Inside Hollywood

"Sunset Boulevard" gave a pretty good depiction of the state of Hollywood at the beginning of the '50s. The studio system was in decline, so the big studios weren't producing B movies anymore, which is why Joe couldn't find work. The casting of the film also involved bringing on stars from the silent era who were very similar to the characters they played. To me it really adds to the experience of watching the film, but I knew all of the inside information because I studied the movie in school. I know a lot of you read up on the film after watching it, do you think you have to know all that information beforehand to really appreciate "Sunset Boulevard"? I know I liked "The Player" when I first saw it when it came out, but I didn't realize just how good it was until I was a film student. What to all of you think?