On Friday, January 9 at 7:00 pm, the public is invited to the Marion Music Hall for the month’s Classic Film Friday Presentation: Sunset Boulevard. The event is co-sponsored by the Sippican Historical Society and the Marion Council on Aging, and is offered to the public free of charge. Directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, the Academy Award-winning 1950 film noir stars Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich von Stroheim. Deemed ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’ by the U.S. Library of Congress in 1989, it was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Hollywood greats Cecil B. DeMille, Hedda Hopper and Buster Keaton all make cameo appearances.
Set in mid-century Hollywood, the story focuses on Norma Desmond, a silent-screen goddess whose delusional belief in her own stardom has turned her into a recluse. Her crumbling Sunset Boulevard mansion has become her insular world, where she is attended by her faithful servant, Max. Dreaming of a triumphant return to the screen, Norma begins a relationship with small-time writer Joe Gillis, eventually spiraling into madness and murder. Running time for Sunset Boulevard is 115 minutes, and the film will be followed by a brief talk-back session by David Pierce. The Marion Music Hall is located at 164 Front Street, and ample parking is available across the street at Island Wharf. For more information, contact the SHS at 508-748-1116.