin' in the Rain review that they'd have had a great movie if they skipped the singing and dancing. That's exactly what this film did. This film came out 2 years earlier so you can't say it isn't original.

I can understand why this is the best noir film ever according to the IMDb but I wouldn't rank it quite that high. The Maltese Falcon has a phenomenal ending with one of the most famous movie quotes ever. This film had a pretty good ending, but had no famous lines. Also, this film revealed the ending about 60 seconds into the film. This is an effective plot device, but it kind of took away from what could have been a surprise ending.

Overall this film, while imperfect, is very good. It truly is a masterpiece of the genre.

93.5
A

UP NEXT: I'm not sure. I have a ton of choices but I'm undecided on what to pick.

Subject: Re: Sunset Boulevard (1950) Sat May 31, 2008 4:10 am

catbox_9 wrote:: I can understand why this is the best noir film ever according to the IMDb but I wouldn't rank it quite that high. The Maltese Falcon has a phenomenal ending with one of the most famous movie quotes ever. This film had a pretty good ending, but had no famous lines.

No famous lines?

What about:
"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." (#7 by the AFI - ranked ahead of everything in The Maltese Falcon)

or:
"I am big! It's the pictures that got small." (#24 by the AFI)