Sunset boulevard max

Love, love, love this article! Max really is a fascinating and enigmatic character and you did this was a unique analysis of him.

It was named after a major street that runs through Hollywood. The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter , and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her deranged fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. Director Cecil B. DeMille and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper play themselves, and the film includes cameo appearances by silent-film stars Buster Keaton , H. Warner , and Anna Q. Praised by many critics when first released, Sunset Boulevard was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including nominations in all four acting categories and won three. It is often ranked among the greatest movies ever made.

Sunset boulevard max

You can't possibly know the meaning of loyalty—we're talking deluded, die-hard, crazy loyalty—until you meet Max. Max von Mayerling Erich von Stroheim is Norma Desmond's steadfast butler—and the man who feeds her illusions. He never challenges her crazy whims, and even goes so far as to forge fake fan letters to help beef up her idea of her own celebrity. What's his game? Why go so far to prevent Norma from seeing reality? Well, for one thing, he doesn't want her to be destroyed by the truth, which he doesn't think she can handle. To be fair, she probably can't handle the truth, given her history of suicide attempts. Although, also to be fair, she might not have ever reached that point if von Mayerling hadn't been buffering her delusions all along. But there's a whole 'nother sordid layer to this weird dynamic. Midway through the movie, we learn a super-creepy truth about Max.

The filmmakers approached Greta Garbowhom they had worked with previously on Ninotchkabut she was not interested. Tell Mr. St Martin's Press.

Max Von Mayerling : There were three young directors who showed promise in those days: D. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille, and Max Von Mayerling. Joe Gillis : And she's turned you into a servant. Max Von Mayerling : It was I who asked to come back, as humiliating as it may seem. I could have continued my career; only I found everything unendurable after she'd left me.

But it's also a love story, and the love keeps it from becoming simply a waxworks or a freak show. Gloria Swanson gives her greatest performance as the silent star Norma Desmond, with her grasping talons, her theatrical mannerisms, her grandiose delusions. William Holden tactfully inhabits the tricky role of the writer half her age, who allows himself to be kept by her. But the performance that holds the film together, that gives it emotional resonance and makes it real in spite of its gothic flamboyance, is by Erich von Stroheim, as Norma's faithful butler Max. The movie cuts close to the bone, drawing so directly from life that many of the silent stars at the movie's premiere recognized personal details. In no character, not even Norma, does it cut closer than with Max von Mayerling, a once-great silent director, now reduced to working as the butler of the woman he once directed--and was married to. Max runs the projector. Later, when Joe is moved into the big mansion, Max shows him to an ornate bedroom and explains, "It was the room of the husband. In one of the greatest of all film performances, Swanson's Norma Desmond skates close to the edge of parody; Swanson takes enormous chances with theatrical sneers and swoops and posturings, holding Norma at the edge of madness for most of the picture, before letting her slip over. We might not take her seriously.

Sunset boulevard max

He's Norma's personal butler who works in her mansion and talks guides Joe through his visit with Norma. He was also Norma's first husband and a former director who had discovered her initially. Great Characters Wiki Explore. Wiki Content. Explore Wikis Community Central. Don't have an account? Current Wiki.

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Max von Mayerling Erich von Stroheim is Norma Desmond's steadfast butler—and the man who feeds her illusions. Even though nearly everyone within the film is miserable in some way, Max really stands in terms of sadness, as he had to give up his world-changing career and keep Norma's dreams alive when she went out of style. The two men briefly reunited in October to face charges that they had plagiarized Sunset Boulevard. Retrieved July 21, Awards for Sunset Boulevard. By the late s, most Sunset Boulevard prints were in poor condition, and as the film was shot using cellulose nitrate filmstock , much of the original negative had perished. Library of Congress in , Sunset Boulevard was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Beverly Blvd. Imperial Hwy. Retrieved November 25, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. During filming, considerable publicity was given to the health-conscious Gloria Swanson's youthful appearance, which made her look the same age as Holden.

It is a major thoroughfare in the cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood including a portion known as the Sunset Strip , as well as several districts in Los Angeles.

Read more. Cahuenga Blvd. You should be tarred and feathered and run out of Hollywood! William Holden began receiving more important parts and his career rose. Even after they got divorced, Max couldn't get over her and decided to give up his directorial status to become her servant and keep her illusions alive. Van Nuys Blvd. When Gillis and Desmond watch an old movie starring Desmond, they're actually watching a real Swanson movie, Queen Kelly , directed by Von Stroheim himself. The few other criticisms were not so venomous. Why He Rocks [ ] He's shown to be more than just you're average movie or TV butler, he actually made some tough choices and is very committed to both his directing job and being with Norma. When Joe tries to shock her out of her delusion, telling her that there won't be any DeMille comeback, Max refuses to admit that Joe is telling the truth:.