Seventy-five years after ‘Sunset Boulevard’ premiered in 1950, Billy Wilder’s scathing portrait of Hollywood still cuts deep. Released in the post-war golden age of American Cinema, the film follows Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a former silent film star who, unable to accept the demise of her career, hires a screenwriter, Joe Gillis (William Holden), to help her make a comeback. With gothic settings and classic noir fatalism, ‘Sunset Boulevard’ remains a towering critique of fame, vanity, and the entertainment machine that chews up and spits out its stars.
In 2025, we see so much of the hyper-speed churn of online celebrities and digital insignificance that the film’s haunting message feels eerily modern. Norma Desmond’s descent into madness, once a melodramatic warning, now reads like a grim prophecy.
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A Hollywood Self-Portrait
‘Sunset Boulevard’ is a film steeped in self-awareness. Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Brackett and D.M. Marshman Jr., crafted a narrative that both critiques and reveres Hollywood. It features real-life figures, Cecil B. DeMille, Buster Keaton, and H.B. Warner appear as themselves, and locations, such as the Paramount lot, which grounds its poetic story in a frighteningly real landscape.
The central character, Norma Desmond, is a faded star, but also a monument to a lost era. Gloria Swanson, a former silent screen queen herself, imbues the role with both fury and fragility. Her casting was an act of reclamation. As Norma, Swanson immortalized not just herself, but the scores of forgotten women who once ruled the silent era. In doing so, ‘Sunset Boulevard’ transformed a discarded icon into a Cinematic archetype.
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The Tragedy of Obsolescence
At its core, the film is a tragedy about obsolescence. Norma Desmond is not just outdated; she is unwanted. In an industry that moves on faster than its stars can age, her relevance is a commodity long expired. Shrouded in curtains and memories, her opulent mansion becomes a mausoleum for her glory days.
Today, with streaming platforms, TikTok stardom, and algorithmic fame, that sense of looming irrelevance has only intensified. Aging actresses still face harsher scrutiny than their male counterparts, studios reboot fan-favorite IP while sidelining older performers, and the societal obsession with what’s next often comes at the expense of honoring what came before.
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Norma’s fate, withdrawn from reality, clinging to the delusion of a comeback, is no longer a theme of the past. It’s a chilling reflection of modern fame, where stars can vanish as quickly as they ascend and public adoration can turn into meme-worthy mockery overnight.
Norma Desmond Lives On
Norma Desmond has transcended the film that created her. Over the decades, she’s been parodied, quoted, and revered. However, beyond the caricature lies a deeper resonance. She is a woman fighting irrelevance with everything she has, nothing short of makeup, theatrics, and manipulation. Her tragedy isn’t that she’s deluded; it’s that her delusion is all she has left.
In 2025, Norma has become a cautionary tale and a feminist icon. Her monologues about being cast aside and her rage at invisibility aren’t just dramatic flourishes, they are real fears for women in Hollywood and in most other fields as well. The entertainment industry’s slow battle against ageism and sexism makes Norma’s pain in 1950 feel more urgent than ever in 2025.
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Even her final breakdown, descending the staircase in a state of delusion, feels less like madness and more like protest. If the world refuses to see her clearly, she will choose how she’s remembered. She will write her own ending.
Influence and Legacy
Few films have left as lasting an impact on Hollywood as ‘Sunset Boulevard.’ It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won three, including Best Screenplay. Over the decades, it has inspired stage adaptations, fashion editorials, and countless homages. From ‘BoJack Horseman‘ to ‘The Substance,’ its themes echo throughout contemporary pop culture.
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Wilder’s film also set a template for the industry’s self-critique. ‘Sunset Boulevard’ dared to question what Hollywood does to the people who believe in it too much. It’s telling that the film remains treasured by both cinephiles and industry insiders. As Hollywood navigates its own identity crisis, facing strikes, streaming upheaval, and increasing calls for inclusivity, ‘Sunset Boulevard’ continues to resonate. Its message, that dreams curdle in Hollywood, is simple but brutal.
The legacy of ‘Sunset Boulevard’ extends beyond the screen and into the curated nostalgia of theme parks. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World, an entire avenue, Sunset Boulevard, is modeled after the street from the film. Its centerpiece, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, borrows heavily from the eerie elegance of Norma Desmond’s mansion. Through this immersive tribute, Disney encapsulates the very illusions Wilder set out to dismantle and proves just how deeply his film still shapes the collective vision of Hollywood.
The Haunted Mansion Still Stands
In 2025, the house on Sunset still haunts us. It represents not just a crumbling industry, but the crumbling ideas that fame is eternal, that talent will be rewarded, and that the spotlight is salvation.
The mansion itself, decaying and claustrophobic, is one of the film’s most unforgettable characters and iconic settings in Cinematic history. Once a symbol of wealth and success, it now stands for the slow deterioration of Hollywood’s promises of success and contentment. Its long corridors and faded grandeur echo the isolation felt by stars past their prime. Wilder understood that behind every starlet was a studio executive with a stopwatch, timing how long the public would care. He saw the rot behind the glamour of fame, and with ‘Sunset Boulevard,’ he captured it forever.
As the film celebrates its 75th anniversary, we are reminded not just of its brilliance, but of its enduring truth. Hollywood is still the land of illusion. The faces may change, the technology may evolve, but somewhere, Norma Desmond is always waiting, just off camera, ready for her close-up.
By Rachel Squire
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Rachel Squire is a passionate writer with a strong commitment to authentic storytelling and ethical journalism. As a writer for Hollywood Insider, she brings a deep appreciation for cinema’s power to inspire positive change. She values promoting meaningful media over gossip and sensationalism, and strives to contribute to a culture of integrity and substance in entertainment journalism.
Rachel Squire is a passionate writer with a strong commitment to authentic storytelling and ethical journalism. As a writer for Hollywood Insider, she brings a deep appreciation for cinema’s power to inspire positive change. She values promoting meaningful media over gossip and sensationalism, and strives to contribute to a culture of integrity and substance in entertainment journalism.
