Character Analysis
Real Talk
Clever casting alert: Cecil B. DeMille was a storied, revered old director—in real life. Today, he's probably best known for his Ten Commandments movie with Charlton Heston as Moses. In Sunset, he plays himself; he's the former director of the admittedly fictitious Norma Desmond's movies, though he actually did direct major movies that starred the actress who plays Norma, Gloria Swanson. It's another detail that makes Sunset seem disturbingly close to life, and DeMille is in on the joke.
In Sunset, DeMille comes off as a sensitive, sympathetic guy. When Norma visits him, believing DeMille's going to make her awful Salomé screenplay into a movie, he tries to be kind, without necessarily egging on her delusion. Commenting on Norma's narcissism to an assistant, DeMille explains that she used to be witty and courageous and likeable, but "A dozen press agents working overtime can do terrible things to the human spirit." In other words, Norma's mind has been warped by her own public image—and nobody ever called her on it (himself included). Ultimately, however, DeMille can't do much more for Norma than tell her that he'll see what he can do—which Norma unfortunately interprets as a guaranteed movie deal, rather than the kiss-off it really is.
Here's the crazy part: This whole scene was filmed on the set of real movie DeMille was making at the time, Samson and Delilah, an example of the kind of massive Biblical epic for which he was known. Norma evidently was writing a script in this vein, too, since Salomé is a princess who, in the Bible, helps provoke the martyrdom of John the Baptist. What a fitting role for Norma, given the fact that she becomes a murderer by the time the movie ends.