In celebration of its upcoming hundred-year anniversary, Paramount Studios begins releasing a special collection of its films on November 11th 2008 called The Centennial Collection. Digitally mastered and restored using the latest technology, the first three titles to be released include Roman Holiday (1953), Sabrina (1954), and Sunset Boulevard (1950).

Nominated for eleven Academy Awards in 1950, including Best Picture, Billy Wilder's bold film depicts the turbulent twilight years of silver screen legend Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson. Written by Wilder and Charles Brackett, the story reveals the struggles of an aging actress and a talented but unsuccessful screenwriter. One of the hallmarks of the film's success is its savvy casting. Who better to play a cherished but all-but-forgotten film star but Gloria Swanson? Other women approached about the role snubbed it, but Swanson, although working on other projects outside of film at the time, was eager to make a return of her own after being absent from the big screen for several years.

The role of struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis went to William Holden, a contracted actor for Paramount who himself had been out of the limelight after initial success in 1939's Golden Boy. Desmond's loyal butler and chauffeur is played by Erich von Stroheim, a former silent-film director who had actually directed Swanson in the 1929 silent epic Queen Kelly. And newcomer Nancy Olson gave vitality to young studio reader Betty Schaefer. The personal experiences of each actor in the cast brought a realism to Sunset Boulevard of which not all movies of the time period could boast.

The Centennial Collection DVD comes handsomely packaged with two discs. The second disc is packed with new features that explore the film's popularity and resilience, including "The Noir Side of Sunset Boulevard," "Two Sides of Ms. Swanson," and "Paramount in the '50s: A Retrospective." The featurettes help a new generation of viewers to understand the time period.

Paramount Pictures itself was created in 1912 at the hands of Adolph Zukor, who took performance to new heights by filming theatrical stage stars of the day in full-length moving pictures. The popularity of the new medium grew exponentially. The success of the original studio system depended on heavy investment and control of movie theaters and, of course, the film stars themselves. For many years, the studio was king. Powerful executives could make or break careers. Domination in these areas could only last so long, though, and by the time Sunset Boulevard was made in 1950, monopoly over movie theater chains had been challenged in court and broken. Film attendance after the second world war had dropped, and studios began reaching in new directions, like partnerships with independents and television. The story of the film, however, is very much rooted in those days of studio dominance, and through Norma Desmond, we get to see the less-than-glamorous effects of such a business.

Older audiences get a chance to enjoy this provocative movie all over again, while new viewers are treated to a classic for the first time.