‘Sunset Boulevard’

A classic of the Hollywood Golden Age as a struggling screenwriter finds himself in the thrall of a faded film star of the Silent Age determined to make a comeback.

Avoiding having his car re-possessed, Joe Gillis (William Holden) finds himself hiding the vehicle in the grounds of what appears to be an abandoned Hollywood mansion. But it turns out to be the home of the once-great Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Living alone in the vastness of the house with only Max Von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim) for company, she sees the scriptwriter as her way back.

Money is no object as Gillis becomes a kept man by the possessive, obsessed Desmond demanding complete commitment from Gillis. Her mental balance is tipped over the edge on discovering his liaison with Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson), a script reader at the Studios.

Writer/director Billy Wilder is at his searing best with this savage but heartfelt melodrama of the Hollywood system at its worse with a tour de force over the top performance from the deranged Swanston. In short, brilliant.

Nominated for 11 Oscars in 1951 including best film, director, actress, actor, supporting actor, supporting actress – won 3 for best screenplay, art direction, original score (Franz Waxman)

Rating: 94%

Director: Billy Wilder (The Apartment, Stalag 17)

Writer: Billy Wilder (The Apartment, Stalag 17), Charles Brackett (The Lost Weekend, Ninotchka), D.M. Marshman Jnr (Taxi, Second Chance)

Main cast: Gloria Swanson (Sadie Thompson, Queen Kelly), William Holden (Stalag 17, Network), Erich von Stroheim (La grande illusion, Storm Over Lisbon)

‘Suspicion’

A surprisingly mundane suburban thriller from Alfred Hitchcock as a young Home Counties heiress marries a charmer who she starts to believe is out to kill her.

Having met on a train, Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine) had no reason to believe she would see Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant) again. But mutual acquaintances soon change that and Lina finds herself swept off her feet by a charmer who appears to have little ambition and even less money to his name. In spite of parental concern, the two marry – but a web of financial deceit and lies soon become only too apparent.

Dreadful studio backdrops of English country towns and rolling fields add to a far less genuine narrative than the normal Hichcock fare with a miscast Cary Grant (an affable charmer but a murderer?) and a studio forced ending. Very disappointing.

Nominated for 3 Oscars in 1942 including best film, best score (Franz Waxman), won 1 – best actress.

Rating: 50%

Director: Alfred Hitchcock (The Birds, Rear Window)

Writer: Samuel Raphaelson (Heaven Can Wait, The Shop Around the Corner), Joan Harrison (Rebecca, Saboteur), Alma Reville (Shadow of a Doubt, The Paradine Case) – based on the novel by Anthony Berkeley

Main cast: Joan Fontaine (Rebecca, Jane Eyre), Cary Grant (Charade, North By Northwest), Nigel Bruce (Rebecca, Limelight)