Their relationship slowly evolves. She clutches him when they watch her old movies in the living room, she buys him clothes for New Year’s Eve, and she moves him into the main house. Once there, he discovers the truth behind the illusions. There’s no locks or knobs on the doors because she previously attempted suicide. Her butler, Max (director Erich von Stroheim), secretly sends her fan mail. After Joe learns the New Year’s Eve party is just for the two of them and the extent of her feelings, he rejects her, causing her to storm out. Joe heads to his friend Artie’s (Jack Webb) party and meets Artie’s fiancée, Betty (Nancy Olson), a reader at Paramount who liked some of Joe’s material and thinks they can develop a salable script from it. While there, Joe decides to make a break from Norma, but gets pulled deeper into her life.
Norma gets a call from Paramount and even though a meeting with DeMille results in no guarantee, she begins a regimen to prepare for a return in front of the camera. This results in her retiring early for the evening, allowing Joe to slip out and meet up with Betty to work on the script, but they work on more than that. Norma soon discovers this and contacts Betty, forcing Joe’s hand that ends the love quadrangle. The story comes full circle, “back at the pool again. The one [Joe] always wanted.”
Sunset Boulevard is a compelling tragedy. Much like The Maltese Falcon statuette, the film also is about “the stuff that dreams are made of,” specifically love and Hollywood. Joe and Betty each want a taste of both, with Joe breaking a lot of rules to achieve his goal, which is a path that doesn’t end well for many characters. Norma provides a cautionary tale about how much the cost of getting want you and then losing it can be, although Joe finds out too late.
Sunset Boulevard excels on every level. The direction of Wilder; the Oscar-winning story and screenplay by Wilder, producer Charles Brackett, and D.M. Marshman, Jr.; the cinematography by John F. Seitz; the Oscar-winning musical score by Franz Waxman; and of course, the cast all deserve kudos. The film is also great for fans of old Hollywood because there’s a lot on inside baseball, like Norma’s friends being real silent film stars like Buster Keaton, or gossip columnist Hedda Hopper on scene to report on the murder.
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