Fresh
A tour de force for Swanson and one of Wilder's better efforts.
Don Druker, Chicago Reader
Overview
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
Director and cast
- Billy Wilder Director
- William Holden as Joe Gillis
- Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond
- Erich von Stroheim as Max von Mayerling
- Nancy Olson as Betty Schaefer
- Fred Clark as Sheldrake
- Lloyd Gough as Morino
- Jack Webb as Artie Green
- Buster Keaton as Himself
- Franklyn Farnum as Undertaker
- Cecil B. DeMille as Himself
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
98%
Tomatometer
Fresh
...They rate a nod for daring, as well as credit for an all-around filmmaking job that, disregarding the unpleasant subject matter, is a standout.
William Brogdon, Variety
Fresh
One of Wilder's finest, and certainly the blackest of all Hollywood's scab-scratching accounts of itself.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fresh
Still the best Hollywood movie ever made about Hollywood.
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
Fresh
What's not recognized enough is the indelible, self-sickened performance of William Holden as Desmond's boy-toy/hired hack.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
More films
All About Eve (1950)
Drama · Approved
From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cyni...
- Runtime
- 2h 19m
- Director
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Cast
- Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
IMDb
8.2
Rotten Tomatoes
99%
Metacritic
98
Chinatown (1974)
Crime · Drama · Mystery · Thriller · R
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing ...
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Roman Polanski
- Cast
- Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
IMDb
8.1
Rotten Tomatoes
98%
Metacritic
92
Double Indemnity (1944)
Crime · Thriller · Approved
A seductive housewife draws an insurance salesman into a plot of adultery and crime to collect on her husband's insurance.
- Runtime
- 1h 47m
- Director
- Billy Wilder
- Cast
- Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
IMDb
8.3
Rotten Tomatoes
97%
Metacritic
95
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Drama · Mystery · Thriller · R
Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.
- Runtime
- 2h 27m
- Director
- David Lynch
- Cast
- Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller
IMDb
7.9
Rotten Tomatoes
84%
Metacritic
87
Comments
Talk about the film with other members