The film stars William Holden as an unsuccessful screenwriter, Gloria Swanson as a faded(消えた、過去の栄光にすがる） silent movie star who draws him into her fantasy world, in which she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen and Erich von Stroheim as her butler. Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, Lloyd Gough and Jack Webb play supporting roles. Director Cecil B. DeMille and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper play themselves, and the film includes cameo appearances（カメオ出演、特別［友情］出演） by leading silent film actors Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson.
Praised by many critics when first released, Sunset Boulevard was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and won three. It is widely accepted as a classic, often cited as one of the most noteworthy films of American cinema. Deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the U.S. Library of Congress in 1989, Sunset Boulevard was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1998, it was ranked number twelve on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best American films of the 20th century, and in 2007 it was 16th on their 10th Anniversary list.
Plot：
The story follows the life of struggling young Hollywood screenwriter Joseph C. Gillis (Holden) as he is ensnared（巻き込まれる） by long-forgotten silent-film star Norma Desmond (Swanson) into being her kept man. The film begins with a scene of Joe's dead body floating in the swimming pool of Norma's palatial（宮殿のような） mansion on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood before flashing back to the beginning of the story's events. Joe narrates the film even though he is no longer alive.
The first few scenes describe Joe's unsuccessful efforts to borrow money from his friends after failing to persuade Paramount Pictures producer Sheldrake (Clark) to buy his most recent script, which Sheldrake's assistant Betty Shaefer (Olson) dislikes. Joe's meeting with Norma and her stoic German butler Max (von Stroheim) is occasioned by a car chase in which he flees from repossession（回収、差し押さえ） men, having fallen behind on his loan payments. When one of his car's tires blows out in front of Norma's mansion, he hides the car in her garage, and when he tells her he is a writer, she asks him to help her write a script for a film that she hopes will revive her faded acting career.
With no other options except a low-paying newspaper job in Ohio, Joe agrees to help Norma. He objects when she has Max move his belongings from his apartment to her mansion, but she has paid his overdue rent, so he accepts the situation and begins living at the mansion, first in a room over the garage, then in the mansion itself. As he works on Norma's script, he becomes financially dependent upon her. She lavishes attention on him and buys him expensive clothing, including a tailcoat for a private New Year's Eve party attended only by the two of them. Horrified to learn that she has fallen in love with him, he escapes to a party at a friend's house, where he meets Betty Schaefer again. While still unimpressed with most of his work, she believes one scene in one of his scripts has potential. However, Joe leaves the party and returns to the mansion when he discovers that Norma has attempted suicide.
When Norma considers her script to be complete, she sends it to Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount and waits for his answer. Coincidentally, Gordon Cole, of Paramount's Props Department, begins calling. Thinking he is one of DeMille's underlings（下っ端）, she refuses to speak to him. Eventually, she has Max drive her and Joe to the studio in her Isotta-Fraschini, a rare vintage luxury car. While DeMille entertains Norma, Joe and Max learn that Cole had called because the studio wants to rent her car and has no interest in her script. Max insists that they hide these facts from her, as he hides the fact that he has faked her recent fan mail.
Review:
I like movies about Hollywood. "Sunset Boulevard" puts new movies to shame. The acting and writing back then were so different. This film was written so perfectly and beautifully.
"The body of a young man was found floating in the pool of her mansion [on Sunset Blvd.]..."
This is how this bizarre movie begins, a movie that contains elements of drama, horror, and black comedy. The title is named after the famous boulevard that runs through Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Also, the full title of this movie is "Sunset Boulevard: A Hollywood Story."
"Sunset Boulevard" was nominated for several Academy Awards in 1951 including Best Picture. Unfortunately "Sunset Boulevard" lost the Best Picture nomination to "All About Eve"! Both movies were great, but I definitely felt after seeing both movies that "Sunset Boulevard" should have won the Academy Award for Best Picture instead!
"Sunset Boulevard" draws you in from the very start of the movie. "Sunset Boulevard" really starts with the end of the movie if you will, because the lead character & movie narrator, Joe Gillis (played by William Holden), is found dead floating face down in a swimming pool.Generally, Hollywood on Hollywood movies are pretty bad, but Sunset Boulevard is one of the few exceptions. This movie is really as close to perfect as movies can get! In fact, it's even difficult to pinpoint the elements that make it so good, but a few of the highlights include the dark sets, appropriate music, very clever direction by Billy Wilder, and the brilliant performances of Gloria Swanson and William Holden.
I usually stay away from "black and white" movies, considering they are not from my generation という人も多いが、人物描写を深く掘り下げている作品も少なくないと思う。
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