It is among the best and most tragic exit lines in film. And it also leads directly to the best conclusion (I feel) in movies in terms of proper cinematography: the clouding of the focus as Norma Desmond descends the staircase into her madness. Rarely does a film end so satisfactorily and perfectly.<br /><br />SUNSET BLVD. was not the first film to look at the uncertainties of cinematic success and fame. A STAR IS BORN had done so in the in 1937. It showed how as a star is nurtured by the system to great fame, another prominent star descends into oblivion and death. So why (if the story theme was not new) was SUNSET BLVD. such a tremendous hit and classic from it's first appearance in 1950? It boiled down to this: the personal poison of the great fame of the silent screen star Norma was not mirrored precisely in the fall of say Norman Main (although their two first names bear an uncanny resemblance). Norman had always had a drinking problem which he never controlled. Norma was not into that - she was always into a healthy physical lifestyle (except for smoking), but the effect of her publicity and the fan mail pushed her egomania to great heights. It made her so egocentric that she can only think of the people around her in her immediate cycle as the greatest representatives of all those millions of unseen fans - the wonderful people out there in the dark. They are there for her adoration only. Norman Main, in comparison, did find a measure of happiness in Vicki Lester, whom he discovered and helped to find her true potential. He was more selfless, to the point (as it turned out) of self-destruction. Not really like Norma Desmond. To her people are there to serve Gods and Goddesses called stars.<br /><br />One might also notice that Joe Gillis is not Vicki Lester. Joe and Vicki were both ambitious, but Joe really wasn't as interested in Norma (aside from giving him room, board, and a temporary job), as Vicki was in Norman. There was a mutual attraction there (Norman was not incredibly older than Vicki, as opposed to Norma's older age compared to Joe's). Joe also had his girlfriend/collaborator Betty Schaeffer. Vicki had no other lover on the outside - it was only Norman. That is why, when he commits suicide, Vicki goes into seclusion.<br /><br />There is a triangular figure in SUNSET BLVD. for Norma, in her butler Max Von Mayerling. He had been her first director and husband, and he is also (in his over-devotion to her) feeding her ego by writing hundreds of fan letters to her to keep her emotionally happy. It is a sign of her insanity that she never notices that the letters are written by the same hand. <br /><br />Wilder had used Eric Von Stroheim in FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO as Rommel, so he knew what it was like working with him. Supposedly when Von Stroheim was being directed by Billy Wilder he wanted to throw in various tics and sexual habits for Max (like his carefully washing Norma's underclothes) which Wilder managed to push aside. Von Stroheim's performance (one of his greatest) was not harmed by these cuts, although one wonders what his performance would have seemed like if they had been retained. But by reducing the neurotic behavior of Max (to just his pathetic need to be near Norma to support her) it keeps us concentrating on Norma's psychosis - where it should be.<br /><br />Norma is the driving force to the end, pulling the wires that manipulate Max, Joe, Betty, even (out of a sense of pity) Cecil B. DeMille and his production staff (example: the light man "Hogeye"). Even with the "waxwork" friends who crop up for cards, Norma seems to be in control (they all congregate to see her - the richest among them). Even with people who are supposedly independent (the funeral home people who cater to her burying her pet monkey; the salesman on commission who urges Joe to buy the vicuña coat) she manages to keep this control. She is the central sun/"Star" in this galaxy - and cannot brook any deviation. The rejection of the ungrateful Joe can only be appeased physically by his death, and emotionally by her mind clouding that failure and it's aftermath from her memory. From the start of the film, with all her egocentricity at work, only a psychic slap in the face was missing to complete the tragedy. Then she was finally ready for that close-up.