What is the iRankMovies score for Sunset Boulevard?

Name: Sunset Boulevard
Director: Billy Wilder
Genre: drama
Released: 1950
Duration: 1 h 50 min
Rating: 8.4

Sunset Boulevard has an iRankMovies score of 89.6/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

A Hollywood Story.

Release:1950

Runtime:1h 50m

Country:United States

Director:Billy Wilder

Language:English

Genre

Drama

See the best drama movies →

Keywords

New Year S EveJealousyLoss Of Sense Of RealityScreenwriterButlerDelusionDivaFilm Noir

iRank90

Sunset Boulevard rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb8.4/10· 261K votes

Rotten Tomatoes98%

Metacritic94%

TMDb8.3/10· 3K votes

With 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 8.4/10 on IMDb and 94/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About Sunset Boulevard

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Cast of Sunset Boulevard

William Holden
as Joe Gillis
Gloria Swanson
as Norma Desmond
Erich von Stroheim
as Max von Mayerling
Nancy Olson
as Betty Schaefer
Fred Clark
as Sheldrake
Lloyd Gough
as Morino
Jack Webb
as Artie Green
Franklyn Farnum
as Undertaker
Larry J. Blake
as Finance Man #1
C
Charles Dayton
as Finance Man #2
Cecil B. DeMille
as Cecil B. DeMille
Hedda Hopper
as Hedda Hopper

Sunset Boulevard facts

Budget: $1.8M
Box office: $5M

Our take on Sunset Boulevard

Billy Wilder's 1950 noir is the great Hollywood horror story: a broke screenwriter drifts into the decaying mansion of a forgotten silent star clinging to a comeback that will never come. Caustic, gothic and narrated by a dead man, it's a savage portrait of fame's afterlife. If its bitter glamour and slow-coiling dread held you, seek out noir and character dramas about delusion, ambition and the rot beneath the spotlight.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•Cynical deconstruction of Hollywood mythology offers biting satire on fame and delusion
•Noir aesthetic creates appropriately dark atmosphere for tragic character study of decline
•Unreliable narrator technique generates mystery keeping viewer engaged throughout runtime

What the audience disliked

•Unsympathetic protagonist limits audience connection despite thematic sophistication of portrait
•Fatalistic tone offers little emotional catharsis or redemptive arc for character