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About
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
Theatrical
Aug 10, 1950
Box Office
$5.0M
Budget
$1.8M
Return
2.9x
DVD / Blu-ray
Apr 25, 2017
Theaters
10
Director
Writers
Producer
Music
Studio
Paramount Pictures
Quotes
See all →Preparation for the Princess Scene
Max
Are you ready, Norma?
Norma
What is the scene? Where am I?
Max
This is the staircase of the palace.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Fame and Death in Hollywood
Joe Gillis
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. They beached me like a harpooned baby whale and started to check the damage, just for the record. By this time, the whole joint was jumping - cops, reporters, neighbors, passersby, as much hoopdedoo as we get in Los Angeles when they open a supermarket. Even the newsreel guys came roaring in. Here was an item everybody could have some fun with, the heartless so-and-sos! What would they do to Norma? Even if she got away with it in court - crime of passion, temporary insanity - those headlines would kill her: Forgotten Star a Slayer, Aging Actress, Yesterday's Glamour Queen'...
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Cast
Full credits →W
William Holden
Joe Gillis
G
Gloria Swanson
Norma Desmond
E
Erich von Stroheim
Max von Mayerling
N
Nancy Olson
Betty Schaefer
F
Fred Clark
Sheldrake
L
Lloyd Gough
Morino
J
Jack Webb
Artie Green
F
Franklyn Farnum
Undertaker
L
Larry J. Blake
Finance Man #1
C
Charles Dayton
Finance Man #2
C
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
H
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
H
H.B. Warner
H.B. Warner
B
Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
R
Ray Evans
Ray Evans
A
Anna Q. Nilsson
Anna Q. Nilsson
J
Jay Livingston
Jay Livingston
F
Fred Aldrich
Cop Dragging Body from Pool (uncredited)
J
Joel Allen
Prop Man #2 (uncredited)
G
Gertrude Astor
Courtier (uncredited)
