Wilder Noir Weekend
When an obscure screenwriter (William Holden) in 1950s Hollywood can’t sell his work to the studios, he decides to escape his creditors and hightail it out of town. Hollywood, however, has other plans for Joe Gillis. A flat tire puts him in front of a creepy mansion on Sunset Boulevard, and inside, he discovers former silent-movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), the monarch of all she surveys in her isolated nest. Desmond snags Gillis by dangling his last shot at success: writing the script that will ready her for her closeup back onscreen. The legendary Erich von Stroheim gives a memorable performance as Max Von Mayerling, Norma’s former director and husband, now butler and protector. Nancy Olson plays the ingenue writer who triggers the famous opening sequence that unspools to its tragic end. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winner of three, Director Billy Wilder’s bizarre black comedy noir is an unforgettable account of Hollywood’s darker side.
“Billy Wilder’s chillingly cold-blooded satire of Hollywood is one of his finest films — and indeed arguably one of the greatest movies of the period.” — Wendy Ide, The Times (UK)
“It is Hollywood craftsmanship at its smartest and at just about its best, and it is hard to find better craftsmanship than that, at this time, in any art or country.” — James Agee, Sight and Sound
Billy Wilder
Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman Jr.
William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim
United States