Sunset Boulevard

Question 1

“I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”

Answer 1

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Norma Desmond is explaining to Joe Gillis her perception of Hollywood’s decline.

Theme: Norma’s delusion about her relevance and glamour - Hollywood’s transformation, the impact of time on fame, and the vanity of the film industry.

Question 2

“And I promise you I’ll never desert you again because after ‘Salome’ we’ll make another picture and another picture. You see, this is my life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, and the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!… All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”

Answer 2

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Film’s climax, Norma believing she’s about to make a comeback and imagining a camera capturing her close-up.

Theme: obsession, delusion, and the dangers of living in the past. Norma’s fantasy of eternal stardom contrasts with her reality, underscoring Hollywood’s often brutal dismissal of aging stars.

Question 3

“We didn’t need dialogue. We had faces!”

Answer 3

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Norma notes the shift from silent films to talkies, reflecting her belief that silent cinema required a purer form of acting.

Theme: Nostalgia and resentment toward technological advancement in Hollywood. Reverence for silent film hints at her inability to adapt.

Question 4

“I hate that word. It’s a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen.”

Answer 4

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Norma reacts bitterly to the term “comeback,” suggesting that she views herself as still relevant and needed by her fans.

Theme: Denial and the irreversibility of time and fame’s fleeting nature - Norma resents the idea that her career ever truly ended.

Question 5

“No one ever leaves a star. That’s what makes one a star.”

Answer 5

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Norma’s reaction to Joe telling her he is leaving.

Theme: Norma’s inability to accept reality - delusion and obsession, showcasing Norma’s distorted perception of fame as everlasting.

Question 6

“Without me, there wouldn’t be any Paramount studio.”

Answer 6

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Arriving at Paramount, Norma tells Joe her history with the studio.

Theme: Norma’s grandiosity and sense of entitlement - the reality is her fading stardom.

Question 7

“Writing words, words, more words! Well, you’ll make a rope of words and strangle this business! With a microphone there to catch the last gurgles, and Technicolor to photograph the red, swollen tongues!”

Answer 7

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Norma tells Joe her dislike of modern filmmaking techniques that diminish cinema’s artistry.

Theme: Resistance to change, as Norma remains fixated on silent cinema’s “purity.” Her hostility toward new technology reveals her struggle with the industry’s evolution.

Question 8

“There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn’t good enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!”

Answer 8

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Norma reflects bitterly on the transition from silent films to talkies with Joe, which displaced many silent stars.

Theme: Resentment toward the inevitable changes in Hollywood and inability to adapt.

Question 9

“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!”

Answer 9

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Angry at being overlooked, Norma resolves to “prove” her stardom to the industry, reflecting her delusional confidence in a comeback.

Theme: Defiance and delusion - refusal to accept fading status leads to desperation for validation from Hollywood.

Question 10

“Then why do they still write me fan letters every day? Why do they beg me for my photographs? Why? Because they want to see me! Me! Norma Desmond!”

Answer 10

Character: Norma Desmond

Context: Norma unaware of where the letters are coming from - fan letters are proof of lasting allure and relevance.

Theme: Self-deception - holding onto identity as a star and the need for affirmation reveals tragic loneliness her fame.

Question 11

“Audiences don’t know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along.”

Answer 11

Character: Joe Gillis

Context: Joe reflects on his experience as a screenwriter and the lack of recognition for writers in Hollywood.

Theme: Disconnect between those who create stories and the glamour associated with actors - the unseen labour behind Hollywood’s productions.

Question 12

“Well, this is where you came in, back at that pool again, the one I always wanted. It’s dawn now and they must have photographed me a thousand times. Then they got a couple of pruning hooks from the garden and fished me out… ever so gently. Funny, how gentle people get with you once you’re dead.”

Answer 12

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Joe’s narration as the film circles back to his death in Norma’s pool.

Theme: Irony and tragic fate, as Joe finally gets the pool he always wanted—at the cost of his life. The darker side of Hollywood, where death and fame are intertwined.

Question 13

“So they were turning after all, those cameras. Life, which can be strangely merciful, had taken pity on Norma Desmond. The dream she had clung to so desperately had enfolded her.”

Answer 13

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Joe’s observation at the end of the film when Norma believes she is being filmed for her “comeback.”

Theme: Delusion in the face of tragedy. In a bittersweet twist, Norma’s obsession with stardom is “fulfilled,” but in a manner that isolates her entirely from reality.

Question 14

“You don’t yell at a sleepwalker - he may fall and break his neck. That’s it: she was still sleepwalking along the giddy heights of a lost career.”

Answer 14

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Joe reflects on Norma’s mental state - a “sleepwalker” who is oblivious to the end of her career.

Theme: Denial and the dangers of clinging to the past. “Sleepwalking” symbolises an inability to accept change - the psychological impact of Hollywood’s discarding of former stars.

Question 15

“The whole place seemed to have been stricken with a kind of creeping paralysis - out of beat with the rest of the world, crumbling apart in slow motion.”

Answer 15

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Joe describes Norma’s mansion, which has deteriorated alongside her career.

Theme: The mansion is a symbol of decay and lost grandeur, representing Norma’s faded glory and isolation.

Question 16

“The plain fact was she was afraid of that world outside. Afraid it would remind her that time had passed.”

Answer 16

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Joe remarks on Norma’s isolation from the outside world, fearing it would remind her of her lost fame.

Theme: Fear of being forgotten and uselessness. Norma’s avoidance of the outside world illustrates her refusal to confront reality - treatment of aging stars.

Question 17

“I felt caught like the cigarette in that contraption on her finger.”

Answer 17

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Joe referring to himself as the cigarette in her ornate holder on Norma’s finger.

Theme: Entrapment and control, unable to escape. Joe’s increasing discomfort with Norma’s demands and her obsessive control over him.

Question 18

“It was a great big white elephant of a place. The kind crazy movie people built in the crazy 20s. A neglected house gets an unhappy look. This one had it in spades. It was like that old woman in ‘Great Expectations’. That Miss Havisham in her rotting wedding dress and her torn veil, taking it out on the world, because she’d been given the go-by.”

Answer 18

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Joe describes Norma’s mansion.

Theme: Decay and the loneliness of forgotten fame. Like Miss Havisham, Norma is trapped in her past, unable to move forward, and her mansion is a visual representation of her stagnation.

Question 19

“I just had to get out of there. I had to be with people my own age. I had to hear somebody laugh again. I thought of Artie Green. There was bound to be a New Year’s shindig going on in his apartment down in Los Palmas. Writers without a job. Composers without a publisher. Actresses so young they still believe the guys in the casting office. A bunch of kids who didn’t give a hoot.”

Answer 19

Character: Joe Gillis

Context: New Year’s Eve and Joe reflects on needing to escape Norma’s life and find a sense of freedom and youth.

Theme: Clash between youth and age. Joe’s desire to reconnect with people who his own age, in contrast with Norma’s obsessiveness and stifling presence.

Question 20

“There it was again - that room of hers, all satin and ruffles, and that bed like a gilded rowboat. The perfect setting for a silent movie queen. Poor devil, still waving proudly to a parade which had long since passed her by.”

Answer 20

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Joe describes Norma’s outdated, grandiose bedroom, comparing it to her former stardom.

Theme: Clinging to the past. Norma’s room, like her persona, is a relic of a bygone era, symbolising her inability to let go of her past glory.

Question 21

“She’d sit very close to me… Sometimes as we’d watch, she’d clutch my arm or my hand, forgetting she was my employer. Just becoming a fan. Excited about that actress up there on the screen. I guess I don’t have to tell you who the star was. They were always her pictures. That’s all she wanted to see.”

Answer 21

Character: Joe Gillis (narration)

Context: Watching one of Norma’s old films, Joe describes how Norma becomes enraptured, reliving her glory days through her screen persona.

Theme: Narcissism and denial. Norma’s fixation on her past roles shows her inability to move on, using her own films to escape into a self-made world where she remains the center of attention.

Question 22

“It was I who asked to come back, as humiliating as it may seem. I could have continued my career; only I found everything unendurable after she’d left me. You see, I was her first husband.”

Answer 22

Character: Max von Mayerling

Context: Max, Norma’s loyal butler and former director, reveals to Joe that he was also her first husband, and he returned to care for her after her career declined.

Theme: Loyalty, devotion, and sacrifice. Max’s commitment to Norma willing to support others, even at personal cost. Norma’s failure equals Max’s failure.

Question 23

“Madame is the greatest star of them all.”

Answer 23

Character: Max von Mayerling

Context: Max speaks to Joe about Norma, describing her as the ultimate star, reflecting his unwavering loyalty and admiration.

Theme: Idealising and delusion. Max’s adoration for Norma keeps her in the spotlight in his mind, reinforcing her own delusions about her significance, but also the need for his own self-importance and success.

Question 24

“She never will. That is my job, and it has been for a long time. You must understand: I discovered her when she was 16. I made her a star and I cannot let her be destroyed.”

Answer 24

Character: Max von Mayerling

Context: Max explains to Joe his role in Norma’s life - to protect her and that he cannot let her come to harm.

Theme: Control, responsibility, and obsession. Max sees himself as Norma’s caretaker, protector, and even creator, as he claims credit for making her a star. His dedication to preserving her delusion illustrates the codependent nature of their relationship and his own inability to move on from their past.

Question 25

“I just think that pictures should say a little something.”
Character: Betty Schaefer
Context: Betty, a young script reader and aspiring writer, expresses her belief that movies should have meaningful messages, not just entertainment value.
Theme: This quote reflects the theme of authenticity versus superficiality in Hollywood. Betty’s ideals contrast with the commercialized, image-driven industry, highlighting the film’s critique of Hollywood’s prioritization of glamour over substance.

Answer 25

Character: Betty Schaefer

Context: Betty, a young script reader and aspiring writer, believes movies should have meaningful messages, not just entertainment value.

Theme: Authenticity versus superficiality in Hollywood. Betty’s ideals contrast with the commercialised, image-driven industry, highlighting the film’s critique of Hollywood’s prioritization of glamour over substance.

Question 26

“I had ten years of dramatic lessons, diction, dancing. Then, the studio made a test. Well, they didn’t like my nose - slanted, this way a little. So, I went to a doctor and had it fixed. They made more tests and they were crazy about my nose. Only, they didn’t like my acting.”

Answer 26

Character: Betty Schaefer

Context: Betty recounts her experiences with Hollywood’s superficial standards, revealing how she changed her appearance to fit the industry’s expectations, only to be judged on her acting ability afterward.

Theme: Superficiality in Hollywood, where actors are judged and molded to fit idealized images. Betty’s experience demonstrates the emotional cost of conforming to the industry’s unrealistic standards, highlighting Hollywood’s often shallow nature.

Question 27

“Look at this street. All card-board, all hollow, all phoney. All done with mirrors. I like it better than any street in the world. Maybe because I used to play here when I was a kid.”

Answer 27

Character: Betty Schafer

Context: Betty reflects on the artificiality of a Hollywood set street, noting its hollowness while also expressing a nostalgic attachment.

Theme: Duality of illusion and reality in Hollywood. Betty’s appreciation for the phony street, despite its lack of substance, mirrors a complex relationship with the film industry.

Question 28

“You know, a dozen press agents working overtime can do terrible things to the human spirit.”

Answer 28

Character: Cecil B. DeMille

Context: DeMille (Norma’s previous Director) comments on the impact of relentless publicity in Hollywood, suggesting that excessive attention and manipulation from press agents can harm an individual’s well-being.

Theme: Manipulation, identity, and the emotional toll of fame. It critiques how the Hollywood publicity machine shapes and often damages stars by crafting public personas that may conflict with their true selves, leaving them vulnerable and disconnected.

Question 29

“Get Gordon Cole. Tell him to forget about her car. Tell him he can get another old car someplace. I’ll buy him 5 old cars if necessary.”

Answer 29

Character: Cecil B. DeMille

Context: DeMille, a famous director whom Norma admires, orders his assistant to stop contacting humour about her old car, as she believes it’s part of her return to the studio.

Theme: To her face DeMille’s accommodates her delusions of grandeur, demonstrating the film’s focus on Hollywood’s treatment of aging stars, where Norma’s former status warrants superficial kindness, even though it is tinged with pity.