Donald Trump Loved To Watch This 1950 Film After Losing His Bid for a Second Presidential Term

Olivia Nuzzi, a Washington journalist for New York Magazine, revealed Trump's favorite film, which he called "one of the greatest of all time". Nuzzi mentioned Trump's daily routine after his failed attempt for reelection as president included watching Sunset Boulevard, "again and again and again". As Nuzzi wrote in the magazine, Trump's Mar-a-Lago is like "a washed-up star locked away in a mansion from the 1920s," and the president's devoted fan is like "a man afraid of the world outside, afraid it will remind him that time has passed."

The film is about the actress, who was pushed to the sidelines by the advent of sound films and went insane while trying to come to terms with her declining star status. Trump used to show it off to clients when flying around on a 727. In fact, screenings were conducted at Camp David for administration officials when he was president. Nuzzi reported that "When he was a businessman, he showed it to guests aboard his 727. When he was president, he held screenings of it for White House staff at Camp David. He once showed it to his press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, who later described how 'the president, who could never sit still for anything without talking on the phone, sending a tweet, or flipping through TV channels, sat enthralled.'"

Biographer Tim O'Brien once claimed that he and Donald Trump had seen the film together. Referring to the scene where Norma Desmond, the lead, cried and said, "Those idiot producers. Those imbeciles! Haven't they got any eyes? Have they forgotten what a star looks like? I'll show them. I'll be up there again, so help me!" O'Brien confirmed that Trump said at the time, "Is this an incredible scene or what? Just incredible."

The classic was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Gloria Swanson and her "waxwork" friends (playing lightly fictionalized versions of themselves), a struggling young screenwriter (played by William Holden), and a failed actress-turned-script reader (played by Nancy Olson), who never quite made it. It was released 65 years ago. When it comes to films about Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard is up there with the finest of them. It's about a silent cinema actress who loses her prominence as the medium evolves to include sound. Norma Desmond is always reliving the time when she was the most famous actress of her age.

She wants a second chance at life so badly. A struggling screenwriter named Joe Gillis encounters the lovely Norma while evading the guys who are seeking to reclaim his automobile. He sees an opportunity to improve his life by associating with her because of her money and waning glamour. Max von Mayerling, who is subsequently revealed to be Desmond's ex-husband and silent film director, has the most thankless job as her butler. Sunset Boulevard is a tale about maturing, fading fame, and the passage of time.