Sunset Boulevard: movie monologues to shadow
14 monologues from Sunset Boulevard. Original audio, one line at a time, with a pause to say it back.
- 1Full speech: hear it once
- 2Shadow: repeat each line
- 3Blind: listen, then reveal
- B215 lines
Yes, this is Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
Opening narrationSunset Boulevard · 1950It reveals the ending first and then rewinds, hooking the listener with a dead man's own voice. - B213 lines
I had landed myself in the driveway of some big mansion that looked run-down and deserted.
Narration on the mansionSunset Boulevard · 1950It moves from hiding a car to Dickens, then lands the image with one short line. - B210 lines
There was a time in this business when they had the eyes of the whole wide world.
Norma on the talkiesSunset Boulevard · 1950It builds from the golden age to smashed idols, then lands on pure contempt. - B25 lines
Well, I had no pressing engagement, except with those boys from the finance office.
Joe on bad writingSunset Boulevard · 1950It drifts from dodging creditors to savouring bad prose, funny and quietly sad. - B14 lines
I felt kind of pleased with the way I'd handled the situation.
Joe's voice-overSunset Boulevard · 1950Four calm voice-over lines turn a small conquest into money and a safe parking spot. - B25 lines
I wanted the dough, and I wanted to get out of there as quickly as I could.
The editing grindSunset Boulevard · 1950Five voice-over lines move from greed to suffocation, pricing the job he took. - B25 lines
She was still sleepwalking along the giddy heights of a lost career.
Portrait of a sleepwalkerSunset Boulevard · 1950Repetition and metaphor build a cold little poem about her self-absorption. - B27 lines
The last week in December, the rains came.
The rain moves him inSunset Boulevard · 1950Seven voice-over lines let the rain, not an argument, move him into the house. - B24 lines
What a wonderful next year it's going to be. What fun we'll have!
Norma's midnight promisesSunset Boulevard · 1950Four escalating promises show generosity curdling into panic. - B26 lines
I didn't know where I was going. I just had to get out of there.
Joe's escapeSunset Boulevard · 1950Six voice-over lines move from suffocation to noise, painting a whole room of hopeful failures. - B15 lines
Yes, I am. This is the day. Here's the chart from my astrologer.
Norma's astrology speechSunset Boulevard · 1950She stacks chart, signs and conjunction until superstition sounds like faith. - B15 lines
Whenever she suspected I was getting bored, she would put on a live show for me.
Joe on Norma's folliesSunset Boulevard · 1950A faded star's private show, recalled with fondness and a chill. - B14 lines
After that, an army of beauty experts invaded her house on Sunset Boulevard.
Joe on Norma's regimenSunset Boulevard · 1950A doomed beauty routine described like Olympic training, all the more painful for its seriousness. - B29 lines
It wasn't until I got back to that peculiar prison of mine that I started facing the facts.
Joe's voiceover on facing factsSunset Boulevard · 1950The voiceover alternates self-mockery and clear sight, so planning an escape becomes self-indictment.