Charles Brackett (1892–1969)

The casting of Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim who both had careers in silent movies, invests the events depicted with a great deal of realism as do the cameos in which Cecil B DeMille, Hedda Hopper, Buster Keaton and others are featured. Shots of Paramount studios and Schwab's Drugstore and the inclusion of an excerpt from "Queen Kelly" (1929) in which Swanson starred and von Stroheim directed also blur the lines between fiction and reality and add greater authenticity to the whole production.… (plus d'informations)

This is a screenplay, so I almost put it back. I don't even like reading plays. But I brought it back from my Library bag, and gave it a shot. I'm glad I did.

You know how when you're young and beautiful, and you're used to everybody falling in love with you, and you're always getting attention? This goes on for a long time, so you come to take it for granted. And then, when you're in your 50s, one day you realize that you're not getting that attention anymore, and you have to learn how to be the person that gives yourself all that love and attention that other people used to give you. Now, picture what that's like for a movie star. A very successful, glamorous, rich movie star who is used to fans worshipping her. About a thousand times worse, I guess. Meet Norma Desmond, ex-Hollywood legend, now 50 years old and unable to accept it. She can't, so she lives in a fantasy world into which tumbles young Joe Gillis.… (plus d'informations)