Sunset Boulevard
Family FavoriteNR

Sunset Boulevard

A Hollywood Story: Sensational...Daring...Unforgettable...Sunset Blvd

1950 • 110 min • Drama

Synopsis

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Our family guide

Best from age 15
94
Movie Knight Score
2982 reviews
  • 100 Reviewers · 5 · 65%
  • 83 Audience · 2977 · 35%

An aging silent film star, clinging to her past glory, hires a down-on-his-luck screenwriter. Their twisted partnership draws them into a dark world of delusion and psychological unraveling, set against the backdrop of glamorous Hollywood.

Violence & peril
3/10
Language
2/10
Drinking, drugs & smoking
3/10
Romance & sensuality
2/10
Scary moments
4/10

Heads up

  • A tragic ending with a shocking death
  • Depicts a character's severe mental decline
  • Brief scenes of implied intimacy and drinking

What it models well

  • The dangers of obsession
  • The passage of time and change

Talk about it after

  • The difference between reality and delusion
  • How societal pressures affect self-worth
  • The dark side of ambition

Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for Sunset Boulevard. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.

Where to watch

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Top billed cast

Director: Billy Wilder • Crew: Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman Jr., Charles Brackett

Trailers & clips

Cliff “Method Man” Smith Discusses SUNSET BOULEVARD and Classic Film | TCMFF 2025

75th Anniversary Spot

75th Anniversary Trailer

Billy Wilder on making SUNSET BLVD

"I Am Big, It's the Pictures That Got Small" Clip

“Mr. DeMille, I m Ready for My Close Up” Official Film Clip

Norma Desmond At Paramount Clip

Trailer

Reviewer notes

Recommended

Billy Wilder's _Sunset Boulevard_ is a masterpiece of black comedy and savage Hollywood critique, a film so dark and so funny that it becomes something singular. Everything about it is wonderful: the performances, the direction, the audacity of its premise, the cruelty of its vision.…

Recommended

IMHO...This is a straight up Horror film. A demented, faded star of the Silent era takes in a down on his luck writer... and basically keeps him as a boy toy/hostage. She has a creepy attraction to the much younger man. Her house and butler are straight out of Hammer Film. That being said... I love this film. The casting is great. William Holden gives one of his best performances ever.…

Recommended

Ace! <em>'Sunset Boulevard'</em> is a splendid flick from 1950. I will note that I found the middle to be ever so slightly less interesting than the beginning and ending, though even so overall I most definitely enjoyed watching it. Love the dialogue, the score is excellent too. William Holden and Gloria Swanson are tremendous together onscreen, in what is a supremely well told story.

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers

"Gillis" (William Holden) is a down-at-heel script writer who is struggling to keep his head above water. Not having had any successes for a while, his car is about to be repossessed and his erstwhile boss "Sheldrake" (Fred Clark) has nothing for him. On the run from the pursuing repo men, he turns his car into the drive of a decaying old mansion.…

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers

**One of the great films of Hollywood's golden age.** This movie is really special. Not only does it show us a lot about the world of Hollywood during its golden age, but it also reveals a lot about the actors' egos, vanities and their titanic struggles to preserve their careers and stay in the limelight.…

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