Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond an ageing silent film queen and William Holden as the struggling writer who is held in thrall by her madness created two of the screen's most memorable characters in Billy Wilder's immortal Sunset Boulevard. The film was winner of three Academy Awards in 1950 - Best Story and Screenplay Black and White Art Direction and score for a Dramatic Picture. Joe Gillis is floating face down in a swimming pool as the homicide squad arrives. Six months