2nd most-quoted character in Sunset Boulevard (1950): in 6 of its 17 quotes
Most scenes with: Betty Schaefer (3), Norma Desmond (2)
Joe Gillis You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.
I am big. It's the pictures that got small.
Note: bolded line is ranked #24 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.
Don't you sometimes hate yourself?
Joe Gillis Constantly.
Joe Gillis I didn't know you were planning a comeback.
I hate that word. It's a return, a return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen.
Joe Gillis May I say that you smell really special?
It must be my new shampoo.
Joe Gillis That's no shampoo. It's more like freshly-laundered linen handkerchiefs, like a brand new automobile.
Joe Gillis I've got some ideas myself. One of them being this is New Year's Eve. How about living it up a little?
As for instance?
Joe Gillis Well....
We could make some paper boats and have a regatta. Or we could turn on the shower full blast.
Joe Gillis How about capturing the kitchen and barricading the door?
Are you hungry?
Joe Gillis Hungry? After twelve years in the Burmese jungle. I am starving, Lady Agatha -- starving for a white shoulder --
Phillip, you're mad!
You can have the phone now.
Joe Gillis Thirsting for the coolness of your lips -
No, Phillip, no. We must be strong. You're still wearing the uniform of the Coldstream Guards! Furthermore, you can have the phone now.
Joe Gillis O.K. [He gets up, starts out, turns] Suddenly I find myself terribly afraid of losing you.
You won't. [She takes the glass out of his hand] I'll get us a refill of this horrible liquid.
Joe Gillis You'll be waiting for me?
With a wildly beating heart.
Joe Gillis Life can be beautiful! [He leaves.]
Joe Gillis Well, this is where you came in. Back at that pool again, the one I always wanted. It's dawn now, and they must have photographed me a thousand times. Then they got a couple of pruning hooks from the garden and fished me out, ever so gently. Funny how gentle people get with you once you're dead. They beached me like a harpooned baby whale and started to check the damage, just for the record. By this time, the whole joint was jumping - cops, reporters, neighbors, passersby, as much hoopdedoo as we get in Los Angeles when they open a supermarket. Even the newsreel guys came roaring in. Here was an item everybody could have some fun with, the heartless so-and-sos! What would they do to Norma? Even if she got away with it in court - crime of passion, temporary insanity - those headlines would kill her: 'Forgotten Star a Slayer,' 'Aging Actress,' 'Yesterday's Glamour Queen'...
