Classic 1950s Hollywood crashes headfirst into the wreckage of silent cinema in this witty, haunting, and pitiless look at the perils of stardom. Gloria Swanson made herself a legend all over again in her Oscar-nominated role as the unforgettable Norma Desmond, William Holden (also nominated) is the perfectly charming and cynical hack writer Joe Gillis, and Austrian director Erich von Stroheim plays the heartbroken butler. Arguably the crowning achievement of producer-director-screenwriter Billy Wilder’s career, the film features an unsettling, Oscar-winning score by Franz Waxman, won Best Art Direction and Best Story and Screenplay, and was nominated for a total of 11 Academy Awards. 

Director: Billy Wilder. Cast: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson. 1950. 110 min. USA. B&W. English. 35mm. New print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive and Paramount Pictures.

All film screenings of Vienna in Hollywood: Émigrés and Exiles in the Studio System are available here.