Sunset Boulevard (1950) - Quotes

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.

Norma: [readying herself] Oh yes, yes. Down below, they're waiting for the princess. I'm ready.

Max: [shouting] All right. Cameras! Action!

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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'...

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The Weight of Public Opinion

First assistant director: I can tell her you're all tied up in the projection room. I can give her the brush.

Cecil B. DeMille: Thirty million fans have given her the brush. Isn't that enough?

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Celebrating New Year's Eve with Creative Ideas

Joe Gillis: I've got some ideas myself. One of them being this is New Year's Eve. How about living it up a little?

Betty Schaefer: As for instance?

Joe Gillis: Well....

Betty Schaefer: We could make some paper boats and have a regatta. Or we could turn on the shower full blast.

Joe Gillis: How about capturing the kitchen and barricading the door?

Betty Schaefer: Are you hungry?

Joe Gillis: Hungry? After twelve years in the Burmese jungle. I am starving, Lady Agatha -- starving for a white shoulder --

Betty Schaefer: Phillip, you're mad!

Girl: You can have the phone now.

Joe Gillis: [Paying no attention] Thirsting for the coolness of your lips -

Betty Schaefer: No, Phillip, no. We must be strong. You're still wearing the uniform of the Coldstream Guards! Furthermore, you can have the phone now.

Joe Gillis: [He gets up, starts out, turns] O.K. Suddenly I find myself terribly afraid of losing you.

Betty Schaefer: [She takes the glass out of his hand] You won't. I'll get us a refill of this horrible liquid.

Joe Gillis: You'll be waiting for me?

Betty Schaefer: With a wildly beating heart.

Joe Gillis: [He leaves.] Life can be beautiful!

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A Compliment on Fragrance and Freshness

Joe Gillis: May I say that you smell really special?

Betty Schaefer: It must be my new shampoo.

Joe Gillis: That's no shampoo. It's more like freshly-laundered linen handkerchiefs, like a brand new automobile.

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The Complexity of a Hollywood Comeback

Joe Gillis: I didn't know you were planning a comeback.

Norma Desmond: I hate that word. It's a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen.

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Struggles with Self-Identity and Doubt

Betty Schaefer: Don't you sometimes hate yourself?

Joe Gillis: Constantly.

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The Illusion of Fame and Size

Joe Gillis: You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.

Norma Desmond: I am big. It's the pictures that got small.

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The Greatest Star of Them All

Max Von Mayerling: Madame is the greatest star of them all.

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The Illusion of Stardom and Loneliness

Norma Desmond: [[w:AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes|American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations] *Note: bolded portion is ranked #7 in the ] in American cinema.

A Star's Passion for the Spotlight

Norma Desmond: I just want to tell you all how happy I am to be back in the studio, making a picture again! You don't know how much I've missed all of you. 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! There's nothing else! Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!… All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.

Norma Desmond's Claim to Paramount's Legacy

Norma Desmond: Without me, there wouldn't be any Paramount studio.

The Timeless Nature of Stars

Norma Desmond: The stars are ageless, aren't they?

The Decline of Hollywood Icons

Norma Desmond: They took the idols and smashed them, the Fairbankses, the Gilberts, the Valentinos! And who've we got now? Some nobodies!

The Burden of Fame and Public Opinion

Norma Desmond: 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!