"Great stars have great pride."
---Norma Desmond
There is an unconventional and creepy love triangle, actually a pentagon, in Sunset Boulevard that most viewers remember when they think back to the memorable moments of the film. The triangle concerns Joe Gillis (William Holden), a young, struggling screenwriter who stumbles upon the rundown mansion of forgotten silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) and becomes her companion, collaborator, and sometimes lover. As the story progresses, Joe tries to start up a romance with his best friend Artie (Jack Webb)'s fiancee Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olsen), much to the chagrin of Norman Desmond. To further complicate things, Norma's butler Max (Erich Von Stroheim) is so protective of his mistress almost to the point of obsession because of a secret, unrequited love.
Director Billy Wilder and screenwriter Charles Brackett created in Norma a character who is both creepy and unhinged though not an entirely unsympathetic character to the audience. Her house is covered in photographs of the star in her golden years and in artifacts from her glory days. She screens movies of herself only and talks about how her audience is patiently waiting for her return to the screen. Gloria Swanson's unique voice, inflection and physical gestures add richness to her character that dominates your memories of the film. Besides Norma's unwillingness to let Joe live his life outside of her house and her demands over his time, Gloria Swanson strikes poses and facial expressions to emphasize her speech and turns her hands almost into claws to give Norma a predator-like quality. Norma is the predator and Joe Gillis is her prey. In spite of all these unlikeable qualities, Wilder makes the audience feel for this character by showing what a delusional world she lives in: re-enacting scenes from her early work for Joe's supposed amusement, working on an epic-length script that will never see the light of day, and reuniting with real-life epic director Cecil B. DeMille who must humor Norma's attempts at a comeback while protecting her from the truth that her star has fallen.
Even though we can tell she is crazy, we can kind of see why Joe agrees to become her lover, out of pity and for personal financial gain. However, it is almost crueler what he does to her heart than if he had just stood against her advances. He falls in love with Betty, his best friend's girl, but does not let Norma know until almost the end that he never loved her. This ultimately sends Norma off the deep end but we can understand why. Here was this young, attractive man who took interest in an aging star, who let her shower him with gifts and luxury and adoration, and who pretended to care for her when few other people even remembered her. Though we do not condone Norma's actions against Joe, if you have been jilted by a lover you can relate to Norma's passionate anger. The twist ending, the wonderful acting by everyone, and the complex and engaging storyline make Sunset Boulevard one of the best movies about what happens to big stars when they unwillingly go away.
FUN FACT: The film Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis are watching in her house is a real film called Queen Kelly starring Gloria Swanson and was directed by the man who plays her butler, Erich Von Stroheim! Queen Kelly actually ruined Swanson's career as well as director Von Stroheim's, but they had patched things up by the time they filmed Sunset Boulevard.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "No one ever leaves a star. That's what makes one a star." ---Norma Desmond
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