Monday, October 25, 2010

"Alright, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up"

As most of you already know, ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a passionate love affair going on with old films.

I can watch them over and over, and still watch them over and over again.

One of my all-time favorite black and white films is Sunset Boulevard.

I don’t know whether it’s because I have such fond memories of sitting in the den of our home; watching it with my fabulous mother on a Saturday afternoon while eating grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, or the simple fact that I’m an overly dramatic character myself, but I LOVE Sunset Boulevard.

It’s grand, Gothic, eerie, and oh-so intriguing.

It is the story of a demented and faded silent film star, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) who refuses to accept the present by living in the past, and has delusions of making a comeback (or rather a return) to the movie screen in a screenplay she has written herself.

At the beginning of the film, she meets a young handsome screenwriter, Joe Gillis (William Holden) who ends up at her home because his car has a flat tire directly in front of her Sunset Blvd. mansion. They eventually have a torrid and strained “younger man, older woman” affair, while simultaneously using each other for opportunism.


Towards the end of the film, Joe decides to break off the affair, which makes Norma FREAK OUT with jealousy and go totally insane; taking a gun from her dresser drawer and shooting him DEAD into a swimming pool.

Talk about overly dramatic!

But don’t allow the ending to make you think this movie is only dark and dismal, because there’s also a lot of wonderful campy humor in the film.

There is much more that happens between what I just shared with you, but it would take too long to tell. Besides, if you enjoy old movies like me, you really should rent it to see the whole story because it’s truly a brilliant script, mixed with a masterpiece of cinematography.

It is a flawless depiction of what Hollywood was like back then, GLAMOROUS and GRAND.

Movie stars were movie stars.

I would like to share a short montage from some of the best scenes in the movie, infused with the powerful and haunting soundtrack from the Broadway show.

Some of you may have already seen this clip, because I had it on my sidebar last week as one of my movie favorites. So I apologize if you’re watching it for the second time, but it’s such a perfect example of why I love this film.
(and if you have head phones, please use them while watching this because the music is phenomenal)

So, in the infamous last words of the character Norma Desmond, I say……

….“Alright, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”