The film is creepy fun and deeply noir. In smart, cynical snarls, William Holden tears off the language of a hungry young writer who can't hold tight enough to his dreams. Joe Gillis' luck seems to be on the upswing when fate sends him straight into the "white elephant" palace of an aging silent film star. "You used to be big," he tells her, dimly remembering the name. "I am big," she replies, "It's the pictures that got small."
Joe wheedles himself a cushy job editing the epic Norma Desmond has written as a "return" vehicle for herself. His every need is attended by her slavishly devoted butler, Max (Erich von Stroheim), who erases his own identity in the service of "Madame." As the days wear on, a pattern develops: As the days wear on, a pattern develops: Joe learns never to refuse Norma what she wants, and, like a vampire, she seems to gain vitality and optimism as he loses his.
Gillis must make a choice: one direction leads to ignominy and independence; the other leads to the tile floors of the palazzo where Valentino tangoed. With each step, Joe becomes more deeply mired in the Bld Norma has created for herself, which is no more real than the worlds she inhabited on screen.
Though Holden and von Stroheim are powerful foils to Swanson's persona, Wilder and his camera wisely sweep them to the edges of the screen to focus on Norma. Swanson's performance is something beyond acting; her Norma lives every moment on two planes, in the mundane world and on celluloid. She has a habit of pausing almost unnoticeably as she speaks, giving the effect of a flickering silent film, posing briefly for the camera, then continuing.
Swanson's eyes are still the reflective pools they were when she was "the greatest star of them all." When Joe suggests gently that perhaps her movie script should include more dialogue, she snaps back, "Why? I can say anything I want with my eyes." And she can.
Wilder's camera is generous to Swanson, playing with the copious material she gives him to create confusion between light and shadow, cinema and life. The camera chills, not only with beautiful photography, but with inspired editing which creates a dialogue of images, blending forms from one scene subtly into another.
"Citizen Kane" and 'Sunset Boulevard" have changed the way we look at movies. The films and their personalities remain fresh today as ever, a glowing legacy that is not only part of our education, but part of our inspiration.