Sunset Boulevard

In Hollywood, struggling writer Joe Gillis (William Holden) cannot sell his work to the studios, is beset by debts and is thinking of escaping back to his hometown. While trying to avoid his creditors, he gets a flat tyre and hides his car at a seemingly derelict mansion on Sunset Boulevard. There he meets the owner, former silent-movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), who lives alone with her butler Max (Erich von Stroheim). Norma proposes that Joe moves to the mansion and help her in writing a screenplay for her triumphant comeback to the cinema. The small-time writer becomes her lover and gigolo. When Joe falls in love with young writer Betty Schaefer, Norma becomes jealously insane and her madness leads to a tragic end. Cameo appearances by Cecil B. DeMille, Hedda Hopper and Buster Keaton as themselves. Nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actress and Actor at 1951 Academy Awards.