William Holden, Gloria Swanson. 1950. Directed by Billy Wilder. Won Oscars for best art direction, music and writing. Was nominated for everything else from best picture, best actor, actress and supporting actor and actress. In gorgeous black and white.
This is one of your must-see films that gets better every time you watch it. Swanson was 50 when she played Norma Desmond, over the hill silent screen star. Many other actresses turned down the role. Eric Von Stroheim, Swanson's director in earlier films, plays Max, Desmond's butler. So many famous scenes and lines, I'd have to quote the entire film. The opening scene and the final scene are most iconic. The film opens with a death, a body floating in the pool of a huge, opulent mansion. We get a voice over right away from the corpse himself who tells the story of how he ended up in Norma Desmond's pool. The last scene, which many can quote from memory, is Desmond descending a staircase to the voice of Stroheim. You'll remember her dialog as she descends to the incomparable Franz Wasman score:
"And I promise you I'll never desert you again because after 'Salome' we'll make another picture and another picture. 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!... All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
No comments:
Post a Comment