sunset blvd screenplay

8/19/2019 Sunset Blvd Screenplay

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3/16/2016 Sunset Boulevard

http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/sunset_bld_3_21_49.html 1/

SUNSET BOULEVARD

Charles BrackettBilly WilderD.M. Marshman, Jr.

March 21,1949

SEQUENCE "A"

A‐l‐4 START the picture with the actual street sign:SUNSET BOULEVARD, stencilled on a curbstope.In the gutter lie dead leaves, scraps of paper,burnt matches and cigarette butts. It is earlymorning.

Now the CAMERA leaves the sign and MOVES EAST, the

grey asphalt of the street filling the screen. Asspeed accelerates to around 40 m.p.h., traffic de‐marcations, white arrows, speed‐limit warnings, man‐hole covers, etc., flash by. SUPERIMPOSED on allthis are the CREDIT TITLES, in the stencilled styleof the street sign.

Over the scene we now hear MAN'S VOICEsirens. Police squad cars Yes, this is Sunsethurtle toward the camera, Boulevard, Los Angeles,turn off the road into a California. It's aboutdriveway with squealing five o'clock in thebrakes. Dismounted motor‐ morning. That's the

cycle cops stand directing Homicide Squad, com‐the cars in. plete with detectives

and newspaper men.A‐5 PATIO AND POOL OF A murder has been re‐

MANSION ported from one of thosegreat big houses in the

The policemen and news‐ ten thousand block.paper reporters and You'll read all aboutphotographers have it in the late editions,jumped out of the cars I'm sure. You'll getand are running up to it over your radio,the pool, in which a and see it on tele‐

body is seen floating. vision ‐‐ because anPhotographers' bulbs old‐time star is in‐flash in rapid suc‐ volved. one of the big‐cession. gest. But before you

hear it all distortedand blown out ofproportion, before thoseHollywood columnistsget their hands on it,maybe you'd like tohear the facts, thewhole truth...


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A‐6 FLASH OF THE BODYMAN'S VOICE

Angle up through the If so, you've come to thewater from the bottom right party... You see,of the pool, as the the body of a young manbody floats face down‐ was found floating in theward. It is a well‐ pool of her mansion, withdressed young man. two shots in his back and

one in his stomach. No‐body important, really.

Just a movie writer witha couple of "B" picturesto his credit. The poordope. He always wanted apool Well, in the endhe got himself a pool ‐‐

SLOW DISSOLVE TO: only the price turned outto be a little high...Let's go back about six

A‐7 HOLLYWOOD, SEEN FROM months and find the dayTHE HILLTOP AT IVAR when it all started.& FRANKLIN STREETS

It is a crisp sunny I was living in anday. The voice con‐ apartment house abovetinues speaking as Franklin and Ivar.CAMERA PANS toward Things were toughthe ALTO NIDO APART‐ at the moment. I hadn'tMENT HOUSE, an ugly worked in a studio forMoorish structure ofsat a long time. So Istucco, about four there grindingstories high. CAMERA out original stories,MOVES TOWARD AN OPEN two a week. Only IWINDOW on the third seemed to have lostfloor, where we look my touch. Maybe they

in on JOE GILLIS' APART‐ weren't originalMENT. Joe Gillis, bare‐ enough. Maybe theyfooted and wearing no‐ were too original.thing but an old bath‐ All I know is theyrobe. is sitting on didn't sell.the bed. In front ofhim. on a straightchair, is a portabletypewriter. Besidehim, on the bed, is adirty ashtray and ascattering of typewritten and pencil‐

marked pages. Gillisis typing. with apencil clenched bet‐ween his teeth.

A‐8 JOE GILLIS' APARTMENT

It is a one‐room affair with an unmade Murphy bedpulled out of the wall at which Gillis sits typing.There are a couple of worn‐out plush chairs and aSpanish‐style, wrought‐iron standing lamp. Also a


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small desk littered with books and letters, and achest of drawers with a portable phonograph and somerecords on top. On the walls are a couple of repro‐ductions of characterless paintings, with laundrybills and snapshots stuck in the frames. Through anarchway can he seen a tiny kitchenette, complete withunwashed coffee pot and cup, empty tin cans, orangepeels, etc. The effect is dingy and cheerless ‐‐just another furnished apartment. The buzzer SOUNDS.

GILLIS Yeah.

The buzzer SOUNDS again. Gillis gets up and opensthe door. Two men wearing hats stand outside one ofthem carrying a briefcase.

NO. 1Joseph C. Gillis?

GILLIS That's right.

The men ease into the room. No. 1 hands Gillis abusiness card.

NO. 1We've come for the car.

GILLIS What car?

NO. 2(Consulting a paper)

1946 Plymouth convertible. Calif‐

ornia license 97 N 567.

NO. 1Where are the keys?

GILLIS Why should I give you the keys?

NO. 1Because the company's played ballwith you long enough. Becauseyou're three payments behind. And

because we've got a Court order.Come on ‐‐ the keys.

NO. 2Or do you want us to jack it upand haul it away?

GILLIS Relax, fans. The car isn't here.

NO. 1Is that So?


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GILLIS I lent it to a friend of mine.

He took it up to Palm Springs.

NO. 1Had to get away for his health,I suppose.

GILLIS You don't believe me? Look in

the garage.

NO. 1Sure we believe you, only now wewant you to believe us. That carbetter be back here by noon tomorrow,or there's going to be fireworks.

GILLIS You say the cutest things.

The men leave. Gillis GILLIS' VOICEstands pondering beside Well, I needed about twothe door for a moment. hundred and ninety dollarsThen he walks to the and I needed it realcenter of the room and, quick, or I'd lose my car.with his back to the It wasn't in Palm SpringsCAMERA, slips into a and it wasn't in thepair of gray slacks. garage. I was way aheadThere is a metallic of the finance company.noise as some loosechange and keys dropfrom the trouser pockets.As Gillis bends over topick them up, we see that

he has dropped the carkeys, identifiable be‐cause of a rabbit'sfoot and a miniaturelicense plate attachedto the key‐ring. Gillis

pockets the keys and ashe starts to put on ashirt

DISSOLVE TO:

A‐9 EXTERIOR OF RUDY'S GILLIS' VOICE

SHOESHINE PARLOR (DAY)I knew they'd be coming

A small shack‐like build‐ around and I wasn't tak‐ing, it stands in the ing any chances, so Icorner of a public park‐ kept it a couple ofing lot. Rudy, a blocks away in a parkingcolored boy, is giving lot behind Rudy's Shoe‐a customer a shine. shine Parlor. Rudy

never asked any quest‐ions. He'd just look atyour heels and know thescore.


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PAN BEHIND the shack to GILLIS' CAR, a yellow 1946Plymouth convertible with the top down. Gillis entersthe SHOT. He is wearing a tweed sport jacket, a tanpolo shirt, and moooasins. He steps into the car anddrives it off. Rudy winks after him.

A‐10 THE ALLEY NEXT TO SIDNEY'SMEN'S SHOP ON BRONSON AVE. GILLIS' VOICE

I had an original story

Gillis drives into the kicking around Paranount.alley and parks his car My agent told me it wasright behind a delivery dead as a doornail. buttruck. PAN AND FOLLOW I knew a big shot overHIM as he gets out, walks there who'd always likedaround the corner into me, and the time hadBronson and then toward come to take a littlethe towering main gate of advantage of it. HisParamount. A few loafers, name was Sheldrake. Hestudio cops and extras are was a smart producer,lounging there. with a set of ulcers to

prove it.

DISSOLVE TO:

A‐11 SHELDRAKE'S OFFICE

It is in the style of a Paramount executive's office ‐‐mahogany, leather, and a little chintz. On thewalls are some large framed photographs of Paramountstars, with dedications to Mr. Sheldrake. Also acouple of framed critics' awards certificates, and anOscar on a bookshelf. A shooting schedule chart isthumb‐tacked into a large bulletin board. There arepiles or scripts, a few pipes and, somewhere in the

background, some set models.

Start on Sheldrake. He is about 45. Behind his wor‐ried face there hides a coated tongue. He is en‐gaged in changing the stained rilter cigarette inhis Zeus holder.

SHELDRAKEAll right, Gillis. You've gotfive minutes. What's your storyabout?

GILLIS

It's about a ball player, a rookieshortstop that's batting 347. Thepoor kid was once mixed up in a hold‐up. But he's trying to go straight ‐‐except there's a bunch of gamblerswho won't let him.

SHELDRAKESo they tell the kid to throw theWorld Series, or else, huh?

GILLIS More or less. Only for the end


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I've got a gimmick that's real good.

A secretary enters, carrying a glass or milk.She opens a drawer and takes out a bottle of pills forSheldrake.

SHELDRAKEGot a title?

GILLIS

Bases Loaded. There's a 4O‐pageoutline.

SHELDRAKE(To the secretary)

Get the Readers' Department andsee what they have on Bases Loaded.

The secretary exits. Sheldrake takes a pill andwashes it down with some milk.

GILLIS They're pretty hot about it

over at Twentieth, but Ithink Zanuck's all wet. Canyou see Ty Power as a

GILLIS (cont'd)shortstop? You've got the bestman for it right here on this lot.Alan Ladd. Good change of pace forAlan Ladd. There's another thing:it's pretty simple to shoot. Lotof outdoor stuff. Bet you couldmake the whole thing for under a

million. And there's a great littlepart for Bill Demarest. One of thetrainers, an oldtime player whogot beaned and goes out of his headsometimes.

The door opens and Betty Schaefer enters ‐‐ a clean‐cut, nice looking girl of 21, with a bright, alertmanner. Dressed in tweed skirt, Brooks sweater andpearls, and carrying a folder of papers. She putsthem on Sheldrake's desk, not noticing Gillis, whostands near the door.

BETTYHello, Mr. Sheldrake. On that BasesLoaded. I covered it with a 2‐pagesynopsis.

(She holds it out)But I wouldn't bother.

SHELDRAKEWhat's wrong with it?

BETTYIt's from hunger.


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SHELDRAKENothing for Ladd?

BETTYJust a rehash of something thatwasn't very good to begin with.

SHELDRAKEI'm sure you'll be glad to meetMr. Gillis. He wrote it.

Betty turns towards Gillis, embarrassed.

SHELDRAKEThis is Miss Kramer.

BETTYSchaefer. Betty Schaefer. Andright now I wish I could crawlinto a hole and pull it in afterme.

GILLIS If I could be of any help...

BETTYI'm sorry, Mr. Gillis, but Ijust don't think it's any good.I found it flat and banal.

GILLIS Exactly what kind of material do

you recommend? James Joyce?Dostoosvsky?

SHELDRAKEName dropper.

BETTYI just think pictures should saya little something.

GILLIS Oh, you're one of the message

kids. Just a story won't do.You'd have turned down Gone With theWind.

SHELDRAKENo, that was me. I said, Whowants to see a Civil War picture?

BETTYPerhaps the reason I hated BasesLoaded is that I knew your name.I'd always heard you had sometalent.

GILLIS That was last year. This year

I'm trying to earn a living.


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BETTYSo you take Plot 27‐A, make itglossy, make it slick ‐‐

SHELDRAKECarefull Those are dirty words!You sound like a bunch of NewYork critics. Thank you, MissSchaefer.

BETTYGoodbye, Mr. Gillis.

GILLIS Goodbye. Next time I'll write

The Naked and the Dead.

Betty leaves.

SHELDRAKEWell, seems like Zanuck's gothimself a baseball picture.

GILLIS Mr. Sheldrake, I don't want you

to think I thought this was goingto win any Academy Award.

SHELDRAKE(His mind free‐wheeling)

Of course, we're always lookingfor a Betty Hutton. Do you seeit as a Betty Hutton?

GILLIS Frankly, no.

SHELDRAKE(Amusing himself)

Now wait a minute. If we madeit a girls' softball team, putin a few numbers. Might make acute musical: It Happened inthe Bull Pen ‐‐ the story of aWoman.

GILLIS You trying to be funny? ‐‐ because

I'm all out of laughs. I'm over abarrel and I need a job.

SHELDRAKESure, Gillis. If something shouldcome along ‐

GILLIS Along is no good. I need it now.

SHELDRAKE


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Haven't got a thing.

GILLIS Any kind of assignment. Additional

Dialogue.

SHELDRAKEThere's nothing, Gillis. Noteven if you were a relative.

GILLIS(Hating it)

Look, Mr. Sheldrake, could youlet me have three hundred bucksyourself, as a personal loan?

SHELDRAKECould I? Gillis, last year some‐body talked me into buying a ranchin the valley. So I borrowed moneyfrom the bank so I could pay forthe ranch. This year I had tomortgage the ranch so I could keepup my life insurance so I couldborrow on the insurance so I couldpay my income tax. Now if Deweyhad been elected ‐

GILLISGoodbye, Mr. Sheldrake.

DISSOLVE TO:

A‐12 EXT. SCHWAB'S DRUG STORE

(EARLY AFTERNOON ACTIVITY) GILLIS' VOICEAfter that I drove down

MOVE IN toward drug store to headquarters. That'sand the way a lot of us think

about Schwab's Drug Store.DISSOLVE TO: Actors and stock girls and

waiters. Kind of acombination office,Kaffee‐

A‐13 INT. SCHWAB'S DRUG STORE Klatsch and waiting room.Waiting, waiting for the

The usual Schwabadero gravy train.crowd sits at the fount‐

ain, gossips at the

cigar‐stand, loiters bythe magazine display.MOVE IN towards the TWOTELEPHONE BOOTHS. In I got myself ten nickelsone of them sits Gillis, and started sending outa stack of nickels in a general S.O.S. Couldn'tfront of him. He's get hold of my agent,doing a lot of talking naturally. So then Iinto the telephone, called a pal of mine,namehanging up, dropping of Artie Green ‐‐ an awfulanother nickel, dialing, nice guy, an assistanttalking again. director. He cquld let me

have twenty, but twenty


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wouldn't do.

GILLIS' VOICE (Cont.)Then I talked to a couple ofyes men at Twentieth. To methey said no. Finally Ilocated that agent of mine, thebig faker. Was he out diggingup a job for poor Joe Gillis?Hmph! He was hard at work in

Bel Air, making with the golfclubs.

Gillis hangs up with a curse, opens the door of thebooth, emerges, wiping the sweat from his forehead.He walks toward the exit. He is stopped by thevoice of

SKOLSKYHello, Gillis.

Gillis looks around. At the fountain sits Skolsky,drinking a cup of coffee.

GILLIS Hello, Mr. Skolsky.

SKOLSKYGot anything for the column?

GILLIS Sure. Just sold an original for

a hundred grand. The Life of theWarner Brothers. Starring the RitzBrothers. Playing opposite the

Andrew Sisters.

SKOLSKY(With a sour smile)

But don't get me wrong ‐‐ I loveHollywood.

Gillis walks out.

DISSOLVE TO:

A‐14 THE BEL AIR GOLF LINKS

On a sun‐dappled green edged with tall sycamores,stands Morino, the agent, a caddy and a nondescriptopponent in the background. Gillis has evidentlystated his problem already.

MORINO So you need three hundred dollars?

Of course, I could give you threehundred dollars. Only I'm notgoing to.


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GILLIS No?

MORINO Gillis, get this through your

head. I'm not just your agent.It's not the ten per cent. I'myour friend.

He sinks his putt and walks toward the next tee,

Gillis following him.

GILLIS How's that about your being my

friend?

MORINO Don't you know the finest things

in the world have been written onan empty stomach? Once a talentlike yours gets into that Mocambo‐Romanoff rut, you're through.

GILLIS Forget Romanoff's. It's the car

I'm talking about. If I lose mycar it's like having my legs out off.

MORINO Greatest thing that could happen

to you. Now you'll have to sitbehind that typewriter. Nowyou'll have to write.

GILLIS

What do you think I've been doing?I need three hundred dollars.

MORINO (Icily)

Maybe what you need is another agent.

He bends down to tee up his ball. Gillis turns away.

DISSOLVE TO:

A‐15 GILLIS IN HIS OPEN CAR

GILLIS' VOICEdriving down Sunset As I drove back towards towntowards Hollywood. He I took inventory of my pros‐drives slowly. His pects. They now added up tomind is working. exactly zero. Apparently I

just didn't have what it takes,and the time had come to wrapup the whole Hollywood dealand go home. Maybe if I hockedall my junk there'd be enoughfor a bus ticket back to Ohio,back to that thirty‐five‐dollar‐a‐week job behind the


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copy desk of the Dayton EveningPost, if it was still open.Back to the smirking delightof the whole office. All

Gillis stops his car at right you wise guys. why don'ta red light by the main you go out and take a crack atentrance to Bel Air. Hollywood? Maybe you thinkSuddenly his eyes fall you could ‐‐ Oh‐oh!on:

A‐16 ANOTHER CAR

It is a dark‐green Dodge business coupe, also waitingfor the light to change. but headed in the oppositedirection. In it are the two finance company men.They spot Gillis in his car and exchange looks. Fromacross the intersection Gillis recognizes them andpulls down the leather sunshade to screen his face.As the light changes. Gillis gives his car the gunand shoots away. The men narrowly avoid hittinganother car as they make a U‐turn into oncomingtraffic and start after him.

A‐17 THE CHASEto

A‐21 Very short, very sharp, told in FLASHES. (Uselocations on Sunset between Bel Air and Holmby Hills).The men lose Gillis around a bend, catch sight of himand then ‐‐ while they are trapped behind a slow‐moving truck. he disappears again.

A‐22 GILLIS

He is driving as fast as he dares, keeping an eye outfor pursuit in his rear‐view mirror. Suddenly hisright front tire blows out. Gillis clutches desperatelyat the steering wheel and manages to turn the careeningcar into

A‐23 A DRIVEWAY

It is overgrown with weeds and screened from the streetby bushes and trees. Gillis stops his car about thirtyfeet from the street and looks back.

GILLIS' VOICE

Was I far enough ahead?

A‐24 THE OTHER CAR

shoots past the driveway, still looking for Gillis.

A‐25 GILLISHe watches his pursuers GILLIS' VOICEshoot past and out of Yeah...sight. He opens thedoor and looks down at I had landed myself in thethe flat tire. Then he driveway of some big mansionlooks around to see that looked run‐down and


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where he is. deserted. At the end of thedrive was a lovely sight

A‐26 DRIVEWAY WITH GARAGE indeed ‐‐ a great big emptygarage, just standing there

An enormous, five‐car going to waste. If ever thereaffair. neglected and was a place to stash away aempty‐looking. limping car with a hot license

number...A‐27 GILLIS

He gets back into his There was another occupant incar and carefully pilots that garage: an enormousthe limping vehicle into foreign‐built automobile. Itone of the stalls. In must have burned up ten gallonsthe adjoining one is a to a mile. It had a 1932large, dust‐covered license. I figured that'sIsotta‐Fraschini propped when the owners moved out...up on blocks. He closes I also figured I couldn't gothe garage door and walks back to my apartment now thatup the driveway. In idle those bloodhounds were on tocuriosity he mounts a me. The idea was to get Artiestone staircase which Green's and stay there till Ileads to the garden. could make that bus for Ohio.CAMERA IN BACK OF HIM. Once back in Dayton I'd dropAt the top of the steps the credit boys a picturepost‐he sees the somber pile card telling them where toof pick up the jallopy.

NORMA DESMOND'S HOUSE GILLIS' VOICEIt is a grandiose ‐‐ It was a great big whiteItalianate structure, elephant of a place. The kindmottled by the years, crazy movie people built in thegloomy, forsaken, crazy Twenties. A neglectedlittle formal garden house gets an unhappy look.

completely gone to This one had it in spades. Itseed. was like that old woman in

Great Expectations ‐‐ that MissFrom somewhere above Haversham in her rotting wed‐comes ding dress and her torn veil,

taking it out on the world be‐cause she'd been given the go‐by.

A WOMAN'S VOICEYou there!

Gillls turns and looks.

A‐28 UPSTAIRS LOGGIA

Behind a bamboo blind there is a movement ofa dark figure.

WOMAN'S VOICEWlly are you so late? Why haveyou kept me waitlng so long?

A‐29 GILLIS

He stands flabbergasted. A new noise attracts his


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attention ‐‐ the creak of a heavy metal‐and‐glassdoor being opened. He turns and sees

A‐3O THE ENTRANCE DOOR OF THE HOUSE

Max von Mayerling stands there. He is sixty, andall in black, except for immaculate white cottongloves, shirt, high, stiff collar and a white bowtie. His coat is shiny black alpaca, his trousersledger‐atriped. He is semi‐paralyzed. The left

side of his mouth is pulled down, and he leans on arubber‐ferruled stick.

MAXIn here!

Gillis enters the shot.

GILLIS I just put my car in the garage.

I had a blow‐out. I thought ‐‐

MAXGo on in.

There is authority in the gesture of his white‐gloved hand as he motions Gillis inside.

GILLIS Look, maybe I'd better take my

car ‐‐

MAXWipe your feet!

Automatically, Gillis wipes his feet on an enormousshabby cocoanut mat.

MAXYou are not dressed properly.

GILLIS Dressed for what?

THE WOMAN'S VOICEMax! Have him come up, Max!

MAX(Gesturing)

Up the stairs!

GILLIS Suppose you listen just for a

minute ‐

MAXMadame is waiting.

GILLIS For me? Okay.


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Gillis enters.

A‐31 INT. NORMA DESMOND'S ENTRANCE HALL

It is grandiose and grim. The whole place is one ofthose abortions of silent‐picture days, with bowlingalleys in the cellar and a built‐in pipe organ, andbeams imported from Italy, with California termites

at work on them. Portieres are drawn before all thewindows, and only thin slits or sunlight find theirway in to fight the few electric bulbs which are alwaysburning.

Gillis starts up the curve of the black marblestaircase. It has a wrought‐iron rail and a wornvelvet rope along the wall.

MAX(From below)

If you need help with thecoffin call me.

The oddity of the situation has caught Gillis'imagination. He climbs the stairs with a kind ofmorbid fascination. At the top he stops, undecided,then turns to the right and is stopped by

WOMAN'S VOICEThis way!

Gillis swings around.

Norma Desmond stands down the corridor next to adoorway from which emerges a flickering light. Sheis a little woman. There is a curious style, agreat sense of high voltage about her. She is dress‐ed in black house pyjamas and black high‐heeledpumps. Around her throat there is a leopard‐pat‐terned scarf, and wound around her head a turban ofthe same material. Her skin is very pale, and sheis wearing dark glasses.

NORMAIn here. I put him on my massage

table in front of the fire. Healways liked fires and poking atthem with a stick.

Gillis enters the SHOT and she leads him into

A‐32 NORMA DESMOND'S BEDROOM

It is a huge, gloomy room hung in white brocade whichhas beconle dirty over the years and even slightlytorn in a few places. There's a great, unmade gildedbed in the shape of a swan, from which the gold had


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begun to peel. There is a disorder of clothes andnegligees and faded photographs of old‐time starsabout.

In an imitation baroque fireplace some logs are burn‐ing. On the massage table before it lies a smallform shrouded under a Spanish shawl. At each end ona baroque pedestal stands a three‐branched cande‐labrum, the candles lighted.

NORMAI've made up my mind we'll bury him inthe garden. Any city laws against that?

GILLIS I wouldn't know.

NORMAI don't care anyway. I want thecoffin to be white. And I wantit specially lined with satin.White, or deep pink.

She picks up the shawl to make up her mind about thecolor. From under the shawl flops down a dead arm.Gillis stares and recoils a little. It is like achild's arm, only black and hairy.

NORMAMaybe red. bright flaming red.Gay. Let's make it gay.

Gillis edges closer and glances down. Under theshawl he sees the sad, bearded face of a dead

chimpanzee. Norma drops back the shawl.

NORMAHow much will it be? I warn you ‐don't give me a fancy price justbecause I'm rich.

GILLIS Lady. you've got the wrong man.

For the first time. Norma really looks at himthrough her dark glasses.

GILLIS I had some trouble with my car.

Flat tire. I pulled into yourgarage till I could get a spare.I thought this was an empty house.

NORMAIt is not. Get out.

GILLIS I'm sorry, and I'm sorry you lost

your friend, and I don't think redis the right color.


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NORMAGet out.

GILLIS Sure. Wait a minute ‐‐ haven't

I seen you ‐‐ ?

NORMA

Or shall I call my servant?

GILLIS I know your face. You're Norma

Desmond. You used to be inpictures. You used to be big.

NORMAI am big. It's the picturesthat got small.

GILLIS I knew there was something

wrong with them.

NORMAThey're dead. They're finished.There was a time when this busi‐ness had the eyes of the wholewide world. But that wasn't goodenough. Oh, nol They wanted theears of the world, too. So theyopened their big mouths, and outcame talk, talk, talk...

GILLIS That's where the popcorn business

comes in. You buy yourself a bagand plug up your ears.

NORMALook at them in the front offices ‐‐the master minds! They took theidols and smashed them. TheFairbankses and the Chaplins andthe Gilberts and the Valentinos.And who have they got now? Somenobodies ‐‐ a lot of pale little

frogs croaking pish‐poshl

GILLIS Don't get sore at me. I'm not

an executive. I'm just a writer.

NORMAYou are! Writing words, words!You've made a rope of words andstrangled this businessl But thereis a microphone right there to catchthe last gurgles, and Technicolorto photograph the red, swollen tongue!


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GILLIS Ssh! You'll wake up that monkey.

NORMAGet out!

Gillis starts down the stairs.

GILLIS Next time I'll bring my autograph

album along, or maybe a hunk ofcement and ask for your footprints.

He is halfway down the staircase when he isstopped by

NORMAJust a minute, you!

GILLIS Yeah?

NORMAYou're a writer, you said.

GILLIS Why?

Norma starts down the stairs.

NORMAAre you or aren't you?

GILLIS I think that's what it says on my

driver's license.

NORMAAnd you have written pictures,haven't you?

GILLIS Sure have. The last one I

wrote was about cattle rustlers.Before they were through with it,

the whole thing played on atorpedo boat.

Norma has reached him at the bottom of the staircase.

NORMAI want to ask you something.Come in here.

She leads him into

A‐33 THE HUGE LIVING ROOM


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It is dark and damp and filled with black oak andred velvet furniture which looks like crappy propsfrom the Mark of Zorro set. Along the main wall,a gigantic fireplace has been freezing for years.On the gold piano is a galaxy of photographs ofNorma Desmond in her various roles. On one wallis a painting ‐‐ a California Gold Rush scene,Carthay Circle school. (We will learn later thatit hides a motion picture screen.)

One corner is filled with a large pipe organ, andas Norma and Gillis enter, there is a grizzlymoaning sound. Gillis looks around.

NORMAThe wind gets in that blastedpipe organ. I ought to haveit taken out.

GILLIS Or teach it a better tune.

Norma has led him to the card tables which standside by side near a window. They are piled highwith papers scrawled in a large, uncertain hand.

NORMAHow long is a movie script thesedays? I mean, how many pages?

GILLIS Depends on what it is ‐‐ a Donald

Duck or Joan or Arc.

NORMAThis is to be a very importantpicture. I have written itmyself. Took me years.

GILLIS (Looking at the piles

of script)Looks like enough for six impor‐tant pictures.

NORMAIt's the story or Salome. I

think I'll have DeMille direct it.

GILLIS Uh‐huh.

NORMAWe've made a lot of picturestogether.

GILLIS And you'll play Salome?


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NORMAWho else ?

GILLIS Only asking. I did't know

you were planning a comeback.

NORMAI hate that word. It is a return.A return to the millions of people

who have never forgiven me fordeserting the screen.

GILLIS Fair enough.

NORMASalome ‐‐ what a woman! What apart! The Princess in love witha Holy man. She dances the Danceof the Seven Veils. He rejectsher, so she demands his head on agolden tray, kissing his cold, deadlips.

GILLIS They'll love it in Pomona.

NORMA(Taking it straight)

They will love it every place.(She reaches for a

batch of pages fromthe heap)

Read it. Read the scene just

before she has him killed!

GILLIS Right now? Never let another

writer read your stuff. Hemay steal it.

NORMAI am not afraid. Read it!

NORMA (Cont'd)(Calling)

Max! Max!

(To Gillis)Sit down. Is there enough light?

GILLIS I've got twenty‐twenty vision.

Max has entered.

NORMABring something to drink.

MAXYes. Madame.


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He leaves. Norma turns to Gillis again.

NORMAI said sit down.

There is compulsion in her voice.

Gillis looks at her GILLIS' VOICEand starts slowly Well. I had no pressing

reading. engagement, and she'd men‐tioned something to drink..

Max comes in, wheeling Sometimes it's interestinga wicker tea wagon on to see just how bad badwhich are two bottles o writing can be. This prom‐f champagne and two ised to go the limit. Ired Venetian glasses, wondered what a handwritinga box of zwieback and expert would make of thata jar of caviar. Norma childish scrawl of hers.sits on her feet. deep Max wheeled in some champagnein a chair, a gold ring and some caviar. Later, Ion her forefinger with found out that Max was the

a clip which holds a only other person in thatcigarette. She gets up grim Sunset castle, and Iand forces on Gillis found out a few other thingsanother batch of script, about him... As for her, shegoes back to her chair. sat coiled up like a watch

spring, her cigaretteclamped in a curious holder...I could sense her eyes on mefrom behind those darkglasses, defying me not tolike what I read, or maybebegging me in her own proudway to like it. It meant

so much to her...

A‐34 SHOT OF THE GILLIS' VOICECEILING It sure was a cozy set‐up.

That bundle of raw nerves,andPAN DOWN to the moan‐ Max, and a dead monkey upstairing organ. PAN OVER and the wind wheezing throughTO THE ENTRANCE DOOR. that organ once in a while.Max opens it, and a Later on, just for comedysolemn‐faced man in relief, the real guy arrivedundertaker's clothes with a baby coffin. It was

brings in a small all done with great dignity.white coffin. (Thru He must have been a verythese shots the room important chimp. The greathas been growing grandson of King Kong, maybe.duskier.)

DISSOLVE TO:

A‐35 GILLIS It got to be eleven. I wasfeeling a little sick at my

reading. The lamp stomach, what with that sweetbeside him is now champagne and that tripe I'd


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really paying its been reading ‐‐ that sillyway in the dark room. hodgepodge of melodramaticA lot of the manu‐ plots. However, by then I'dscript pages are started concocting a littlepiled on the floor plot of my own...around his feet. Ahalf‐empty champagneglass stands on thearm of his chair.

THE CAMERA SLOWLY DRAWS BACK to include NormaDesmond sitting in the dusk, just as she was before.Gillis puts down a batch of script. There is alittle pause.

NORMA(Impatiently)

Well?

GILLISThis is fascinating.

NORMAOf course it is.

GILLISMaybe it's a little long andmaybe there are some repetitions...but you're not a professionalwriter.

NORMAI wrote that with my heart.

GILLIS

Sure you did. That's what makesit great. What it needs is alittle more dialogue.

NORMAWhat for? I can say anything Iwant with my eyes.

GILLIS It certainly could use a pair of

shears and a blue pencil.

NORMA

I will not have it butchered.

GILLIS Of course not. But it ought to

be organized. Just an editingjob. You can find somebody.

NORMAWho? I'd have to have somebodyI can trust. When were you born ‐‐I mean, what sign of the zodiac?

GILLIS


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I don't know.

NORMAWhat month?

GILLIS December twenty‐first.

NORMASagittarius. I like Sagittarians.

You can trust them.

GILLIS Thank you.

NORMAI want you to do this work.

GILLIS Me? I'm busy. Just finished

one script. I'm due on anotherassignment.

NORMAI don't care.

GILLIS You know, I'm pretty expensive.

I get five hundred a week.

NORMAI wouldn't worry about money.I'll make it worth your while.

GILLIS Maybe I'd better take the rest

of the script home and read it ‐

NORMAOh no. I couldn't let it outof my house. You'll have tofinish it here.

GILLIS It's getting kind of late ‐‐

NORMA

Are you married, Mr. ‐‐ ?

GILLIS The name is Gillis. I'm single.

NORMAWhere do you live?

GILLIS Hollywood. The Alto Nido Apart‐

ments.

NORMA


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There's something wrong withyour car, you said.

GILLIS There sure is.

NORMAYou can stay here.

GILLIS

I'll come early tomorrow.

Norma takes off her glasses.

NORMANonsense. There's room over thegarage. Max will take you there...Max!

THE CAMERA MOVES GILLIS' VOICETOWARD NORMA'S FACE, She sure could say a lot ofright up to her things with those pale eyes ofeyes. hers. They'd been her trade

mark. They'd made her the Num‐ber One Vamp of another era. Iremember a rather florid des‐cription in an old fan magazinewhich said: "Her eyes are liketwo moonlit waterholes, wherestrange animals come to drink."

DISSOLVE TO:

A‐36 SMALL STAIRCASE, LEAD‐ GILLIS'VOICE

ING TO ROOM OVER GARAGE I felt kind of pleased withthe way I'd handled the sit‐

Max, an electric light uation. I'd dropped the hook,bulb in his hand, is and she'd snapped at it. Nowleading Gillis up. my car would be safe downGillis carries a batch below, while I did a patch‐of the manuscript. up job on the script. And

there should be plenty ofmoney in it...

Max pushes open a door at the top of the stairs.

MAX

(Opening the door)I made your bed this afternoon.

GILLIS Thanks.

(On second thought)How did you know I was going tostay, this afternoon?

Max doesn't answer. He walks across to the bed,screws a bulb in the open socket above it. Thelight goes on, revealing:


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A‐37 A GABLED BEDROOM

There are dirty windows on two sides, and dingy wall‐paper on the cracked plaster walls. For furniturethere is a neatly made bed, a table and a few chairswhich might have been discarded from the main house.

MAXThis room has not been used fora long time.

GILLIS It will never make house Beautiful.

I guess it's O.K. for one night.

Max gives him an enigmatic look.

MAX(Pointing)

There is the bathroom. I put insoap and a toothbrush.

GILLIS Thanks.(He starts taking off

his coat)Say, she's quite a character,that Norma Desmond.

MAXShe was the greatest. You wouldn'tknow. You are too young. In oneweek she got seventeen thousand fanletters. Men would bribe her mani‐curist to get clippings from her

fingernails. There was a Maharajahwho came all the way from Hyderabadto get one of her stockings. Later,he strangled himself with it.

GILLIS I sure turned into an interesting

driveway.

MAXYou did, sir.

GILLIS' VOICEHe goes out. Gillis I pegged him as slightly

looks after him, hangs cuckoo, too. A stroke maybe.his coat over a chair, Come to think of it, thewalks over to the win‐ whole place seemed to havedow, pulls down the been stricken with a kind ofrickety Venetian blind. creeping paralysis, out ofAs he does so, he looks beat with the rest of thedown at: world, crumbling apart in

slow motion ...

A‐38 THE TENNIS COURT OF GILLIS' VOICETHE DESMOND HOUSE There was a tennis court, or(MOONLIGHT) rather the ghost of a tennis

court, with faded markings


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The cement surface is and sagging net ...cracked in many places,and weeds are growinghigh.

A‐39 GILLIS ‐ IN THE WINDOW

He looks away from the court to:

A‐40 THE DESMOND SWIMMINGPOOL

GILLIS' VOICEThere is no water in And of course she had a pool.it, and hunks of Who didn't then? Mabel Norm‐mosaic which lines its and and John Gilbert mustenormous basin are have swum in it ten thousandbroken away. midnights ago, and Vilma Banky

and Rod La Roque. It wasempty now....or was it?


He stares down, his stomach slowly turning.

A‐42 THE SWIMMING POOL

At the bottom of the basin a great rat is eating adecaying or,ange. From the inlet pipe crawl twoother rats, who join battle with the first rat overthe orange.

A‐43 GILLIS ‐IN THE WINDOW

He starts away, but some‐ GILLIS' VOICEthing attracts his atten‐ There was somethingtion. He turns back and else going on below:looks down again. the last rites for

that hairy old chimp,performed with the

A‐44 THE LAWN BELOW utmost seriousness ‐‐as if she were laying

Norma Desmond and Max are to rest an only child.

carrying the white coffin Was her life reallytowards a small grave as as empty as that?which has been dug in thedead turf. Norma carriesone of the candelabra, allof its candles flickeringin the wind. They reach

the grave and lower thecoffin into it. Then,Norma lighting his taskwith the candelabrum, Maxtakes a spade from theloose earth and starts


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filling in the grave.


He watches the scene be‐ GILLIS' VOICElow, then turns into the It was all very queer,room, goes to the door but queerer thingsto lock it. There is no were yet to come.key, and only a holewhere the lock has been

gouged out. Gillis movesa heavy overstuffed chairin front of the door, thenwalks towards the bed,throws himself on it,picking up some of themanuscript pages to read.

DISSOLVE

END OF SEQUENCE "A"

SEQUENCE "B"

DISSOLVE IN ON:

B‐1 LONG SHOT THE DESMONDHOUSE ‐ (MORNING)

The day is overcast. The SOUND: (Distant organhouse is shrouded in low music ‐ improvisationsfog. on an odd, mournful

theme ‐ not too loud,continuing throughout

B‐2 THE TENNIS COURT, blurred the scene.)

over with fog.

B‐3 THE EMPTY SWIMMING POOLIts dark outline even moremelancholy under the mistyblanket.

B‐4 THE ROOM OVER THE GARAGE

Muted daylight seeps GILLIS' VOICEthrough the blinds. Gillis That night I'd had a

lies on the bed, under a mixed‐up dream. In itshabby quilt. The manu‐ was an organ grinder.script is beside him, some I couldn't see hisof the pages scattered on face, but the organthe floor. He is just was all draped inopening his eyes. It takes black, and a chimp washim a moment to adjust him‐ dancing for pennies.self to the strange sur‐ When I opened my eyes,roundings. His eyes, wander‐ the music was stilling about the room. suddenly there... Where wasstop, startled. He lifts I?himself on one elbow and

stares at ‐


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B‐5 THE DOOR

The heavy chair he had set Oh yes, in that emptyagainst it the night before room over her garage.has been pushed back. The Only it wasn't emptydoor is wide ajar. any more. Somebody

had brought in all mybelongings ‐ my

B‐6 GILLIS books, my typewriter,my clothes...

He jumps out of bed. He wears, shirt, trousers

and socks. Suddenly herealizes that all hispossessions have GILLIS' VOICEbeen brought in. In What was going on?the closet hang hisshirts. His books andtypewriter are neatlyarranged on the table.

His phonograph‐radiocombination is allinstalled. Gillis looks

around startled, thensits down and startsputting on his moccasins

hastily.

DISSOLVE TO:

B‐7 A PAIR OF HANDS IN WHITE GLOVES, PLAYING THE ORGAN

PULL BACK: They belong to Max von Mayerling. Heis sitting erect, his bull neck taut as a wrestler'sas he rights out somber chord after somber chord.He sits in a shaft of gray light coming from an openFrench window.

Through the far archway, Gillis storms into the bigroom.

GILLIS Hey, you ‐‐ Max ‐‐ whatever ‐your‐

name‐is ‐‐ what are my things doinghere?

No answer.

GILLIS I'm talking to you. My clothes

and things are up in the room.

MAXNaturally. I brought them myself.

GILLIS (Furiously)

Is that so!


29/104



MAXWhy are you so upset? Is thereanything missing?

GILLIS Who said you could? Who asked you to?

Norma Desmond's shadow moves into the shaft oflight.

NORMA'S VOICEI did.

Gillis looks around.

On the couch by the fireplace reclines Norma Desmond,dressed in a negligee. She rises.

NORMA I don't know why you should be

so upset. Stop that playing,

Max. (To Gillis again)It seemed like a good idea ‐‐if we are to work together.

GILLISLook, I'm supposed to fix upyour script. There's nothingin the deal about my stayinghere.

NORMA You'll like it here.

GILLISThanks for the invitation, butI have my own apartment.

NORMA You can't work in an apartment

where you owe three months' rent.

GILLISI'll take care of that.

NORMA

It's all taken care of. It'sall paid for.

GILLISI'm used to paying my own bills.

NORMA You proud boy, why didn't you tell

me you were having difficulties.

GILLISOkay. We'll deduct it from mysalary.


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NORMANow, now, don't let's be smallabout such matters. We won'tkeep books.

(To Max)Go on, unpack Mr. Gillis' things.

GILLIS Unpack nothing. I didn't say

I was staying.

NORMA(Her glasses off again)

Suppose you make up your mind.Do you want this job or don't you?

DISSOLVE TO:

B‐8 BIG ROOM, NORMA DESMOND'SHOUSE ‐ (DAY) GILLIS' VOICE

Gillis sits at an impro‐ So I let him unpack myvised table, his typewriter things. I wanted thein front of him, working dough, and I wanted tohard at the manuscript. get out of there asPencils, shears and a quickly as possible.paste‐pot at hand. I thought if I really

got going I could tossFacing him at some dis‐ it off in a couple ortance sits Norma,dressed weeks. But it wasn'tin another version of her so simple, getting somefavorite lounging pajamas, coherence into that wild,the cigaette contraption scrambled melodrama

on her finger. She is she'd concocted. Whatautographing large photo‐ made it tougher was thatgraphs of herself and put‐ she was around all theting them in envelopes. time ‐‐ hovering over

me, afraid I'd do injuryto that precious brain‐child of hers.

Gillis takes two or three pages from Norma's hand‐written script, crosses them out and puts them toone side.

Norma rises, crosses towards Gillis, looks over his

shoulder.

NORMAWhat's that?

GILLIS Just a scene I cut out.

NORMAWhat scene?

GILLIS The one where you go to the slave


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market. You can cut right to thescene where John the Baptist ‐

NORMACut away from me?

GILLIS Honestly, it's a little old hat.

They don't want that any more.

NORMAThey don't? Then why do they stillwrite me fan letters every day.Why do they beg me for my photo‐graphs? Because they want to seeme, me, me! Norma Desmond.

GILLIS (Resigned)

Okay.

He pulls the page from his typewriter. As he does

so he glances over towards Norma. GILLIS' VOICEOn the table in front I didn't argue with her.of her are the photo‐ You don't yell at agraphs which she is sign‐ sleepwalker‐‐ he may falling. On the long table and break his neck.That'sin the living room is a it ‐‐ she was stillgallery of photographs sleepwalking along thein various frames ‐‐ all giddy heights of a lostNorma Desmond. On the career ‐‐plain crazypiano more photographs. when it came to that oneAbove the piano an oil subject: her celluloidportrait of her. On the self, the great Norma

highboy beside him still Desmond. How could Shemore photographs. breathe in that house,

so crowded with NormaDISSOLVE TO: Desmonds? More Norma

Desmond and still moreNorma Desmond.

B‐9 THE BIG ROOM ‐ (NIGHT)GILLIS' VOICE

Shooting towards the big It wasn't all work ‐ ofGold Rush painting. Max, course. Two or threewhite gloves and all, times a week Max wouldsteps into the shot, shoves haul up that enormous oilthe painting up towards painting that had been

the ceiling,revealing a presented to her by somemotion picture screen. Nevada Chamber of Com‐Max exits. merce, and we'd see a

movie,right in herliving room.

B‐1O NORMA AND GILLISGILLIS' VOICE

They sit on a couch,facing "So much nicer than goingthe screen. On a table in out," she'd say. Thefront of them are champagne, plain fact was that shecigarettes and coffee. was afraid of that worldAbove their heads are the outside. Afraid it


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typical openings for a pro‐ would remind her thatjector. The lights go off. time had passed.From the opening abovetheir heads shoots the widebeam of light.

B‐11 MAX, IN THE PROJECTION They were silent movies,BOOTH BEHIND THE ROOM and Max would run the

projection machine, which

The light of the machine was just as well ‐‐ itflickering over his face, kept him from giving uswhich is frozen, a somber an accompaniment onenigma. that wheezing organ.

B‐12 NORMA AND GILLISShe'd sit very close to

watching the screen. me, and she'd smell ofGillis looks down and sees tuberoses, which is notthat Norma's hand is clasp‐ my favorite perfume, noting his ann tight. He by a long shot. Sometinesdoesn't like it much but as we watched, she'd c

he can't do anything about lutch my arm or my handit. However. when she for forgetting she was mya second lets go his arm employer becoming just ato pick up a glass of fan, excited about thatchampagne, he gently with‐ actress up there on thedraws his arm, leans away screen....I guess I don'tfrom her and crosses his have to tell you who thearms to discourage any star was. They wereresumption of her approach. always her pictures ‐‐Norma puts the glass down that's all she wanteddoesn't find his arn, but to see.is not aware of any signifi‐cance in his maneuver. They

both watch the screen.

B‐13 THE OTHER END OF THE BIG ROOM. WITH THE SCREEN

On it flickers a famous scene from one of Norma's oldsilent pictures. It is not to be a funny scene. Itis old‐fashioned, but shows her incredible beautyand the screen presence which made her the great starof her day.

B‐14 NORMA AND GILLIS ON THE COUCH

NORMAStill wonderful, isn't it? Andno dialogue. We didn't needdialogue. We had faces. Therejust aren't any faces like thatany more. Well, maybe one ‐‐Garbo.

In a sudden flareup she jumps to her feet and standsin the flickering beam of light.

NORMAThose idiot producers! Those


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imbeciles! Haven't they got anyeyes? Have they forgotten whata star looks like? I'll show them.I'll be up there again. So help me!

DISSOLVE TO:

B‐15 THE BIG ROOM ‐ (NIGHT)

It is apparently empty. GILLIS' VOICEThe elaborate lamps Sometimes there'd be amake pools of light. little bridge game in the

house, at a twentieth‐of‐THE CAMERA PULLS BACK a cent a point. I'd getAND PANS to reveal a half her winnings. Oncecard table around they ran up to seventywhich sit Norma and cents, which was aboutthree friends ‐ three the only cash money Iactors of her period. ever got. The othersThey sit erect and play around the table wouldwith grim seriousness. be actor friends ‐ dim

figures you may stillBeside Norma sits remember from the silentGillis, kibitzing on a days. I used to think ofgame which bores him them as her Wax Works.extremely. An ashtrayon the card table isfull and Norma holdsit out for Gillis totake away. He crossesthe room to the fire‐place. but his eyesfall on the entrancedoor and he stops.

B‐16 THE ENTRANCE HALL ‐ (FROM GILLIS' POINT OF VIEW)

Max stands in the open door. Outside are the twomen who came to the apartment for Gillis' car.

B‐17 GILLIS

He steps back so that he cannot be seen from thedoor. A second later Max appears, looking for him.

MAX

(Quietly)Some men are here. They askedfor you.

GILLIS I'm not here.

MAXThat's what I told them.

GILLIS Good.


34/104



MAXThey found your car in thegarage. They are going to towit away.

Gillis doesn't know what to do. From offstagecomes:

NORMA'S VOICEThe ashtray, Joe dear! Can we

have the ashtray?

Gillis dumps the cigarette butts into the cold fire‐place, crosses to the bridge table, puts theashtray down, leans over and speaks into Norma's ear.

GILLIS I want to talk to you for a

minute.

NORMANot now, my dear. I'm playing

three no trump.

GILLIS They've come for my car.

NORMAPlease. Now I've forgotten howmany spades are out.

GILLIS I need some money right now.

NORMA

Can't you wait till I'm dummy?

3.22.49 GILLIS No.

NORMA(Angry by now)

Please!

Gillis stands frustrated, hideously embarrassedby the stares of the waxworks. He turns awayand hurries to the door.

B‐18 ENTRANCE DOOR TO THE HOUSE

It is half open. Gillis comes into the shotand, taking cover, looks out.

B‐19 COURTYARD (FROM GILLIS' ANGLE)

The men from the finance company are cranking upthe car. Max stands watching silently. When theyfinish the cranking job, the men climb into thefront seat of the truck.


35/104



B‐2O GILLIS ‐ AT THE DOOR

Over the shot the SOUND of the truck being startedand the cars moving away. Gillis moves out intothe courtyard and stands staring after the car.From the house comes Norma.

NORMA

Now what is it? Where's thefire?

GILLIS I've lost my car.

NORMAOh...and I thought it was amatter of life and death.

GILLIS It is to me. That's why I came

to this house. That's why I tookthis job ‐‐ ghost writing!

NORMANow you're being silly. We don'tneed two cars. We have a car. Andnot one of thuse cheap new thingsmade of chromium and spit. AnIsotta‐Fraschini. Have you everheard of Isotta‐Fraschinis? Allhand‐made. Cost me twenty‐eightthousand dollars.

THE CAMERA HAS PANNED over to the garage and FOCUSESon the dirty Isotta‐Fraschini on its blocks.

DISSOLVE TO:

B‐21 NORMA'S ISOTTA‐FRASCHINI DRIVING IN THE HILLS

ABOVE SUNSET (DAY)

Max is at the wheel, GILLIS' VOICEdressed as usual except So Max got that old busfor a chauffeurfs cap. down off its blocks and

polished it up. She'dtake me for rides in the

B‐22 INSIDE THE CAR hills above Sunset.

Gillis sits beside Norma, The whole thing was up‐who is wearing a smart holstered in leopardtailleur and her eternal skin, and had one ofsun glasses. Gillis those car phones, allwears his sport jacket‐ gold‐plated.flannel trousers‐moccasincombinatIon.

He sits uncomfortably. Norma is studying him.


36/104



NORMAThat's a dreadful shirt you'rewearing.

GILLIS What's wrong with It?

NORMANothing, if you work in a fill‐

ing station. And I'm gettingrather bored with that sportjacket, and those same baggypants.

(She picks upthe car phone)

Max, what's a good men's shopin town? The very best...Well, go there !

GILLIS I don't need any clothes, and

I certainly don't want you buy‐ing them for ‐‐

NORMAWhy begrudge me a little fun?I just want you to look nice,my stray little boy.

By this time Max has made a U‐turn.

QUICK DISSOLVE TO:

B‐23 INT. MEN'S DEPARTMENT, AN ELEGANT WILSHIRE STORE

Gillis stands in front of a full‐length triple mirror,surrounded by a couple of salesmen and the tailor, whois busily working out alterations.

Gillis wears a double‐breasted gray flannel coat withchalk stripes. His trousers belong to another suitof glen plaid. Norma is running the show.

NORMAThere's nothing like gray flannelwith a chalk stripe.

(she points atthe trousers)

This one single‐breasted, of course.(to another salesman)

Now we need a topcoat. Let's seewhat you have in camel's hair.

The salesman leaves.

NORMAHow about some evening clothes?

GILLIS


37/104


38/104



bowls set to catch it, big package of rain.one bowl right on the Over‐sized, like every‐bed. The room is almost thing else in California.emptied of Gillis' be‐longings by now. Max It came right throughis carrying out a hand‐ the old roof of my roomfull of new suits on above the garage. Shehangers. He has a had Max move me to thedressing gown over his main house. I didn'tshoulder. Gillis holds much like the idea ‐‐ the

a stack of shirts, his only time I could havetypewriter, and some to myself was in thatmanuscript. He surveys room ‐‐ but it was betterthe room for the last than sleeping in a rain‐time, to see whether coat and galoshes.he's forgotten any‐thing. He has. Heputs down the typewriter

and picks up from underthe bed a pair of verysmart red leather bedroomslippers. He tucks them

under his arm, picks upthe typewriter and leaves.

QUICK DISSOLVE TO:

C‐3 A BEDROOM IN TIiE MAIN HOUSE

It is obviously a man's room ‐‐ heavy Spanishfurniture ‐‐ one wall nothing but a closet withshelves and drawers for shirts and shoes. Max ishanging up the suits. Gillis throws the shirts ona big chair, tosses the slippers at the foot of the

bed, places the typewriter and manuscript on a deskat the window.

GILLIS Whose room was this?

MAXIt was the room of the husband.Or of the husbands, I should say.Madame has been married threetimes.

Slightly embarrassed, Gillis picks up his toilet

kit with razor, toothbrushes, soap, etc., and startstowards the bathroom, pausing en route at a rain‐splattered window.

GILLIS I guess this is the one you

can see Catalina from. Onlythis isn't the day.

He proceeds towards the half‐opened door leadingto the bathroom. Something strikes his attentionand he stops. As in the door to the room abovethe garage, this lock, too, has been gouged out.


39/104



GILLIS Hey, what's this with the

door? There isn't any lock.

MAXThere are no locks anywherein this house.

He points to the entrance door of the room, and to

another door.

GILLIS How come?

MAXThe doctor suggested it.

GILLIS What doctor?

MAX

Madame's doctor. She has momentsof melancholy. There have beensome suicide attempts.

GILLIS Uh‐huh?

MAXWe have to be very careful. Nosleeping pills, no razor blades.We shut off the gas in her bed‐room.

GILLIS Why? Her career? She got enough

out of it. She's not forgotten.She still gets those fan letters.

MAXI wouldn't look too closely at thepostmarks.

GILLIS You send them. Is that it, Max?

MAX

I'd better press your eveningclothes, sir. You have not for‐gotten Madame's New Year's party.

GILLIS No, I haven't. I suppose all

the waxworks are coming?

MAXI don't know, sir. Madame madethe arrangements.

Max leaves. Gillis comes out of the bathroom, picks


40/104



up his shirts, goes over to a closet, opens it. Ashe does so one of the doors without a lock swingsslightly open. Gillis looks through the half‐opendoor and sees.

C‐4 NORMA DESMOND'S ROOM

It is empty. The rainy GILLIS' VOICEday does nothing to There it was again ‐ that

help its gloom. room of hers, all satin andruffles, and that bed likea gilded rowboat. The per‐fect setting for a silentmovie queen. Poor devil,still waving proudly to aparade which had long sincepassed her by.

He pushes the door shutand walks back into theroom.

DISSOLVE TO:

C‐5 STAIRCASE OF DESMONDHOUSE (NIGHT)

Gillis is coming down the GILLIS' VOICEstairs in his tailcoat It was at her New Year'sadjusting the handkerchief party that I found outin his pocket. He obviously how she felt about me.feels a little uneasy in Maybe I'd been an idiotthis outfit. From below not to have sensed itcomes a tango of the Twen‐ was coming ‐ that sad,

ties. played by a small embarrassing revelation.orchestra. Gillis stops

in the archway leading tothe big room and looksaround.

C‐6 THE BIG ROOM has been deco‐rated for the occasion withlaurel garlands. Dozens ofcandles in all the sconcesand candelabra are ablaze.Their flickering flames arereflected in the waxed sur=

face of the tile floor.There is a buffet, withbuckets of champagne and

caviar on ice. In one corneron a little platform bankedwith palms. a four‐pieceorchestra is playing.

At the buffet are Max and Norma. She is drinkinga glass of champagne. She is wearing a diamonteevening dress. very high style. with long blackgloves and a headdress of paradise feathers. Hereyes fall on Gillis. She puts down the glass of


41/104



champagne. picks up a gardenia boutonniere andmoves toward him.

NORMAJoe, you look absolutelydivine. Turn around!

GILLIS (Embarrassed}

Please.

NORMACome on!

Gillis makes a slow 36O‐degree turn.

NORMAPerfect. Wonderful shoulders.And I love that line.

She indicates the V from his shoulders to his hips.

GILLIS All padding. Don't let it fool

you.

NORMACome here!

She puts the gardenia on his lapel.

GILLIS You know, to me dressing up

was always just putting on

my dark blue suit.

NORMAI don't like those studs they'vesent. I want you to have pearls.Nice big pearls.

GILLIS Now, I'm not going to wear ear‐

rings, I can tell you that.

NORMACute. Let's have some drinks.

She leads him over to the buffet.

GILLIS Shouldn't we wait for the others?

NORMA(Pointing at the floor)

Careful, it's slippery. Ihad it waxed.

They reach the buffet. Max is ready with twoglasses of champagne. Norma hands Gillis a glass.


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NORMAHere's to us.

They drink.

NORMAYou know, this floor used tobe wood but I had it changed.Valentino said there is nothing

like tiles for a tango.

She opens her arms.

GILLIS Not on the same floor with

Valentino!

NORMAJust follow me.

They start to tango. After a moment ‐‐

NORMADon't bend back like that.

GILLIS It's those feathers. They tickle.

Norma pulls the paradise feathers from her hairand tosses them away.

C‐7 THE ORCHESTRA

As they play the tango, the musicians eye the danc‐ing couple, take in the situation, exchange glancesand turn away with professional discretion.

C‐8 NORMA AND GILLIS, TANGOING

Gillis glances at his wrist watch.

GILLIS It's a quarter past ten. What

time are they supposed to gethere?

NORMAWho?

GILLIS The other guests?

NORMAThere are no other guests. Wedon't want to share this nightwith other people. This is for


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you and me.

GILLIS I understand some rich guy bought

up all the tickets for a perfor‐mance at the Metropolitan and satthere listening to La Traviata,all by himself. He was afraid ofcatching cold.

NORMAHold me tighter.

GILLIS Come midnight, how about blind‐

folding the orchestra and smash‐ing champagne glasses on Max'shead?

NORMAYou think this is all very funny.

GILLIS A little.

NORMAIs it funny that I'm in lovewith you?

GILLIS What's that?

NORMAI'm in love with you. Don't you

know that? I've been in lovewith you all along.

They dance on. Gillis is acutely embarrassed.THE CAMERA SLOWLY PULLS BACK, PANS past the facesof the musicians, who play on with a rather overe‐mphasized lack of interest. Finally it winds upon Max, behind the buffet. He stands watching Gillis,a faint trace of pity in his eyes.

DISSOLVE TO:

C‐9 NORMA'S FINGER, WITH THE CIGARETTE GADGET, as she GILLIS' VOICE

inserts a cigarette. I'm sure a lot of you willlaugh about this. Ridicu‐lous situation, wasn't it?‐‐ a woman almost twice myage ... It got to be abouta quarter of eleven. Ifelt caught, like a cig‐arette in the prongs ofthat contraption on herfinger.

PULL BACK TO:


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NORMA AND GILLIS sitting on a couch in front of thecavernous fireplace. Norma holds out her cigaretteto Gillis, who lights it.

NORMA. What a wonderful next year it's

going to be. What fun we're goingto have. I'II fill the pool for

you. Or I'll open my house inMalibu, and you can have the wholeocean. Or I'll buy you a boatand we'll sail to Hawaii.

GILLIS Stop it. You aren't going to buy

me anything more.

NORMADon't be silly.

(She reaches under a

pillow of the couchand brings out aleather box)

Here. I was going to give it toyou at midniglht.

Gillis opens the box. It contains a matched goldcigarette case and lighter.

NORMARead what's inside.

Gillis snaps open the case. Engraved inside the

cover is: TO JOE FROM NORMA, and two bars ofmusic.

GILLIS What are the notes?

NORMA"Mad about the boy."

GILLIS Norma, I can't take it. You've

bought me enough.

NORMAShut up. I'm rich. I'm richerthan all this new Hollywood trash.I've got a million dollars.

GILLIS Keep it.

NORMAI own three blocks downtown.I have oil in Bakersfield ‐‐pumping, pumping, pumping.What's it for but to buy us


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anything we want.

GILLIS Cut out that us business.

He rises.

NORMAWhat's the matter with you?

GILLIS What right do you have to take

me for granted?

NORMAWhat right? Do you want me totell you?

GILLIS Has it ever occurred that I may

have a life of my own? That theremay be some girl I'm crazy about?

NORMAWho? Some car hop, or a dressextra?

GILLIS Why not? What I'm trying to say

is that I'm all wrong for you.You want a Valentino ‐‐ somebodywith polo ponies ‐‐ a big shot ‐‐

NORMA(Getting up slowly)

What you're trying to say isthat you don't want me to loveyou. Is that it?

Gillis doesn't answer. Norma slaps his face andrushes from the room and upstairs.

Gillis stands paralyzed, the slap burning his cheek.

C‐1O THE TOP OF THE STAIRCASE AND CORRIDOR

Norma rushes up the last few steps, down the corridor

and into her bedroom, banging the door. MOVE THECAMERA toward the closed door, centering on thegouged‐out lock.

C‐11 GILLIS, IN THE BIG ROOM

He still stands motionless. He glances around fur‐tively, to see if his humiliation has been observed.

C‐12 THE ORCHESTRA


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The musicians are playing away. They have turnedtheir eyes away from Gillis rather too ostentatious‐ly for comfort.

C‐13 GILLIS

His eyes move over toward

C‐14 MAX

He is subtler than the musicians. He appears verybusy at the buffet, putting empty bottles and usedglasses on a tray. He walks across the room withthem.

C‐15 GILLIS

He starts slowly out. As he does so his long goldkey chain catches on a carved ornament of the sofa

and holds him for a second of additional embarrass‐ment. He yanks it loose and walks with as muchnonchalance as he can muster to

C‐16 THE HALL

Crossing towards the coat closet, Gillis throws alook upstairs. Then he pulls the Vicuna coat fromits hangar and slips into it as he crosses to theentrance door. He opens the door on the darknessof the courtyard.

C‐17 EXT. DESMOND HOUSE(NIGHT ‐ RAIN)

Gillis shuts the door. GILLIS'VOICEHe takes a few steps I didn't know where I wasforward, then stands going. I just had to getfor a while breathing out of there. I had to bedeep. The rain is with people my own age. Ibalm to that cheek had to hear somebody laughwhere the slap still a again. I thought of Artieburns. He walks for‐ Green. There was bound toward with a great be a New Year's shindig

sense of relief. going on in his apartmentdown on Las Palmas ‐‐ thehock shop set ‐‐ not a job

C‐18 DRIVEWAY LEADING TO in the room. but lots offun on the cuff.

Gillis walks to thestreet, which is darkand empty. He startsdown Sunset in anEasterly direction.A car passes. Hetries to thumb a


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ride, without success.However, the second

car, a florist'sdelivery wagon, stops.Gillis jumps in and thecar drives off.

DISSOLVE TO:

C‐19 ARTIE GREEN'S APARTMENT

It is the most modest one‐room affair, jam packedwith young people flowing over into the miniaturebathroom and the microscopic kitchenette. The onlydrink being served is punch from a pressed‐glassbowl ‐‐ but everybody is having a hell of a time.Most of the men are in slacks and sweaters, and onlya few of the girls in something that vaguely suggestsparty dress.

Abe Burroughs sits at a small, guest‐festooned piano

and sings Tokio Rose. By the door, a group of youngmen and girls respond to the song by sing1ng RinsoWhite or Dentyne Chewing Gum or something similar,in the manner of a Bach choral. Artie Green, a darkhaired, pleasant‐looking guy in his late twenties,is conducting with the ladle from the punch bowl.

The door behind some of the singers is pushed open,jostling them out of their places. In comes Gillis,his hair and face wet, the collar of his Vicuna coatturned up. Artie stops conducting, but the commer‐cial goes right on.

ARTIEWell, what do you know ! JoeGillis !

GILLIS Hi, Artie.

ARTIEWhere have you been keeping thatgorgeous face of yours?

GILLIS In a deep freeze.

ARTIEI almost reported you to the Bureauof Missing Persons.

(To the company)Fans, you all know Joe Gillis, thewell‐known screen writer, opiumsmuggler and Black Dahlia suspect.

Gillis greets some of the kids by name as he andArtie push their way into the room.

ARTIE


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Give me your coat.

GILLIS Let it ride for a while.

ARTIEYou're going to stay, aren't you?

GILLIS That was the general idea.

ARTIECome on.

Artie starts peeling the coat off Gillis. Itstexture takes his breath away.

ARTIEWhat is this ‐ mink?

He has taken the coat. He looks at Gillis standingthere in tails.

ARTIEJudas E. Priest, who did youborrow that from? AdolpheMenjou?

GILLIS Close, but no cigar.

Gillis stands embarrassed While Artie rolls up theVicuna coat and tucks it above the books on a book‐shelf.

ARTIESay, you're not really smugglingopium these days, are you?

GILLIS Where's the bar?

The two make their way toward the punch bowl. It'sa little like running the gauntlet for Gillis. Thereare whistles and 'stares of astonishlnent at his tails.When they reach the punch bowl, Artie picks up ahalf‐filled glass and fills it.

GILLIS Good party.

ARTIEThe greatest. They call me the ElsaMaxwell of the assistant directors.

(To some guests who aredipping their empty cupsinto the punch bowl)

Hey, easy on the punch bowl. Budgetonly calls for three drinks per extra.Fake the rest.


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GILLIS Listen, Artie, can I stick around

here for a while?

ARTIESure, this'll go on all night.

GILLIS I mean, could you put me up for

a couple of weeks?

ARTIEIt just so happens we have avacancy on the couch.

GILLIS I'll take it.

ARTIEI'll have the bell‐hop take careof your luggage.

He runs his finger across the decollete back of agirl standing in a group next them.

ARTIEJust register here.

The girl turns around. She is Betty Schaefer.

BETTYHello, Mr. Gillis.

ARTIE

You know each other?

Gillis looks at her a little puzzled.

BETTYLet me help you. Betty Schaeter,Sheldrake's office.

GILLIS Sure. Bases Loaded.

ARTIEWait a minute. This is the woman

I love. What's going on? Whowas loaded?

GILLIS Don't worry. She's just a fan

for my literary output.

BETTY(to Artie)

Hurt feelings department.

GILLIS About that luggage. Where's


50/104



the phone?

ARTIEOver by the Rainbow Room.

Gillis squeezes his way through groups of peopleto the telephone, which is next to an open doorleading to the bathroom. The phone is busy. Agirl sits listening to it, giggling wildly. Anothergirl beside her is laughing too. They are apparentlysharing a conversation with some man on the other endof the wire. The telephone passes from hand to hand.Gillis watches impatiently, then

GILLIS When youlre through with that

thing, can I have it?

The girl just nods, going on with her chattering.Gillis stands waiting, and Betty Schaefer comes upwith his glass.

BETTYYou forgot this.

GILLIS Thanks.

BETTYI've been hoping to run into you.

GILLIS What for? To recover that knife

you stuck in my back?

BETTYI felt a little guilty, so I gotout some of your old stories.

GILLIS Why, you sweet kid.

BETTYThere's one called....Window...something with a window.

GILLIS Dark Windows. How did you

like it?

BETTYI didn't.

GILLIS Thank you.

BETTYExcept for about six pages.You've got a flashback there ...

There is too much racket for her.


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BETTYIs there someplace we can talk?

GILLIS How about the Rainbow Room?

They squeeze their way towards the bathroom, pastArtie.

ARTIEI said you could have my couch.I didn't say you could have mygirl.

BETTYThis is shop talk.

She and Gillis go through the open door into

C‐20 ARTIE'S BATHROOM

It's a little less noisy, although there are someguests there, chatting and having fun. Betty andGillis sit down on the edge of the tub.

GILLIS Now if I got you correctly, there

was a short stretch of my fictionyou found worthy of notice.

BETTYThe flashback in the courtroom,when she tells about being a

school teacher.

GILLIS I had a teacher like that once.

BETTYMaybe that's why it's good.It's true, it's moving. Nowwhy don't you use that character...

GILLIS Who wants true? Who wants moving?

BETTYDrop that attitude. Here's some‐thing really worth while.

GILLIS Want me to start right now?

Maybe there's some paper around.

BETTYI'm serious. I've got a few ideas.

GILLIS I've got some ideas myself. One


52/104



of them being this is New Year'sEve. How about living it up alittle?

BETTYAs for instance?

GILLIS Well....

BETTYWe could make some paper boatsand have a regatta. Or shouldwe just turn on the shower?

GILLIS How about capturing the kitchen

and barricading the door?

BETTYAre you hungry?

GILLIS Hungry? After twelve years inthe Burmese jungle. I am starving,Lady Agatha ‐‐ starving for awhite shoulder ‐‐

BETTYPhillip, you're mad!

One of the girls who was on the phone comes tothe door.

GIRL

You can have the phone now.

GILLIS(Paying no attention)

Thirsting for the coolness ofyour lips ‐

BETTYNo, Phillip, no. We must bestrong. You're still wearingthe uniform of the ColdstreamGuards! Furthermore, you canhave the phone now.

GILLISO.K.

(He gets up, startsout, turns)

I find I'm terribly afraid oflosing you.

BETTYYou won't.

(She takes the glassout of his hand)

I'll get us a refill of


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this awful stuff.

GILLISYou'll be waiting for me?

BETTYWith a wildly beating heart.

GILLISLife can be beautiful!

He leaves.

C‐21 THE MAIN ROOM

Gillis squeezes himself through some guests tothe phone. He has to stand in a cramped position,holding the instrument close to him as he dialsa number.

GILLIS

Max? This is Mr. Gillis.I want you to do me a favor.

C‐22 NORMA DESMOND HOUSE

Max is at the phone, in the lower hall.

MAXI am sorry, Mr. Gillis.I cannot talk now.

C‐23 GILLIS ON THE PHONE

GILLIS Yes you can. I want you to get

my old suitcase and I want youto throw in my old clothes ‐‐the ones I came with, and mytypewriter. I'll have somebodypick them up.

C‐24 MAX AT THE PHONE

MAX

I have no time to talk. Thedoctor is here.

C‐25 GILLIS ON THE PHONE

GILLIS What doctor? What's going on?

C‐26 MAX AT THE PHONE

MAX


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She got the razor from yourroom. She cut her wrists.

Max hangs up, moves toward the staircase.

C‐27 GILLIS AT THE PHONE

GILLIS Max ! Max !

He hangs up the dead receiver, stands numb withshock. Betty elbows her way up to him, carryingthe two punch glasses filled again.

BETTYI just got the recipe: taketwo packages of cough drops,dissolve in one gallon oflukewarm grape juice ‐‐

Gillis looks up at her. Without a word he pushes

her aside so that she spills the drink. He makeshis way through the guests to the Vicuna coat, pullsit from the shelf, some books tumbling with it, andrushes towards the door and out. Betty stands look‐ing after him, completely bewildered.

DISSOLVE TO:

C‐28 EXT. DESMOND HOUSE ‐ (NIGHT, RAIN)

The doctor's car is parked in the driveway. A taxipulls up. Gillis, in his Vicuna coat now, jumps

out, throws a couple of dollars to the rdriver andruns toward the house.

C‐28a DOORWAY, NORMA DESMOND HOUSE>

Max is opening the door to let out the doctor, aprofessional looking man carrying a black bag.Gillis runs into the SHOT.

GILLIS How is she?

MAXShe is upstairs.

Gillis starts to push past Max. Max grabs his arm.

MAXBe careful. Do not race up thestairs. The musicians must notknow what has happened.

Gillis goes into the house.


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C‐29 ENRANCE HALL AND STAIRCASE

Gillis crosses the hall and starts up the stairs.

C‐3O INT. NORMA DESMOND'S ROOM

Only one alabaster lamp lights the big, cold room.On the bed lies Norma in her evening dress. She iswhite as a sheet. Her wrists are bandaged. Her eyesare wide open, staring at the ceiling. One of hershoes has halt slipped off her foot. The other ison. Gillis opens the door and stands there tor asecond. Then he slowly moves to the toot of the bed.He takes the shoes from her feet and puts them onthe floor.

NORMAGo away.

GILLIS What kind of a silly thing was

that to do?

NORMATo fall in love with you ‐‐ thatwas the idiotic thing.

GILLIS It sure would have made attractive

headlines: Great Star Kills Her‐self for Unknown Writer.

NORMAGreat stars have great pride.

She puts one bandaged forearm over her eyes, sobbing.Gillis walks slowly over to the mantelpiece, standsthere for awhile.

NORMAGo away. Go to that girl of yours.

GILLIS Look, I was making that up because

I thought the whole thing was amistake. I didn't want to hurt you.You've been good to me. You're the

only person in this stinking townthat has been good to me.

NORMAWhy don't you just say thank youand go, go, go ‐‐

GILLIS Not until you promise to act like

a sensible human being.

NORMAI'll do it again, I'll do it again,


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I'll do it again!

Gillis stands looking at her helplessly.

C‐31 LIVING ROOM, THE DESMOND HOUSE

The candles burned down, the orchestra playing tothe emptiness. The orchestra leader looks at hiswatch, rises, silences the orchestra, then starts

them in on Auld Lang Syne.

C‐32 INT. NORMA'S ROOM

Gillis still stands. Norma lies on the bed, armsover her eyes, sobbing.

GILLIS Happy New Year.

Norma continues to sob. Gillis goes to the bed,puts his arms on her shoulders and turns her around.

GILLIS Happy New Year.

Norma looks at him, tears in her eyes. Slowly sheenfolds him in her bandaged arms.

NORMAHappy New Year. darling.

She kisses him.

DISSOLVE

END OF SEQUENCE "C"

SEQUENCE "D"

DISSOLVE IN ON:

D‐1 INT. HALLWAY, NORMA GILLIS' VOICEDESMOND'S HOUSE (DAY) Around the middle of May

some incidents happenedThe telephone is heard which I think I should tellringing. Max comes from you about.living room to the phone,picks it up.

MAX


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Hello ... Yes?

D‐1a BETTY SCHAEFER, AT THE PHONE ON HER DESK IN THEREADERS' DEPARTMENT

BETTYIs this Crestview 5‐1733? ... I'msorry to bother you again, but I'veconfirmed the number. I must speakto Mr. Gillis.

D‐1b MAX, AT THE PHONE

MAXHe is not here.

D‐1c BETTY ON THE PHONE

BETTYWhere can I reach him? Maybesomebody else in the house could

tell me.

D‐1d MAX ON THE PHONE

MAXNobody here can give you anyinformation. You will pleasenot call again.

He hangs up. From off comes:

NORMA'S VOICEWho was it, Max? What is it?

D‐1e PATIO, NORMA'S HOUSE

It is a sunny day. The garden is in somewhat bettershape. The old house looks less unkept. The poolis filled. Norma sits on a wicker chaise longue, herface shielded by an enormous straw hat, her eyes bydark glasses. Gillis, in bathing trunks, is on arubber mattress in the pool. Max comes to theentrance door.

MAX

Nothing, Madame. Somebody Inqu‐iring about a stray dog. We musthave a number very similar to thepound.

He starts to turn back.

NORMAWait a minute. I want you to getout the car. You're going totake the script over to Paramountand deliver it to Mr. De Mille inperson.


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MAXYes, Madame.

He goes into the house.

GILLIS (climbing out

of the water)You're really going to send itto De Mille?

NORMAThis is the right day.

She indicates a typewritten letter she is holding.

NORMA (Cont'd)The chart from my astrologer.She read deMille's horoscope.She read mine.

GILLIS Did she read the script?

NORMADeMille is Leo. I'm Scorpio.Mars has been transmittingJupiter for weeks. Today isthe day of greatest conjuction.Now turn around. Let me dryyou.

She puts the towel around his sholders and startsdrying him.

GILLIS I hope you realize, Norma,

that scripts don't sell onastrologers' charts.

NORMAI'm not just selling the script.I'm se

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