On Sunset Boulevard

The first time I saw Sunset Boulevard years ago was on"Saturday Night At The Movies." It took a few more years before one of my dreams came true and I made that first drive out Sunset Boulevard. Gloria Swanson played Norma Desmond an aging (50) and once shining star now forgotten and cast aside by the Hollywood system. Interesting that Sunset Boulevard came out in 1950 and I am pretty sure Swanson made her own brief 'comeback' with this film at the age of 50. I've always loved William Holden---never thought of him as a great actor, maybe because it came easily to him, he was a great star and enjoyable to look at on screen. Holden made some wonderful films in the 50's, among them another favorite, Born Yesterday. Take a look at the Sunset Boulevard trailer:



I loved Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical Sunset and feel lucky to have seen the original London production with Patti Lupone. Lloyd Weber fired Lupone later and replaced her with Betty Buckley. Buckley must have been an amazing Norma--- on my next trip to London, I bought tickets to see it again, unfortunately Betty Buckley's stand-in played the role so I never got to see her in "Sunset." Did get to multiple Betty Buckley concerts where she performed two or three of the shows signature songs---stunning.