Movie Review: ***^ Sunset Boulevard (1950)

This is not the musical version of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but is the source material for the musical.  This is the original black and white 1950 film, which tells the story of a deluded silent-film star, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) and the man who comes to live with her, Joe Gillis (William Holden).  This movie is unusual, because it tells the story of the murder of the leading character, with the leading character providing the narration.  It was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, and won three.  However more recently it has also been nominated for a "rotten tomato."
This movie is fascinating because it shows the inner cultural of Hollywood from a couple different angles.  The first angle is that of down-on-his luck writer.  He is avoiding the men from the bank who have come to repossess his car as he is three months behind on his payments.  The second angle is that of a famous actress, who is no longer desired, but she is still full of her own importance, and going to make a comeback.   At one point she travels to Universal Studio to talk with Ceil B. Demille. He plays himself.  We see her respected for her past, but her present and future do not look good.  She commits murder when confronted with this reality.  However in her deluded state she maintains her balance, and thinks the reporters have come for her comeback, not her murder.  "All right Mr. Demille, I'm ready for my close-up" is her concluding line.