Sunset Boulevard Page #8

NORMA:

(Impatiently)

Well?

GILLIS:

This is fascinating.

NORMA:

Of course it is.

GILLIS:

Maybe it's a little long and

maybe there are some repetitions...

but you're not a professional

writer.

NORMA:

I wrote that with my heart.

GILLIS:

Sure you did. That's what makes

it great. What it needs is a

little more dialogue.

NORMA:

What for? I can say anything I

want 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 editing

job. You can find somebody.

NORMA:

Who? I'd have to have somebody

I can trust. When were you born --

I mean, what sign of the zodiac?

GILLIS:

I don't know.

NORMA:

What month?

GILLIS:

December twenty-first.

NORMA:

Sagittarius. I like Sagittarians.

You can trust them.

GILLIS:

Thank you.

NORMA:

I want you to do this work.

GILLIS:

Me? I'm busy. Just finished

one script. I'm due on another

assignment.

NORMA:

I don't care.

GILLIS:

You know, I'm pretty expensive.

I get five hundred a week.

NORMA:

I 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 -

NORMA:

Oh no. I couldn't let it out

of my house. You'll have to

finish it here.

GILLIS:

It's getting kind of late --

NORMA:

Are you married, Mr. -- ?

GILLIS:

The name is Gillis. I'm single.

NORMA:

Where do you live?

GILLIS:

Hollywood. The Alto Nido Apart-

ments.

NORMA:

There's something wrong with

your car, you said.

GILLIS:

There sure is.

NORMA:

You can stay here.

GILLIS:

I'll come early tomorrow.

Norma takes off her glasses.

NORMA:

Nonsense. There's room over the

garage. Max will take you there...Max!

THE CAMERA MOVES GILLIS' VOICE

TOWARD NORMA'S FACE, She sure could say a lot of

right up to her things with those pale eyes of

eyes. hers. They'd been her trade

mark. They'd made her the Num-

ber One Vamp of another era. I

remember a rather florid des-

cription in an old fan magazine

which said:
"Her eyes are like

two moonlit waterholes, where

strange animals come to drink."

DISSOLVE TO:

A-36 SMALL STAIRCASE, LEAD- GILLIS'VOICE

ING TO ROOM OVER GARAGE I felt kind of pleased with

the 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. Now

leading Gillis up. my car would be safe down

Gillis carries a batch below, while I did a patch-

of the manuscript. up job on the script. And

there should be plenty of

money 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 to

stay, this afternoon?

Max doesn't answer. He walks across to the bed,

screws a bulb in the open socket above it. The

light goes on, revealing:

A-37 A GABLED BEDROOM

There are dirty windows on two sides, and dingy wall-

paper on the cracked plaster walls. For furniture

there is a neatly made bed, a table and a few chairs

which might have been discarded from the main house.

MAX:

This room has not been used for

a 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 in

soap and a toothbrush.

GILLIS:

Thanks.

(He starts taking off

his coat)

Say, she's quite a character,

that Norma Desmond.

MAX:

She was the greatest. You wouldn't

know. You are too young. In one

week she got seventeen thousand fan

letters. Men would bribe her mani-

curist to get clippings from her

fingernails. There was a Maharajah

who came all the way from Hyderabad

to get one of her stockings. Later,

he strangled himself with it.

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