Hack screenwriter chances upon mansion of a faded Hollywood silent screen star who 'hires' him to ghost-write her return project "Salome", but who really wants him for her lover. Poor Norma Desmond: she's 50 years old and over the hill! Literate, but queasy black comedy has a great script and majestic performances, but creeps its way to the depressingly inevitable. The palpable aroma of vintage cigarettes and the smell of rosy perfume hanging in the air permeates this incredible Billy Wilder film; yet, the deeper it crawls into its dark corner, the more repulsive it all seems. It can easily be called a masterpiece, but is it an entertaining movie? Great to see Hollywood circa 1950, with Schwab's Drug Store still there, but it's sad to think that even in 1950, stars were being discarded, replaced by the new and the younger, and even a star like Norma Desmond couldn't get a picture made. Thank goodness she had those oil wells in Bakersfield ("Pumping...pumping."). There's a lesson to be learned from the film: invest! *** from ****
Review of Sunset Blvd.
