In Chapter 18 of his Play-Making, Archer notes the difficulty of properly executing the final act of a play, especially the falling of the curtain. The timing of the curtain fall is crucial, and “a playwright should never let his audience expect the fall of a curtain at a given point, and then balk their expectancy…”(34). Black and Hampton made the wise decision to retain the film Sunset Blvd. ending for the stage, as both provide an ideal curtain moment. The climax of the play occurs in scene 18, when all the main characters collide and their agendas become known, specifically Joe Gillis revealing the truth to Norma Desmond about her forgotten stardom and preparing to leave her. The tension escalates until Norma, proudly proclaiming “I’m the greatest star of them all” (164), shoots Gillis dead. While this effectively ends the climactic moment, it would be unsatisfying to have the curtain fall after the last gunshot rings out. Archer would surely agree that audiences would not “feel the moment to be rightly chosen ”(34), as there would be too much curiosity as to what happened to Norma immediately following the aftermath.
The following scene, though short, provides a strong conclusion. Norma has surrendered completely to her delusions and, believing she is in the studio making her cinematic return, declares: “And now, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up” (165), completely oblivious that the police are there to take her away. It is at this precise moment where Norma’s delusions prepare to collide with reality, and to witness the actual collision would be inappropriate. Audiences do not need to see what becomes of Norma after leaving the mansion. Archer would surely commend Black and Hampton for not letting it “drag on when the audience feels in its heart that it is really over, and that ‘the rest is silence’ – or ought to be.” (34). Norma’s ultimate fate should indeed remain silent, and it thankfully does so. Film historian Sam Staggs concludes that Norma “came from the country of movie stars, a city-state outside the geography of our understanding. And that’s where she returned in the end.” (Close-up on Sunset Boulevard, 362). The final scene shows just enough to reveal what happened to her mind; her final destination is best left as an enigma.
With the exception of her descent into madness, Norma is a largely consistent character. Her primary desire to film her Salome script does not falter, nor does her fragile emotional state. Joe Gillis, however, does undergo conversions of both will and sentiment. When he first meets Norma, his main volition is to earn some desperately needed cash to make his car payments, lamenting that “if I lose that in this town, it’s like having my legs cut off” (141). Even though he knew her script was a lost cause from the start, his desperation motivated his decision. Not until the end of act 1 does he undergo a change in sentiment in his feelings for Norma, returning to her after their New Years party confrontation to console her and succumbing to her desires. Even though he knew her script was hopeless, he was able to admit honestly that “You’ve been good to me. You’re the only person in this stinking town that’s ever been good to me” (155), before passionately kissing her. Director Susan Shulman, who helmed the 2nd U.S. Tour of Sunset Boulevard, felt it crucial to fully express “that Joe [falls] in love with Norma, even if it’s for the briefest period of time” (Staggs, 361). Since Archer felt strongly that changes in sentiment “should not merely be asserted, but proved” (35), the kiss Joe gives Norma serves as concrete proof of his present feelings.
These conversions, though important to the plot, are only fleeting. The strongest conversion Joe makes is at the end of the play. He has fallen in love with Betty Schaeffer by this point, a love far more honest and less shameful than his relationship with Norma. Archer’s disappointment that changes in volition “are not always adequately motivated” (35) would assuredly not carry over into Sunset Boulevard. Joe Gillis’s decision to free Betty Schaeffer and leave Norma is the culmination of the character’s journey; his shame at selling out and aiding Norma’s dementia becomes too great to handle, and he fully admits his regret in his final speeches to both Betty and Norma. His change of will also incorporates a change in sentiment; his love for Norma was merely temporary. Like her impossible screenplay, their love was a delusional hope from the start, a love that ultimately proved fatal to Gillis and maddening to Norma.
William Archer would probably find Sunset Boulevard to be satisfying on many levels. The writers did not merely copy the film, but reworked it “to meet the demands of music and the stage” (Staggs, 321), structuring it with theatrical guidelines Archer himself believed in. Though the play may not feature an original story, its plot and characters reflect the complexity of classic dramas that preceded it. Most importantly to Archer’s guidelines, it presents characters that develop appropriately and culminates in an emotionally satisfying final curtain.
Works Cited:
Archer, William. Play-Making: A Manual of Craftsmanship - Dramaturgy Handbook. PP. 32-36
Perry, George. Sunset Boulevard: From Movie to Musical. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1993. Print.
Staggs, Sam. Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond and the Dark Hollywood Dream. New York: St. Martin's, 2002. Print.
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