Sunset Boulevard: Centennial Collection

n 1950, director Billy Wilder who ha shad a string of cinema hits such as "Double Indemnity", "The Lost Weekend", "A Foreign Affair" began work on his next film "Sunset Boulevard" with writers Charles Brackett ("A Foreign Affair, "The Lost Weekend", "Ninotchka") and D.M. Marshman Jr. ("Taxi", "Second Chance").

For Wilder, it was his interest in how life has treated the talents of the silent film era. After all, it was known that many silent film stars were unable to transition to film when the "talkies" began. Many, who were so popular suddenly saw their careers ended abruptly. So, Wilder wrote a screenplay and an idea from Brackett in looking at Hollywood through the eyes of a forgotten silent-film star who wants to return to the big screen.

It was all about finding the key components to take part in the film and thus Gloria Swanson (known for work in shaping Hollywood, challenging the "Hay's Code" with her 1928 film "Sadie Thomson" and her affair with Joseph P. Kennedy), who appeared in many silent films, was chosen as the main actress. William Holden ("Network", "Stalag 17, "Picnic"), former MGM director/actor/writer Erich von Stroheim ("Greed", "The Merry Widdow", "The Great Gabbo"), Nancy Olson ("Portrait of Jenny", "Union Station", "Pollyanna") and would also feature appearances by famous Golden Era director Cecil B. DeMille, former silent stars Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson and H.B. Warner.

The film would earn eleven Academy Award nominations (winner of three), included in the American Film Institute's 100 best American films of the 20th Century (#12) and entered in the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress in 1989 for being deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

VIDEO & AUDIO:

If there is one thing to say about the Paramount "CENTENNIAL COLLECTION" releases, many of these classic films have all been digitally remastered and look absolutely magnificent. These films containing the "CENTENNIAL COLLECTION" moniker are the definitive versions to own as they tend to have more features added and overall, like how CRITERION COLLECTIONS have spotlighted on films worldwide and have given top treatment, Paramount has done the same with several of their classic films. With that being said, I can only wish that a Blu-ray high definition transfer is in the works for these classic films because if they have been through a process of remastering, one can only expect how phenomenal these will look via HD.

For now, "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection" is only available via DVD but this new version is remastered, in fullcreen and features Dolby Digital English/French and Spanish mono. The picture quality for a DVD is actually quite clean for a film over 50-years-old. The film looks absolutely great with blacks nice and deep, grays and whites are vibrant. With the film already remastered in HD, I really hope that Paramount is considering a Blu-ray release of this title.

Overall, "Sunset Boulevard" has been given special treatment and fans of the film will not be disappointed.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection" comes with special features on two discs. Here is what to expect on both discs:

DISC 1:

* Commentary by Ed Sikov - The author of "On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder". A well-done commentary that features a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stories of certain scenes, certain dialogue and more.

DISC 2:

* Sunset Boulevard: The Beginning - (22:45) How "Sunset Boulevard" the film came to be. From writing the script and adapting it to film and also the talent of Billy Wilder.
* The Noir Side of Sunset Boulevard by Joseph Wambaugh - (14:19) Mystery writer Joseph Wambaugh talks about "Sunset Boulevard" and how the film that caught his attention and the film's dark/noir side.
* Sunset Boulevard Becomes a Classic - (14:28) Interview with critic Andrew Sarris who talks about why he enjoyed "Sunset Boulevard". Featuring interviews with the cast of the film, Glenn Close who played Norma Desmond on the Broadway adaptation of "Sunset Boulevard" and more.
* Two Sides of Ms. Swanson - (10:35) A featurette about Gloria Swanson and interviews with Brook Anderson (granddaughter of Gloria Swanson) who talks about her grandmother and interviews with her fellow co-actors who worked with her on other films and more.
* Stories of Sunset Boulevard - (11:20) The making of "Sunset Boulevard", discussion about the original opening sequences, cast interviews and more.
* Mad About the Boy: A Portrait of William Holden - (11:12) A featurette about the actor William Holden and how he was cast and discussion of his various films.
* Recording Sunset Boulevard - (5:51) A featurette about the musical score of "Sunset Boulevard".
* The City of Sunset Boulevard - (5:36) A featurette about "Sunset Boulevard" and the significance of the area.
* Morgue Prologue Script Pages - The original cut of the film featured a different opening. Instead of the pool opening, it was a morgue prologue. The following are the two existing versions of the script from the original monologue. You can view the script and also the original, uncut shots (without audio).
* Franx Waxman and the Music of Sunset Boulevard - (14:28) Franz Waxman's son John talks about his father and the music of "Sunset Boulevard".
* Behind the Gates: The Lot - (5:05) Interviews with former producers who talk about their memories of Paramount Pictures in the earlier years.
* Hollywood Location Map - A map of Hollywood in which people can learn about where the characters lived and where certain places such as Paramount Pictures, Schwab's Drug Store and Getty's mansion were located. When you click on the location, you get video and audio about the significance of these areas and what happened to these locations now.
* Edith Head: The Paramount Years - (13:43) A featurette on famous Paramount fashion designer - Edith Head.
* Paramount in the '50s - (9:36) A featurette about Paramount in the 1950's. Featuring popular films from the Paramount catalog.
* Original Theatrical Trailer - (3:16) The unremastered original theatrical trailer.
* Galleries - Using your remote, viewers can cycle through images from production, the movie or publicity.

Included with the set is an 8-page guide about the directors and talent of the film.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection #1 was a magnificent start to the Paramount Centennial Collection. Following the steps of the Criterion Collection, Paramount has released a total of nine films (to this date) in a pretty slick presentation, bundled with many special features and the remastering in HD is phenomenal.

For a classic film such as "Sunset Boulevard" which has been released in 2002 and packaged in the first Billy Wilder DVD collection, suffice to say that this Paramount Centennial Collection is the version you must own, if you are a fan of the film. With over a dozen special features, Paramount really went all out with this release and it shows. Finding classic interviews with the cast, interviewing family members and loved ones of the talent, finding the original deleted footage...I'm truly in awe with how much was put into this DVD release. With its remastering in HD, one may wonder if Paramount will be preparing a Blu-ray release.

"Sunset Boulevard" is just a classic film that features magnificent performances by Gloria Swanson and William Holden. The fact that Billy Wilder and his fellow writers took on a film like this and made it feel authentic by casting real life silent film star Gloria Swanson and Cecil B. DeMille (who directed Swanson's silent films back then) plus bringing in former silent stars Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson and H.B. Warner is amazing. But to create a film based on the life of a former silent film star and just exploring that side of life of these forgotten stars is quite interesting.

I like how the film was dark, noir-ish but at the same time, really eerie. To see how Norma Desmond just grappling on to the character of Joe is quite obsessive and disturbing. What I found interesting is that in modern films, the last time I felt this eeriness from a female character was Glenn Close as Alex Forrest in the film "Fatal Attraction" and coincidentally, Close played the character of Norma Desmond in the Broadway adaptation of the film with such rave reviews. Needless to say, the performance by Gloria Swanson as the silent film star who just can't let go of the limelight and is totally enveloped by her past life is just so creepy to watch, your just captivated to the screen and wait and see if Joe can escape this prison that he subjected himself into. And of course, the bombshell dropped by Erich von Stroheim's character Max, is indeed a shocker.

As a silent film fan, you often read how many of these talents of the Silent Era (and some from the Golden Era) have shut themselves off in society and became recluse. Granted, not everyone was as bad as the character as Norma Desmond but makes you wonder how many silent film talents have dealt with losing their careers when audio became part of films. We know that there are stars such as Fatty Arbuckle, Louise Brooks, who were literally forgotten and some movie studios actually have done them wrong after these talents have put so much into the creation of this Hollywood system. So, it was very interesting to see how certain silent film stars especially Louis Mayer reacted to the film. Mayer was infuriated by the film and at Billy Wilder but of course, Billy Wilder had the better end of the deal creating many more magnificent films after "Sunset Boulevard".

I can go on an on about how well the story was written, how magnificent the performances are and how superb this DVD release is. But I think you got the picture. "Sunset Boulevard - Paramount Centennial Collection", the first in the Centennial Collection series is highly recommended!

SUNSET BOULEVARD is one of those classics that transcends hollywood's usual fare. We are taken on a guided tour through the damaged mind of has-been silent film star, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Every aspect of her decrepit mansion, from it's interior artifacts to it's moldering structure and long-deserted swimming pool are pieces of her shattered, rotting soul. A struggling screenwriter (William Holden from NETWORK), on the run from the repo-man, stumbles upon Ms. Desmond's hidden, overgrown lair. We are introduced to the forgotten legend, as well as her faithful servant, Max (Erich Von Stroheim). The rest is about the battle between Desmond and her newfound writer / lover / obsession. SUNSET is a black comedy w/ nods to noir, suspense, and even horror. Desmond, while certainly macabre and (at times) hilarious, is also a tragic figure, rerpresenting the faded, dying superstar, w/ only ancient memories to warm her bones. As we watch her sanity unravel, we are reminded that hollywood and aging do not co-exist. That getting older is a terminal condition, and that hollywood sees it's legends in two ways. At a distance they are museum pieces. Up close, they are unsavory lepers. Unfortunately, very little has changed since 1950...

This is the sort of movie one can see many times over and enjoy it every time.

.....Does anyone remember that Judy Holliday won the best actress award in 1950? Bette Davis (ALL ABOUT EVE) said that she and Gloria Swanson cancelled each other out and that opened the door for Holliday. The fact that Swanson did not win and that Sunset Boulevard did not win Best Picture can be attributed to the petty politics of the Star Machine that built up and then discarded aging actors like spoiled milk when they could no longer pull their weight at the box office. It was a cutthroat business and they didn't like having their dirty linen aired.

.....Gloria Swanson gives the performance of a lifetime as the aging star still living in the past and William Holden's performance as the wise cracking con man established the screen personna that would win him an Academy Award in 1953 in another Billy Wilder Black Comedy, "Stalag 17".

.....It would seem that the movie was written specifically for Ms Swanson because she had been a Silent Screen Star but that was not the case. Swanson had been retired from films since the talkies and Wilder originally wanted Mae West for the part of Norma Desmond. He wanted to write a "Black Comedy" that would spoof Hollywood and the Desmond character was supposed to be a parody of an over-the-hill actress that would make the audience laugh. It was George Cukor who recommended Swanson to Wilder and it was the best posiible choice. Ms Swanson was so perfect for the part that she pulled the audience in and won their sympathy. They didn't laugh at her character, they felt compassion.

.....Holden's character who originally used Desmond for his own personal gain redeemed himself when he rushed to her bedside after her suicide attempt. In a gut wrenching scene after he admonishes her for being so foolish and she sobs that she will do it again, the band that she had hired for her seduction scene of her young lover, begins to play Old Lang Syne to an empty ballroom. Holden goes to her bed and wishes her a Happy New Year.

This is a great movie and a must have for the serious collector.

Billy Wilder, one of the best filmmakers ever, crafted here one of the best film noirs ever made. Filled to the brim with scathing insight into Hollywood, biting satire, sweeping dramatic arcs, and uncanny resemblance to real life, this is one blistering depiction of a by-gone era that is still as relevant today as it was upon its release in 1950.
Gloria Swanson, a real life former silent film star, plays Nora Desmond, a former silent film star who is living soley on memories and faded dreams from the past. The industry has tossed her aside when films moved into the 'talking' era. William Holden, who in real life was a promising young actor who was on a downslope, plays a burned out promising screenwriter who is on bit of a downslope, broke, running from debt collectors, stumbling into Nora's 'world' literally. He becomes her 'writer' and lover and confidant, and eventual enemy.
Filled with real life film stars from the period, and film director Cecil B. Demille playing himself, this is also a scathing look at the whole inside of the Hollywood industry and the machinisms that are within it.
Hailed by many as a classic, and rightly so, this timeless masterpiece is ripe for discovery for any film fan out there. Brian DePalma used a set piece, the luxurious hotel, in his noir film "The Black Dahlia". Other films have paid homage to this over the years, but none can compare to this...Truly a classic for all to enjoy.
"Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my close up"...
Highly recommended!
Thank you...;o)

Gloria Swanson actually was able to get a second chance at a screen fame with this film. She also proved that being a silent screen star was no barrier to being a great actress in sound pictures. How she failed to win a Best Actress Oscar is beyond me! The writing is fantastic, Bill Holden is wonderful and Gloria Swanson is terrific. As an added bonus, Erich Von Stroheim plays Gloria's butler and ex-husband. The story is enchanting. I don't want to give too much away. One of the great films.

When Sunset Blvd came out in 1950 Varity reviewed it with the word `disturbing' and never was truer word spoken. I suspect many of us became familiar with this from the skits with Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman about a `has been' movie star and her servant, Max. But the film with Gloria Swanson and William Holden is so much more.

Done in a film noir style with Holden as the narrator, his character is a down at the heels writer who, on the run from his creditors, finds himself stumbling into a nearly abandoned mansion. The home of Nora Desmond who has been living there as if it was still 1929 and her career is still thriving.

Holden at first is hired to punch up the script Desmond has written for her return, but the relationship soon deepens as he becomes her kept man. At first she seems just nicely eccentric but by the New Year's eve party where a 5 piece combo plays in the ballroom and Holden is the only guest the `creep' factor starts to settle in as you watch Desmond unravel on screen.

Swanson, as Desmond, moves and talks in an exaggerated manner that seems almost laughable, but the laugh seems still born as you realize this woman is always `on,' always posing for the cameras that will never roll for her again.

This was not well received by Hollywood in the day, because they didn't like to be reminded of what could happen the big star who falls by the wayside. For the rest of us though, it is amazing and deeply disturbing. Holden as the kept man who fumbles around to find his independence within the gilded cage and Gloria Swanson, who really was a washed up silent era star, as Desmond is mesmerizing as she unravels before your eyes. You know from the start she's a little loopy but by the end you know just how far her trolley has gone off the rails and down the lane.

In the end Swanson gives one of the greatest performances of a crazy person on screen ever. The effect is amazing, magical and yes, deeply, deeply disturbing.

It certainly says something about the power of an icon and the glitter of a golden age in movie-making that "Sunset Boulevard" stands up so amazingly well as a bit of storytelling, in spite of its deranged silent-movie star character being parodied mercilessly by everyone from Carol Burnett on down. And curious it appears that at the time of "Sunset Boulevard's making, the silent-movie years were seen as something long-gone. Here was the faded star of that era, Gloria Swanson, as a deranged ghost, fluttering around the silent halls of a dilapidated mansion, and dreaming of making a comeback. The so-called `modern' Hollywood which produced a gem like "Sunset Boulevard" -- in the last days of the great studios, those dream-factories which churned out a steady stream of great movies, not-quite-so-great movies and a fair proportion of forgettable drek - that Hollywood is now just as much of a long-gone legend as the silents that came before. Gone the writers' department, the regular costumers and designers, the stagehands who worked on a cowboy movie one week and a film noir the next and a Biblical epic the day after that, the directors and actors who did pretty much the same thing, year in and year out, that Hollywood that was the background for "Sunset Boulevard'. They are all gone - leaving just the movie to amaze us, make us laugh uneasily, and to give us the creeps ... starting from the moment that a barely-employed, debt-ridden screenwriter, Joe Gillis, takes a turn into the wrong driveway. In the opening of the movie, he is already dead, floating face down in a swimming pool. The rest of the movie explains, with almost clinical precision, how he got that way.

I shouldn't need to say much about the plot; the movie has been around for so long and been such a part of popular culture, but the amazing and wicked "in-ness" of it all demands comment: all those Hollywood legends, playing themselves, or something very like themselves! Erich von Stroheim playing Norma's butler (and also first husband and movie director) - that's a scene from their disastrous and real-life collaboration "Queen Kelly" that Norma makes Joe watch. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper plays herself, so does Cecil B. DeMille... and is that Buster Keaton as one of Norma's old pals, `the waxworks' as Joe derisively calls them? Why yes, it is - and as a lagniappe, here's an amazingly skinny and geeky Jack Webb as Joe Gillis' screenwriter pal. It's like a whole college course in Hollywood history, right there - a course in a lost celluloid world, as lost as Schwab's Drugstore, a famous and real-life landmark... and the location for a pivotal scene in the movie itself. (Lana Turner was supposed to have been discovered there, and F. Scott Fitzgerald had the first of several heart attacks there.) Another side note - Gloria Swanson actually looked amazingly good for the age that she was at time of shooting. She was deliberately filmed with very harsh lighting. She was also actually a very tiny woman, barely five feet; it is a tribute to her presence that she manages to dominate the screen the way she does.

Of the extras in this set, the most fascinating would have to be the interactive feature on the various locations, and a short feature with writer-policeman Joseph Wambaugh on the noir-ish side of Hollywood. All in all a wonderfully educational look at Hollywood that was, and an excellent presentation of a classic.

This review is for the November 2008 Centennial release. This issue is a mixed bag. The picture is sharp, but the contrast is quite a bit darker. In some scenes the effect is very good and in quite a few other scenes, I found it a bit too dark. The November 2002 release was done with the services of Lowry Digital, the same service that did the recent James Bond restoration work with excellent results. Comparing the two, The 2002 release done by Lowry Digital was very good and didn't really need any improvement since there was very little if anything to improve. Rather than re-shuffling the same product over and over, it has been quite some time since Paramount has done anything new with their classic catalog. Paramount has not released new product from their classic catalog in years. For those of you who have the 2002 release, there is no need to buy the Centennial, so keep the current copy that you have.

This film is a legend of a kind?
Certainly not a film you would take your children to?
Hollywood makes and breaks millions of people every generation.
Many after they have been successful ...
That, then, with no shame they would make a movie
(actually several of this kind I have seen, one recently about an old homosexual British film director)
about how things can go very very wrong
with their star system, shows that there is very little sense or heart in the film business.
That such a film should be acclaimed as a great film, is about as mad as the lady the film is about?

I liked this movie. Was a nice change.If you like the Classics you will like this movie .

Some of the situations depicted in classic film are charmingly dated, like the car the main character is trying to save at start of film. The look of early Los Angeles. Some of the lines of film are unforgettable. "...the crazy '20s." Who ever mentions life of wealth in the 1920s today? Also, kind of funny, but scary, too, how the main "star" of the film is viewed by other characters in story as "old" and washed up. But today, she honestly looks good. Even in old movie, you can't believe the character was depicted as a Hollywood retiree at such a young age. Things are easier for women these days, truly.

A film directed by Billy Wilder and winner of 3 Academey Awards, this 1950 black and white remains as popular now as it was first released... Why? Because of the film's strange and alluring plot, and of course, the commanding performance from Gloria Swanson as the "has been" actress during Hollywood's transition from silent films to the talkies. To be sure, this transition ended alot of acting careers - many tried to make the transition, but most of the actors failed. This film brings this tragedy to life in the form of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) a woman living wholly in the past, and her butler, (Eric Von Stroheim) protecting her from the outside world until the arrival of William Holden, a down and out screenwriter come relunctant gigilo, chased by the law.

The famous scene of Desmond walking down the winding elaborate staircase as old star gone totally mad is worth the price of the product.

Sunset Boulevard won the Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay, Black and White Art Direction and Musical Score that only added to the film's overall madness.

Sunset Boulevard really is the icon or representation for Hollywood's "findem' usem' and scrapem' machinery of the Hollywood film industry.

Nothing but top notch filmmaking!

DVD arrived in timely manner, and is great quality, good movie! is the latest version!

This movie was wonderful. I was required to watch this movie for an English class and it was awesome. I really enjoyed it. Gloria Swanson is brilliant. I highly recommend this movie.

Sunset Blvd. is really a classic noir and a movie classic. I never buy movies because I never see them too many times over again. This is one of the few that is in my home library and also works as a go-to gift for my movie loving friends. It has never let me down( it doesnt hurt that this movie is on every top 100 list of all time best movies.) I personally suggest anything that Billy Wilder touched, but this is could be his best.

The Bottom Line:

A wicked evisceration of Hollywood, sterling character piece, and surpisingly human tragedy all rolled into one, Sunset Blvd is one of the best movies ever made.

I am writing to plead for someone who has purschased this item to please be specific about WHAT IS NEW ABOUT THIS EDITION. I gather it has been remastered--but the product info states that there are 2 discs, so are there any extras? Any commentary tracks? Those of us who love the film await word the way a reclusive film star awaits a simian undertaker!!
Many thanks for any descriptive info that can be provided.

I will keep it simple... all classic movies should get this attention... Restoration,Transfer and Remastering. I just saw the movie on TCM and this version is superior I will get all The Centennial Collections.

There are moments in SUNSET BOULEVARD when you literally don't know what you're watching. High drama? Acid black comedy? Bitter surreal cynicism? All of the above?

I have always been blown away by this movie. The talent and insight it possesses couldn't be done today, making it even more remarkable that it was made in 1950. (One of the stories I've heard about it was that Director Billy Wilder, hoping to spring this new monster on an unsuspecting Hollywood, lied during production that he was making a delightful musical comedy called HILL OF BEANS. After the premiere, he was verbally attacked by Hollywood bigwigs in the lobby, to which he replied, "F you!").

Like so many other great classics, SUNSET BOULEVARD just fell into place. Wilder originally wanted Mae West for Norma Desmond and Montgomery Clift for Joe Gillis (imagine what kind of film that would've been!). The original opening showed Joe Gillis in the morgue with other talking corpses as he sits up to tell his story.

But what you see is what you get. It's still an amazing movie, stunning in its creativity and artistry. That great shot in the opening of Joe Gillis floating face down in the Norma's pool as photographers snap photos was done with a chilled pool and a big mirror on the bottom. The final shot and Norma's lines can still be quoted by the generations of film fans (and Carol Burnett fans!).

The character of Joe Gillis would imprint William Holden for the rest of his career, lifting him from just another handsome leading man to an actor who could play characters who had seen too much and lost too much (STALAG 17, THE WILD BUNCH, NETWORK, etc.).

Has-beens play has-beens, Cecil B. DeMille plays Cecil B. DeMille, and Jack Webb (Sgt. Joe Friday from TV's "Dragnet") is nearly unrecognizable as Gillis' pal, Artie Green.

Not to be missed. Ever.

This is one of those classics that deserves its reputation and then some. It's one of the best films ever made about Hollywood, and it doesn't have a trace of "inside" jokes or condenscenion as a lot of films/TV shows about Hollywood do today. The story starts out in startling fashion as a dead William Holden is narrating from the grave (you see his body in a pool in the famous opening scene, then they flashback). Holden is a down on his luck screenwriter who stumbles across Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson), a former silent screen star who lives with her trusted butler (played by the great filmmaker Erich von Stroheim). She has delusions of a comeback, and he assists her by shaping her screenplay about Salome. Holden finds the script hopelessly self indulgent, but he needs the cash, so he agrees.

The film is startling in many ways. It's a cynical, hard boiled film (close to film noir), but it isn't heartless, as many think it is. It has some of the greatest lines in movie history, and some startling scenes, such as the opening and the scene where Desmond mistakes Holden for the caretaker who has come to bury her dead monkey (the shot of the monkey is very creepy and unsettling, even today). It has some of the greatest performances in any film. Holden is terrific as the screenwriter just trying to survive, Swanson is astounding as Norma Desmond, the still alluring yet terrifying former screen star, and Erich von Stroheim is wonderful as Max, the faithful butler. The mansion in which Desmond lives looks like it was out of a Von Stroheim film from the 1920's (this may have been intentional), perhaps even emulating Von Stroheim's last film, Queen Kelly (which starred Gloria), as well. Cecil B. DeMille himself shows up playing himself, and he has some of the best scenes. He comes across as warm and humanistic, and his sadness feels very real. One of the most remarkable and poignant scenes in the film is when a gaffer recognizes Norma Desmond, she acknowledges him, and he puts the spotlight on her. Everyone on the film that DeMille is shooting recognize her, and they flock to her with admiration and love. It's a beautiful moment, perfectly realised, and it shows while Billy Wilder may have been a cynical [...], he wasn't a complete, heartless [...].

The film has hardly dated at all (most of Wilder's work hasn't), and its cynicism, intelligence, and depth still sear the screen like no other film on Hollywood. This is arguably the best film ever made about Tinseltown. There have been many films on Hollywood (Altman's The Player is one of the best examples, but sometimes that's a bit too much inside), but this one remains the best.

A classic movie which i need to see about once a year. The camera work is excellent and the story line is believable. An excellent example of what hollywood used to produce.