Sunset Boulevard Quotes

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Source: Sunset Boulevard

Speaker: Norma Desmond

"We didn't need dialogue. We had faces."

Still wonderful, isn't it? And no dialogue. We didn't need dialogue. We had faces. There just aren't any faces like that anymore. Maybe one—Garbo. Oh, those idiot producers. Those imbeciles. Haven't they got any eyes? Have they forgotten what a star looks like? I'll show them! I'll be up there again, so help me!

Context

This line is spoken by Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson, in the film Sunset Blvd., directed by Billy Wilder (1950).

So Joe Gillis has moved in with long-forgotten silent movie star Norma Desmond to help her with her new screenplay. And, occasionally, she engages in some weird behavior.

For example, a few times each week, the folks in the household gather together to watch a movie. But it's always one of Norma's old silent movies.

During one scene, Norma goes on and on about how amazing she is in the movie they're watching. She's beautiful. She's talented. She doesn't need to say any lines. Her expressions say it all. No actress out there today is like her. And she's gonna show the world how wrong they were to forget her. Just you wait.

Oh, man, this does not look good.

Where you've heard it

In a movie filled with quotable lines, this is maybe one of the less quoted ones. But you might have heard it when someone was referring to their own personal glory days. Back then, everything was amazing. Not like this garbage we've got now.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

You can't get much more haughty and self-aggrandizing then when you're channeling Norma Desmond.