Sunset Boulevard (DVD), Paramount, Drama

Gloria Swanson gives a career-defining performance as faded silent screen star Norma Desmond in director Billy Wilder's dark and masterful film classic, "Sunset Boulevard." William Holden is Joe Gillis, the young, down-on-his-luck screenwriter whom Norma drafts to help provide her with a workable script for her planned "return" to the modern-day screen. Erich von Stroheim is Max von Mayerling, Norma's devoted servant and chauffeur, who harbors a few personal revelations of his own. Hollywood has never taken a more ominous, compelling or electrifying look at Hollywood than in this brilliant, Oscar®-winning tour de force that still mesmerizes with it's witty, sardonic script, unforgettable cast, and provocative storyline. The exceptional cast also includes Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, Lloyd Gough, Jack Webb and - as themselves - Cecil B. DeMille, Hedda Hopper, Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson and H.B. Warner. (English), Gloria Swanson, as Norma Desmond, an aging silent-film queen, and William Holden, as the struggling young screenwriter who is held in thrall by her madness, created two of the screen's most memorable characters in "Sunset Boulevard." Winner of three Academy Awards®, director Billy Wilder's powerful orchestration of the bizarre tale is a true cinematic classic. From the unforgettable opening sequence - a body found floating in a decayed mansion's swimming pool - through the inevitable unfolding of tragic destiny, "Sunset Boulevard" is the definitive statement on the dark and desperate side of Hollywood. Erich von Stroheim as Desmond's discoverer, ex-husband and butler, and Nancy Olson as the bright spot amidst unrelenting ominousness, are equally celebrated for their masterful performances. (Spanish)