As the movie opens, we see a man floating face down in the swimming pool of a luxurious mansion. The man, Joe Gillis, is a screenwriter who has been shot and is very much dead. He posthumously narrates the events of the last six months, the events that have lead to this tragic conclusion.

Our story begins at the Alto-Nido Apartments, where Joe is trying to write a screenplay. He is interrupted by two men, who are demanding a $300 payment on his car. He tells them he loaned the car to a friend. When the men leave, he retrieves his car and heads off to Paramount Pictures, to try and peddle a script he has written to Sheldrake, a producer.

He gets to Sheldrake's office, and Sheldrake asks his reader to bring him the material on Joe's script, Bases Loaded. The reader, Betty Schaefer, bursts into Sheldrake's office not knowing that Joe is in the room, and says that the script is no good. Embarassed upon meeting Joe under such circumstances, she apologizes. Joe is not amused by her attempt at a save. He tries to borrow money from Sheldrake, but he gets turned down.

His agent is on a golf course and is of no help either. While driving around, Joe runs into the two collectors from the car finance company. A chase ensues, and when Joe blows a tire, he pulls into an old mansion he thinks may be abandoned, and manages to give the collectors the slip.

While examining the house, a woman on the second floor shouts at him, asking him why he's so late. A bald-headed butler, Max, tells him to come in, and to proceed upstairs. Having nothing better to do, he's intrigued, and follows. It turns out that he was mistaken for the pet mortician the house's owner was waiting for, to bury her pet monkey. As he gets ready to leave, he recognizes the woman. She is silent film star Norma Desmond. He informs her that he is a writer.

Norma tells Joe that she has been writing a script, Salome, a return (not a comeback) role for her. She forces him to read the mess she's written - piles of paper on her desk. As night falls, Joe realizes that he may have stumbled upon a way to make a few bucks. He says that the hideous script is good, but could need some reworking. Norma offers him a job, and he accepts. As the hour is late, she insists that he sleep in a room over her garage. As he gets to the room, he watches as Norma and Max lay the chimp to rest.

View Page Stats