yeah.
that's right.
what car?
why should i give you the keys?
relax, fans. the car isn't here.
i lent it to a friend of mine. he took it up to palm springs.
you don't believe me? look in the garage.
you say the cutest things.
it's about a ball player, a rookie shortstop that's batting 347. the poor kid was once mixed up in a hold- up. but he's trying to go straight -- except there's a bunch of gamblers who won't let him.
more or less. only for the end i've got a gimmick that's real good.
bases loaded. there's a 4o-page outline.
they're pretty hot about it over at twentieth, but i think zanuck's all wet. can you see ty power as a
if i could be of any help.
exactly what kind of material do you recommend? james joyce? dostoosvsky?
oh, you're one of the message kids. just a story won't do. you'd have turned down gone with the wind.
that was last year. this year i'm trying to earn a living.
goodbye. next time i'll write the naked and the dead.
mr. sheldrake, i don't want you to think i thought this was going to win any academy award.
frankly, no.
you trying to be funny? -- because i'm all out of laughs. i'm over a barrel and i need a job.
along is no good. i need it now.
any kind of assignment. additional dialogue.
look, mr. sheldrake, could you let me have three hundred bucks yourself, as a personal loan?
goodbye, mr. sheldrake.
hello, mr. skolsky.
sure. just sold an original for a hundred grand. the life of the warner brothers. starring the ritz brothers. playing opposite the andrew sisters.
no?
how's that about your being my friend?
forget romanoff's. it's the car i'm talking about. if i lose my car it's like having my legs out off.
what do you think i've been doing? i need three hundred dollars.
i just put my car in the garage. i had a blow-out. i thought --
look, maybe i'd better take my car --
dressed for what?
suppose you listen just for a minute -
for me? okay.
i wouldn't know.
lady. you've got the wrong man.
i had some trouble with my car. flat tire. i pulled into your garage till i could get a spare. i thought this was an empty house.
i'm sorry, and i'm sorry you lost your friend, and i don't think red is the right color.
sure. wait a minute -- haven't i seen you -- ?
i know your face. you're norma desmond. you used to be in pictures. you used to be big.
i knew there was something wrong with them.
that's where the popcorn business comes in. you buy yourself a bag and plug up your ears.
don't get sore at me. i'm not an executive. i'm just a writer.
ssh! you'll wake up that monkey.
next time i'll bring my autograph album along, or maybe a hunk of cement and ask for your footprints.
yeah?
why?
i think that's what it says on my driver's license.
sure have. the last one i wrote was about cattle rustlers. before they were through with it, the whole thing played on a torpedo boat.
or teach it a better tune.
depends on what it is -- a donald duck or joan or arc.
looks like enough for six impor- tant pictures.
uh-huh.
and you'll play salome?
only asking. i did't know you were planning a comeback.
fair enough.
they'll love it in pomona.
right now? never let another writer read your stuff. he may steal it.
i've got twenty-twenty vision.
this is fascinating.
maybe it's a little long and maybe there are some repetitions.  but you're not a professional writer.
sure you did. that's what makes it great. what it needs is a little more dialogue.
it certainly could use a pair of shears and a blue pencil.
of course not. but it ought to be organized. just an editing job. you can find somebody.
i don't know.
december twenty-first.
thank you.
me? i'm busy. just finished one script. i'm due on another assignment.
you know, i'm pretty expensive. i get five hundred a week.
maybe i'd better take the rest of the script home and read it -
it's getting kind of late --
the name is gillis. i'm single.
hollywood. the alto nido apart- ments.
there sure is.
i'll come early tomorrow.
thanks. how did you know i was going to stay, this afternoon?
it will never make house beautiful. i guess it's o.k. for one night.
thanks. say, she's quite a character, that norma desmond.
i sure turned into an interesting driveway.
hey, you -- max -- whatever -your- name-is -- what are my things doing here?
i'm talking to you. my clothes and things are up in the room.
is that so!
who said you could? who asked you to?
look, i'm supposed to fix up your script. there's nothing in the deal about my staying here.
thanks for the invitation, but i have my own apartment.
i'll take care of that.
i'm used to paying my own bills.
okay. we'll deduct it from my salary.
unpack nothing. i didn't say i was staying.
just a scene i cut out.
the one where you go to the slave market. you can cut right to the scene where john the baptist -
honestly, it's a little old hat. they don't want that any more.
okay.
i'm not here.
good.
i want to talk to you for a minute.
they've come for my car.
i need some money right now.
i've lost my car.
it is to me. that's why i came to this house. that's why i took this job -- ghost writing!
what's wrong with it?
i don't need any clothes, and i certainly don't want you buy- ing them for --
i don't need a tuxedo.
tails. that's ridiculous.
a camel's hair will do.
whose room was this?
i guess this is the one you can see catalina from. only this isn't the day.
hey, what's this with the door? there isn't any lock.
how come?
what doctor?
uh-huh?
why? her career? she got enough out of it. she's not forgotten. she still gets those fan letters.
you send them. is that it, max?
no, i haven't. i suppose all the waxworks are coming?
(embarrassed} please.
all padding. don't let it fool you.
you know, to me dressing up was always just putting on my dark blue suit.
now, i'm not going to wear ear- rings, i can tell you that.
shouldn't we wait for the others?
not on the same floor with valentino!
it's those feathers. they tickle.
it's a quarter past ten. what time are they supposed to get here?
the other guests?
i understand some rich guy bought up all the tickets for a perfor- mance at the metropolitan and sat there listening to la traviata, all by himself. he was afraid of catching cold.
come midnight, how about blind- folding the orchestra and smash- ing champagne glasses on max's head?
a little.
what's that?
stop it. you aren't going to buy me anything more.
what are the notes?
norma, i can't take it. you've bought me enough.
keep it.
cut out that us business.
what right do you have to take me for granted?
has it ever occurred that i may have a life of my own? that there may be some girl i'm crazy about?
why not? what i'm trying to say is that i'm all wrong for you. you want a valentino -- somebody with polo ponies -- a big shot --
hi, artie.
in a deep freeze.
let it ride for a while.
that was the general idea.
close, but no cigar.
where's the bar?
good party.
listen, artie, can i stick around here for a while?
i mean, could you put me up for a couple of weeks?
i'll take it.
sure. bases loaded.
don't worry. she's just a fan for my literary output.
about that luggage. where's the phone?
when youlre through with that thing, can i have it?
thanks.
what for? to recover that knife you stuck in my back?
why, you sweet kid.
dark windows. how did you like it?
thank you.
how about the rainbow room?
now if i got you correctly, there was a short stretch of my fiction you found worthy of notice.
i had a teacher like that once.
who wants true? who wants moving?
want me to start right now? maybe there's some paper around.
i've got some ideas myself. one of them being this is new year's eve. how about living it up a little?
well.
how about capturing the kitchen and barricading the door?
hungry? after twelve years in the burmese jungle. i am starving, lady agatha -- starving for a white shoulder --
thirsting for the coolness of your lips -
you'll be waiting for me?
life can be beautiful!
max? this is mr. gillis. i want you to do me a favor.
yes you can. i want you to get my old suitcase and i want you to throw in my old clothes -- the ones i came with, and my typewriter. i'll have somebody pick them up.
what doctor? what's going on?
max ! max !
how is she?
what kind of a silly thing was that to do?
it sure would have made attractive headlines: great star kills her- self for unknown writer.
look, i was making that up because i thought the whole thing was a mistake. i didn't want to hurt you. you've been good to me. you're the only person in this stinking town that has been good to me.
not until you promise to act like a sensible human being.
happy new year.
happy new year.
you're really going to send it to de mille?
did she read the script?
i hope you realize, norma, that scripts don't sell on astrologers' charts.
when did he say it, norma?
have one of mine.
pull up at the drugstore, will you, max. i'll get you some.
give me a pack of those turkish cigarettes -- melachrinos.
hello, artie. good evening, miss schaefer.
i'm sorry about new year's. would you believe me if i said i had to be with a sick friend?
i haven't been keeping myself at all. not lately.
is that so? what's the wonderful news?
what teacher?
you did?
into what? a lampshade?
o.k. where's the cash?
i was afraid of that.
sorry, miss schaefer, but i've given up writing on spec.
as a matter of fact. i've given up writing altogether.
right with you.
i've got to run along. thanks any- way for your interest in my career.
sorry if i crossed you up.
so long.
i ran into some people i knew.
where are your?
norma, you're smoking too much.
nothing is the matter. i'm having a great time. show me some more.
maybe demille is shooting.
i don't think so. it's your script. it's your show. good luck.
that didn't leave much for wallace reid.
i'll be with you in a minute.
just so you don't think i'm a complete swine -- if there's anything in dark windows you can use, take it. it's all yours.
i mean it. it's no good to me anyway. help yourself.
if you get a hundred thousand for it, you buy me a box of chocolate creams. if you get an oscar, i get the left foot.
what about all those ideas you had?
psychopaths sell like hotcakes.
check.
look, if you don't mind, i haven't got time to listen to the whole plot .
sorry. it's your baby now.
i'm all tied up. i can't.
what has artie to do with it.
good for you. you've got yourself the best guy in town.
it's just impossible.
look, betty, it can't be done. it's out.
you're on your own. stop being chicken-hearted and write that story.
and don't make it too dreary. how about this for a situation: she teaches daytimes. he teaches at night. right? they don't even know each other, but they share the same room. it's cheaper that way. as a matter of fact, they sleep in the same bed -- in shifts, of oourse.
so do i.
so long.
and here's a title: an apple for
what's the matter, max?
what?
how did it go?
he must be quite a guy.
yes, norma.
yes, norma.
good night.
good.
good.
i think i'll read a little.
why do you say that?
i went for a walk.
all right, i drove to the beach. norma, you don't want me to feel i'm locked up in this house?
i haven't done anything, norma.
good.
i mean this is good dialogue along in here. it'll play.
sure. especially with lots of music underneath, drowning it out.
constantly. no, in all serious- ness, it's really good. it's fun writing again. i'm happy here, honest i am.
who's who?
oh, that. it's from a friend of mine. a middle-aged lady, very foolish and very generous.
i gave her some advice on an idiotic script.
that's the trouble with you readers. you know all the plots. now suppose you proof-read page ten while the water boils.
what were you -- a child actress?
second generation, huh?
nice job.
saddest thing i ever heard.
come clean, betty. at night you weep for those lost closeups, those gala openings.
three cheers for betty schaefer! i will now kiss that nose of yours.
may i say you smell real special.
that's no shampoo. it'smore like a pile of freehly laundred hand- kerchiefs, like a brand new auto- mobile. how old are you anyway?
that's it -- there's nothing like being twenty-two. now may i suggest that if we're ever to finish this story you keep at least two feet away from me .  now back to the typewriter.
what is it, max? want to wash the car, or are you doing a little spying in your off hours?
how about my going up the kitchen stairs and undressing in the dark. will that do it?
why don't you? i'm writing a script and i'm dying to finish it, no matter what.
sure you are. and we're not help- ing her any, feeding her lies and more lies. getting herself ready for a pioture .  what happens when she finds out?
you made her a star?
and she's turned you into a servant.
hey, what's the matter.  betty, wake up! why are you staring at me like that?
what's wrong with you tonight? what is it, betty?
why not?
what is it you've heard. come on, let's have it.
is it about me?
betty, there's no use running out on it. let's face it, what- ever it is.
from artie. what's wrong?
why don't you? we can finish the script by thursday.
stop crying. you're getting married. that's what you've always wanted.
why not? don't you love artie?
what happened?
that's right, betty, ask me again. this is joe.
or maybe it would be a better idea if you came over and saw it for yourself. the address is 10086
yes, i hear you. and i wish you'd keep still so i can hear the doorbell when she rings it.
hello, betty.
come on in, betty,
ever been in one of these old hollywood palazzos? that's from when they were making eighteen thou- sand a week, and no taxes. careful of these tiles, they're slippery. valentino used to dance here.
you bet.
hers.
just look around. there's a lot of her spread about. if you don't remember the face, you must have heard the name of norma desmond.
want something to drink? there's always champagne on ice, and plenty of caviar.
jealous. ever see so much junk? she had the ceiling brought from portugal. look at this.
her own movie theatre.
i'm trying to tell you. this is an enormous place. eight master bedrooms. a sunken tub in every bathroom. there's a bowling alley in the cellar. it's lonely here, so she got herself a companion. a very simple set-up: an older woman who is well-to-do. a younger man who is not doing too well .  can you figure it out yourself?
all right. i'll give you a few more clues.
all my things? all the eighteen suits, all the custom-made shoes and the eighteen dozen shirts, and the cuff-links and the platinum key- chains, and the cigarette cases?
come on where? back to a one-room apartment that i can't pay for? back to a story that may sell and very possibly will not?
look, sweetie -- be practical. l've got a good thing here. a long-term contract with no options. i like it that way. maybe it's not very admirable. well, you and artie can be admirable.
nobody asked you to.
all right, baby. this way out.
good luck to you, betty. you can finish that story on the way to arizona. when you and artie get back, if the two of you ever feel like a swim, here's the pool .
yes, i am, norma.
max is a good idea. he can help with my luggage. thanks for letting me wear the handsome wardrobe. and thanks for the use of all the trinkets.
the rest of the jewelry is in the top drawer.
and i'd take it in a second, norma -- only it's a little too dressy for sitting behind the copy desk in dayton, ohio.
norma, you'd be throwing it away. i don't qualify for the job, not any more.
that's between you and yourself, norma.
oh. sure -- if it would make a good scene.
wake up, norma. you'd be killing yourself to an empty house. the audience left twenty years ago. now face it.
no, they don't.
he was trying to spare your feelings. the studio wanted to rent your car.
de mille didn't have the heart to tell you. none of us has had the heart.
you tell her, max. come on, do her that favor. tell her there isn't going to be any picture -- there aren't any fan letters, except the ones you write yourself.
norma, grow up. you're a woman of fifty. there's nothing tragic about being fifty - not unless you try to be twenty-five.
goodbye. norma.