Sunset Blvd.
1950
Sunset Boulevard
Billy Wilder
Hard-boiled Melodrama
What’s it all about: Nancy Olson helps Hollywood chew her up and spit her out by getting a $300 nose job and then falling for a man who’s filling in for a dead monkey.
First Encounter: first viewing
Prostitute Index: high (William Holden is a kept man)
Death By: silent film star
Relics: face slapping, chipper sarcasm, leopard skin seats, 5-cent phone calls, mechanical traffic lights that say “Go”
Heartthrob: Hedda Hopper
LoFi Magic: directors as actors, dead man floating, Gloria Swanson’s cigarette contraption
Makes me want to: rewatch Carol Burnett now that I’ve finally seen the source material
Candotti take: nil
Worth a watch/rewatch: Yes
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