Sunset Boulevard: A Fresh Avenue for a Familiar Genre Morgan Condict College

Sunset Boulevard: A Fresh Avenue for a Familiar Genre

In Billy Wilder’s 1950 classic Sunset Boulevard, an unwitting male protagonist, played by William Holden, falls into the grips of (and is eventually murdered by) a dangerous and scheming former actress portrayed by the great Gloria Swanson. Though this may sound like the setup for a fairly run-of-the-mill film noir, a series of profound alterations to the well worn conventions of the genre not only save the film from mediocrity, but lift it into the ranks of the most lasting and celebrated film classics. Director/screenwriter Billy Wilder, along with fellow writers Charles Brackett and D.M. Marshman Jr. add a daring meta element to the film by pointing a critical eye at a stratum of American society that is unusual for noir films to examine: the film industry. And through use of clever casting, along with a protagonist who defies genre stereotypes, they craft a powerful indictment of Hollywood’s rickety and ruthlessly superficial foundation.

The primary purpose of film noir has always been to shine a light into the dark crevices of urban life in order to expose some form of moral corruption. Sunset Boulevard is no exception to this rule, but while noir usually looks to black...