Great Moments From Cinema - 40

Fading Pictures
Movie: Sunset Boulevard. (Paramount Pictures; 1950)
Director: Billy Wilder
Screenplay: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D. M. Marshman Jr.
Major Cast: William Holden, Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim

Film Synopsis: Holden is an unemployed screenwriter who finds himself in the mansion of Swanson, a senile and faded star from silent movies. Believing that she can still make a come-back, Swanson hires Holden to write a script. He eventually becomes a kept man who tries in vain to escape from her growing madness.

My Favorite Moment: Swanson as Norma Desmond, “I am still big. It’s the pictures that got small.”

Why I Like It: How do you write a dialogue like that? Swanson says the above in response to Holden’s comment that he remembered her from the old silent films and that she used to be big at one time. No other response has been so dramatic, so appropriate and so overwhelming in its execution. Swanson says these words as if she believes them and it is insolent on Holden’s part to assume otherwise. It’s not just the sound of her voice, but her entire body language which communicates these sentiments. The raised eyebrows and the smug look of superiority are convincing to us as the audience, and we think to ourselves that this is a woman who at one time may have had Hollywood in the palm of her hands.

This is a great movie. A classic look at Hollywood after the spot-light has been turned off. Many stars have faced this bitter experience of being forgotten too soon. Although Swanson plays a delusional woman, at no stage does the audience pity her. She still maintains a dignified exterior and that is what makes her insanity so captivating. Erich von Stroheim plays the role of her butler who at one point used to be her husband and also a great director. Even he cannot force himself to leave her and one suspects that it is more due to Swanson’s forceful presence rather than compassion on his part.

Wilder directed this movie with great style. The movie starts off with Holden being dead in a pool and yet narrating the story. It may sound strange, but it gives the film the feel of a noir and works because of that. The screen play is flawless and some of the dialogues, like the one above, have become legendary. For example towards the end when she has surrendered completely to the madness, Swanson in a farewell speech to the reporters says, “You see, this is my life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!” or the time where she says about the silent films, “We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!” These words resonate with some significance and a sad reflection on how Hollywood may have forgotten the spirit of some of its old legends. Think about it, “It’s the pictures that got small!” Where have all the people gone? Where are the Bogart’s, the Stewart’s, the Grant’s, the Gable’s, the Chaplin’s, the Keaton’s, the Lloyd’s, the Astair’s, the Hepburn’s, the Stanwyck’s, the Garland’s, the Brando’s? The story of Sunset Blvd. means more today than at any time. But dammit, just how do you write a dialogue like that?