| It had me from the very first frame. |
| Fade into the words "SUNSET BLVD." stenciled boldly in municipal font. Then, the camera reverses back and you realize this is not a super-imposed title but the actual gutter of L.A.'s most famous boulevard. |
| I first watched "Sunset Boulevard" as a surly teenager in the late 1980s, more than ready for its dark, corrupt vision of Los Angeles. |
| This was a formidable time for me, that period when the high of L.A., fueled by decades of record growth, the 1984 Olympics and all that talk of the "post-racial" city built by Tom Bradley was crumbling into something far less shiny. Film noir had nothing on Mike Davis' "City of Quartz," which came out two years later and seemed to crystallize all that was coming: Rodney King, the 1992 uprising, the aerospace bust, Proposition 187. |
A classic L.A. story |
| "Sunset Boulevard" tells the story of Joe Gillis, a down-on-his luck Hollywood screenwriter without a penny to his name, pursued by the repo man and thinking about giving up the dream. Fate sends him to the grand, dilapidated mansion of Norma Desmond, a faded, deluded silent film star unable to confront her has-been status. Joe sees in Norma as a refuge from the bill collectors and some cash flow. Norma sees in Joe a vehicle for her comeback and perhaps much more. |
| With "Sunset Boulevard" turning 75 this year, I decided to rewatch it. And I am not alone. The milestone has brought a slew of thought pieces, podcast episodes and even a new book (which reveals that the producers could not find a mansion in Bel-Air ramshackle enough to serve as Norma's compound so they had to settle for one in Hancock Park). |
A Donald Trump favorite |
| It does not hurt that Donald Trump is a big fan, leading to the inevitable comparisons between the fictional star who loses the public's eye and the real-life politician who has managed to keep the world's attention despite so much controversy. |
| "Tending to his own flossy coif with comb, hair dryer, spray and oversize scissors, Trump is the delusional, preening Norma Desmond," the New York Times noted in its review of former Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham's White House memoir. |
| But in my rewatching, I was surprised to find myself much more drawn to Joe than Norma. |
'Sunset Boulevard' in 2025 |
| Joe, after all, represents the striving, hustling, dreaming archetype that is still so much a part of life here, a city that can fulfill your wildest dreams just as easily as it can crush your soul. When we meet Joe, he is essentially homeless, fighting the sinking feeling that his early promise as a writer is vanquished along with his bank account and self-respect. It all comes out in one heartbreaking voiceover: |
| As I drove back towards town, I took inventory of my prospects. They now added up to exactly zero. Apparently, I just didn't have what it takes, and the time had come to wrap up the whole Hollywood deal and go home. Maybe if I hocked all my junk there'd be enough for a bus ticket back to Ohio, back to that thirty-five-dollar-a-week job behind the copy desk of the Dayton Evening Post, if it was still open. Back to the smirking delight of the whole office. All right, you wise guys — why don't you go out and take a crack at Hollywood? |
| How many of us have had some version of that inner monologue as we drive home after a tough day? And how many of us are still here, fighting, trying. Many of us never get our compound on 10086 Sunset Blvd., but maybe we find something better. That resilience is particularly powerful in 2025 L.A.: Thousands figuring out how to rebuild their lives from fires. Showbiz folks navigating a rapidly shrinking industry. Undocumented workers suddenly faced with the reality that going to the job they've held for years could mean a one-way flight to South Sudan. |
| The grand, crazed Norma, unable to cope with age and changing times, got all my attention as a teenager eager for an alternative history of my hometown. But in my latest viewing all these decades later, her grievances about L.A. fell a bit flat. She got the real estate, after all. And the struggling Joe offered a bit of sharp wisdom aimed at Norma but for which I need to take to heart: "There's nothing tragic about being 50. Not unless you're trying to be 25." |
Today's top stories |
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| Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA. A federal judge has ordered the government to restore a portion of the university's research grants that were frozen. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) |
The Trump administration must restore hundreds of UCLA research grants |
- A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore all suspended National Science Foundation grants at UCLA.
- The grants represent more than a third of the roughly 800 — totaling $584 million — frozen in late July.
- The federal government has until Aug. 19 to update the judge on whether it has complied with the order.
- Before the judge's order on Tuesday, The White House was ready to battle with Gov. Newsom, who threatened to sue the administration over UCLA grant freezes. "Bring it on, Gavin," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
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LAUSD schools will open with unprecedented protections for children and their parents amid ICE raids |
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The LAPD is struggling to hire Black recruits. Will Trump's war on DEI make it harder? |
- In recent months, the pool of recruits at the Los Angeles Police Department has shriveled to the point of running dry. The last two training academy classes haven't included a single a Black graduate.
- President Trump's efforts to do away with diversity, equity, and inclusion policies nationwide have some officials worried it will become even harder to recruit Black police officers.
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What else is going on |
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Commentary and opinions |
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This morning's must reads |
| | | Facing retirement, a couple tore down their dated midcentury home in Monterey Park and built a comfortable modern home that curves around their 1956 swimming pool. | | | |
Other must reads |
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For your downtime |
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| (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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A question for you: As summer heat takes over SoCal, what's your favorite way to stay cool? |
| Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. |
And finally ... your photo of the day |
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| The headquarters of OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT, in San Francisco. (Florence Middleton / For The Times) |
| Today's great photo is from Times contributor Florence Middleton of the headquarters of OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT. Artificial intelligence is transforming San Francisco — from its economy to what you see when you walk down the street. |
Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Diamy Wang, homepage intern
Izzy Nunes, audience intern
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
