Sunset Boulevard (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Sunset Boulevard (1950) is one of the most famous films in the history of Hollywood, and perhaps no film better represents Hollywood's vision of itself. Billy Wilder collaborated on the screenplay with the very able Charles Brackett, and with D. M. Marshman Jr., who later joined the team. Together they created a film both allusive and literate, with Hollywood's worst excesses and neuroses laid out for all to see. After viewing Sunset Boulevard Louis B. Mayer exclaimed: "We should throw this Wilder out of town!" The New York Times, however, gave the movie a rave review, praising "that rare blend of pungent writing, expert acting, masterly direction, and unobtrusively artistic photography." The film was nominated for Best Picture, and Wilder won an Academy Award for Best Story and Best Screenplay.

This facsimile edition of Sunset Boulevard makes it possible to get as much pleasure from reading the highly intelligent screenplay as from seeing the film. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction provides an intriguing array of background details about Wilder, the film's casting and production, and the lives of those connected to what has become a classic.

About the Author

Billy Wilder was born in 1906 near Cracow in Polish Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His first career was journalism, but he soon moved into the German film industry as a scriptwriter. When Hitler came to power, Wilder fled to Paris and came to Hollywood in 1934. His fifty-year career there-as both director and cowriter-was one of astonishing versatility and genius, encompassing films about war, murder, alcoholism, Hollywood, sensational journalism, prison camps, criminal trials, love stories, and romance as comedy. Billy Wilder has been nominated for twenty-one Academy Awards and has won six Oscars. He lives in Los Angeles. Jeffrey Meyers, a renowned biographer, has written many books and articles on modern American, English, and European literature. He lives in Berkeley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 143 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520218558
• ISBN-13: 978-0520218550
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #555,278 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Screen Play for a Beautiful Film, October 15, 2009

By	Charles Noel - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

It's a pleasure to read Wilder's screenplay for "Sunset Boulevard." Rarely are the director and the writer the same person. In this case we get to see what Wilder wanted depicted in an almost poetic writing style. When coupled with the beautiful final product it is truly a treat to watch Billy Wilder's timeless classic "Sunset Boulevard"

5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I think it is one of the best pieces of literature ever., September 24, 1999

By A Customer

I think the way Billie Wilder expresses the life of a washed up actress and the life of a starving screnwriter is a wonderful interpratations of life ever. i loved the musical although I found it far fetched from the book.