Hollywood, so goes an old adage, loves movies about Hollywood. And most critics and film lovers agree: To this day, there is none better than Sunset Boulevard.
Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a major star of the silent era, lives isolated from the world in an opulent mausoleum of a mansion atop Sunset Boulevard. Her only human contact is her devoted butler, who happens to be both a former director and her ex-husband.
Swanson’s dreamlike immersion into her past celluloid glory is confronted by a young aspiring writer who enters her world. Recognizing her, he carelessly blurts out: “Weren’t you big once?” Her reply is a declaration full of silent movie pathos: “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”

Under the masterful direction of Billy Wilder, the story of Desmond and young screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) dares to analyze some of the victimizations within this factory of dreams — celebrity worship on one hand, and the delusions of fame on the flip side.
What at first glance might seem the description of a sad farce or a cynical takedown of the movie industry is much more than that. In fact, it was described by film critic Richard Corliss as “the definitive Hollywood horror movie.”

The movie is certainly one of the many classics from the great Wilder, who at the 8th Annual Golden Globes ceremony on February 28, 1951, at Ciro’s, was honored as Best Director — his second Golden Globe in that category, coming on the heels of a win in 1946 for The Lost Weekend.

For Swanson, who actually had a great career as a silent star, the role was also a triumphant comeback, as she received the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Composer Franz Waxman won gold for his unsettling score, and the movie was additionally honored as Best Picture.
The film is largely about the tragic fate of its protagonists. But it is also about mirrored images. Wilder saw the story as a realistic reflection of the sometimes deceptive and treacherous nature of the cult of celebrity. And there are the deluded self-reflections, too, of a once-famous actress who has only one true fan left: herself.

Hidden from the audience there is also a mirror image right at the start of the film: The young writer floats dead on the surface of a swimming pool, seen from below.
How exactly did they film that? Was there a diver with a camera below him? Years after the shoot, Wilder revealed how he did it: He placed a mirror on the floor of the pool and shot from above.