Top billed cast

1. 

   William Holden

   Joe Gillis

2. 

   Gloria Swanson

   Norma Desmond

3. 

   Erich von Stroheim

   Max von Mayerling

4. 

   Nancy Olson

   Betty Schaefer

5. 

   Fred Clark

   Sheldrake

6. 

   Lloyd Gough

   Morino

7. 

   Jack Webb

   Artie Green

8. 

   Franklyn Farnum

   Undertaker

9. 

   Larry J. Blake

   1st Finance Man

10. View more

Reviews

A review by MrDeltoid77

Written by MrDeltoid77 on 2025-07-23

IMHO...This is a straight up Horror film. A demented, faded star of the Silent era takes in a down on his luck writer... and basically keeps him as a boy toy/hostage. She has a creepy attraction to the much younger man. Her house and butler are straight out of Hammer Film.

That being said... I love this film. The casting is great. William Holden gives one of his best performances ever.
Gloria Swanson plays deranged wonderfully. And Von Stroheim is a brilliant bit of casting. You get the feeling he would do anything for his employer... including murder.

The writing is crisp...Billy Wi...read the rest

Recommendations

1. Mank66%
2. Trumbo71%
3. Hitchcock65%
4. The Lost Weekend76%
5. Synecdoche, New York75%
6. Fat City70%
7. Opening Night75%
8. Fathers and Daughters71%
9. Fruitvale Station74%
10. Killer's Kiss63%
11. The Fabelmans75%
12. A Double Life64%
13. James Dean67%
14. Othello74%
15. Black Widow63%
16. Insomnia69%
17. The Lady from Shanghai74%
18. Two Weeks in Another Town59%
19. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?76%
20. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere66%

Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$1,752,000.00

Revenue
$5,000,000.00

Keywords

• new year's eve
• jealousy
• loss of sense of reality
• screenwriter
• butler
• delusion
• diva
• film noir
• hollywood
• los angeles, california
• black and white
• madness
• aging actor
• has been
• silent film star
• hostile
• ironic
• grandiose behavior
• kept man
• movie studio
• frustrated
• tragic