Studio: Paramount Pictures Genre: Thriller •
Drama Street Date: November 11, 2008 Director: Billy Wilder Number of Discs: 2 MPAA Rating: Unrated Cast: Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich Von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Hedda Hopper, Anna Q. Nilsson, Buster Keaton, Jack Webb, Cecil B. DeMille, H.B. Warner, Fred Clark, Franklyn Farnum, Lloyd Gough Running Time: 110 minutes Format: DVD Specs: Video: Standard 1.33:1 B&W
Audio: ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono [CC], SPANISH: Dolby Digital Mono, FRENCH: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French Special Features: Disc 1:
- Commentary by Ed Sikov (author of "On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder")
Disc 2:
- Sunset Boulevard: The Beginning
- The Noir Side of Sunset Boulevard by Joseph Wambaugh
- Sunset Boulevard Becomes a Classic
- Two Sides of Ms. Swanson
- Stories of Sunset Boulevard
- Mad About the Boy: A Portrait of William Holden
- Recording Sunset Boulevard
- The City of Sunset Boulevard
- Morgue Prologue Script Pages
- The Score of Sunset Boulevard
- Behind the Gates: The Lot
- Hollywood Location Map
- Paramount in the '50s: Retrospective Featurette
- Edith Head: The Paramount Years Featurette
- Original Theatrical Trailer Version: Standard Store Exclusives: N/A Review: "Without me, there wouldn't be any Paramount studio."
Of all the films included in this round in the Centennial Collection this is the one I hadn’t seen. Oh sure I’d heard of it but never really got around to checking it out.
Whoa!
While Hollywood has seen it’s share of films that take a pop shot at themselves I really didn’t think these type of films had been done this far back.
Sunset tells the story of an old silent film star who is trying to make a return to the screen (now with sound!) and she cannot stand what the system has become or lets be honest that it really isn’t a place she can recognize anymore…or perhaps it’s that fewer people recognize her for the goddess she thinks she is.
Gloria is just all kinds of cool in this movie and it’s no wonder she got an Oscar nom for this. She’s just wicked fun to watch here and while she’s Joe’s (Holden) best hope for success she’s also the becoming the bane of his existence. One of Billy Wilder’s best films (that’s saying quite a bit) this is a must see for any film fan.
As Paramount gear up this new Centennial Collection they are clearly on the right track picking some movies that are just astounding works of film making and showcasing the art of acting. The movies look stunning and these have quite the assembled collection of extras. I cannot wait for the next round Buy It Now: Rating:
