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Sunset Boulevard · 1950 — 第 3 / 19 章 · 2'53" · B2

Joe Is Mistaken for the Undertaker, Explained：a white elephant

Joe hides his car in the garage of a deserted mansion and is immediately mistaken for someone expected. The butler, Max, keeps escorting him upstairs while the unseen mistress of the house complains that he is late and badly dressed. The payoff is the final line, 'If you need any help with the coffin, call me.'

あらすじ

Fleeing debtors, Joe Gillis parks his car in an empty garage on Sunset Boulevard and slips into a run-down mansion. Inside, a servant named Max leads him upstairs, where an unseen woman scolds him for being late and for how he is dressed. Only at the end does the misunderstanding land: he is taken for the undertaker.

Goodbyes & funeralsExplainingConfrontingStrangersB2mediumamericanClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

run-down and desertedstash something awaya white elephanthad it in spades

00:00 / 02:53
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  1. ❝ 独白Narration on the mansion13 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

a white elephant

a costly useless thing

Joe labels the mansion a white elephant: grand, expensive and useless to keep.

The stadium became a white elephant the city could not afford.

このシーンの他の表現

  • run-down and deserted

    shabby and abandoned

  • stash something away

    hide something away

  • had it in spades

    have it to the maximum

  • given the go-by

    be dropped or snubbed

  • had a blowout

    suffer a burst tyre

このシーンのメモ一覧

31 行のセリフに 20 件のメモ

表現 · B2run-down and deserted

shabby and abandoned

Joe sizes up the mansion at a glance: shabby, empty, and long past its prime.

I had landed myself in the driveway of some big mansion that looked run-down and deserted.
文法 · B2mansion that looked

relative clause: The relative clause that looked run-down and deserted describes exactly which mansion Joe means.

I had landed myself in the driveway of some big mansion that looked run-down and deserted.
発音landed myself in

The d in landed often drops, so landed myself runs together.

I had landed myself in the driveway of some big mansion that looked run-down and deserted.
表現 · B1stash something away

hide something away

Joe needs somewhere to stash a wanted car, and the phrase makes hiding it sound routine.

If ever there was a place to stash away a limping car with a hot license number.
表現 · B1burn up something

consume by burning

It must have burned up ten gallons to a mile.
文法 · B2now that those bloodhounds

reason clause: Now that introduces the reason he cannot go home: the pursuers are already onto him.

And I also figured I couldn't go back to my apartment now that those bloodhounds were onto me.
スラング · B2bloodhounds

relentless pursuers — A resentful metaphor for creditors or police closing in.

And I also figured I couldn't go back to my apartment now that those bloodhounds were onto me.
表現 · B1make a bus or train

catch that bus

The idea was to get to Artie Green's and stay there until I could make that bus for Ohio.
文法 · B1until I could make

time clause: The until clause marks how long he plans to hide: right up to the bus for Ohio.

The idea was to get to Artie Green's and stay there until I could make that bus for Ohio.
スラング · B2jalopy

an old beat-up car — Old-fashioned slang for a battered car; mildly self-mocking.

Once back in Dayton, I'd drop the credit boys a picture postcard, telling them where to pick up the jalopy.
表現 · C1a white elephant

a costly useless thing

Joe labels the mansion a white elephant: grand, expensive and useless to keep.

It was a great big white elephant of a place.
表現 · C1have it in spades

have it to the maximum

Joe says neglected houses look unhappy, then adds that this one had it in spades, to the extreme.

This one had it in spades.
表現 · C1be given the go-by

be dropped or snubbed

Joe compares the mansion to Miss Havisham, abandoned at the altar and left to rot.

taking it out on the world because she'd been given the go-by.
表現 · B1have a blowout

suffer a burst tyre

Joe explains his intrusion by saying he had a blowout and only pulled in for shelter.

I just put my car in the garage. I had a blowout. I thought maybe...
発音had a blowout

Link had and a so it sounds like had-a-blowout.

I just put my car in the garage. I had a blowout. I thought maybe...
表現 · B1get something off

move it away

Look, maybe I'd better take my car and get it off...
表現 · B2be properly dressed for the occasion

suitably dressed

You're not properly dressed for the occasion.
発音dressed for the

For the is reduced to a light fer-the in connected speech.

You're not properly dressed for the occasion.
表現 · A2come up (to a place)

come upstairs

- What's the occasion? - Have him come up, Max.
表現 · A2help someone with something

assist with

If you need any help with the coffin, call me.

「Joe Is Mistaken for the Undertaker」を読み解く

What's really going on

The scene works by keeping the viewer in Joe's shoes: he does not know what is happening either, and the joke is that no one explains. He assumes the mansion is empty — 'a great big white elephant of a place' — and Max keeps issuing orders instead of answers, as if Joe's presence were expected: 'Wipe your feet,' 'Up the stairs.' The woman off-screen treats him as a hireling who is late, telling him, 'You're not properly dressed for the occasion.' Joe keeps trying to say he only came to move his car, and no one listens. The undertaker line finally names the misunderstanding for the audience while leaving Joe exactly as confused as before, which is what makes the comedy so dry.

Theme

LonelinessThe run-down mansion and its unseen mistress set up a world of neglect and decay that swallows Joe before he understands it.
DeceptionA simple car breakdown becomes assumed identity: Joe stays silent while everyone mistakes him for the undertaker.

このチャプターで学べること

  • A white elephant is grand, pricey and useless.
  • Joe's narration turns a chore into a Dickens scene.
  • The butler's orders are shorter than his patience.
  • Mistaken identity does the comedy here.

発音のポイント

  • landed myself in — The d in landed often drops, so landed myself runs together.
  • had a blowout — Link had and a so it sounds like had-a-blowout.
  • dressed for the — For the is reduced to a light fer-the in connected speech.
I had landed myself in the driveway of some big mansion that looked run-down and deserted.

Joe's opening description of where he ends up: a grand house that has gone to seed, the perfect hiding place for a man on the run.

If ever there was a place to stash away a limping car with a hot license number.

His practical reason for staying: a broken-down car with a hot license plate needs somewhere no one will look.

It was a great big white elephant of a place.

His verdict on the mansion: huge, costly, and useless — the phrase that sets up the film's theme of faded grandeur.

A neglected house gets an unhappy look.

A line of narration that turns the house into a character: neglect shows on a building the way it shows on a face.

You're not properly dressed for the occasion.

The first sign Joe is in the wrong story: the woman upstairs is judging how he is dressed for an occasion he knows nothing about.

If you need any help with the coffin, call me.

The punchline that reveals the misunderstanding: Max assumes Joe has come to handle a coffin, not a car.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Joe hide his car at the mansion?

Debt collectors are after him and his car has a license plate that can be traced, so he needs somewhere to leave it. The empty garage on the deserted estate looks like the perfect spot.

Who mistakes Joe for the undertaker?

Max, the butler, and the lady of the house assume he is the man they are expecting, which is why Max keeps directing him upstairs.

Why does the woman say Joe is not dressed for the occasion?

She thinks he has arrived to handle a funeral, so his ordinary clothes look wrong to her. The line is ironic because the audience does not yet know the occasion either.

What does 'a white elephant' mean here?

It means a costly, useless burden. Joe uses it to describe the huge mansion that its owners no longer maintain or use.

What is Joe actually trying to do at the mansion?

He only wants to stash his car and leave for Ohio. He keeps trying to explain, but nobody listens to him.

サンセット大通り · 全 19 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 4 章It's the pictures that got smallNorma Desmond: The Pictures Got Small
第 1 章there's gonna be fireworksThe Repo Men Come for the Car第 2 章over a barrelJoe Pitches Bases Loaded at Paramount再生中 · 第 3 章a white elephantJoe Is Mistaken for the Undertaker第 4 章It's the pictures that got smallNorma Desmond: The Pictures Got Small第 5 章a pressing engagementNorma Makes Joe Read Salome第 6 章make it worth your whileNorma Hires Joe to Fix Her Script第 7 章not by a long shotNorma Moves Joe Into Her Mansion第 8 章a matter of life and deathNorma Buys Joe New Clothes第 9 章take me for grantedNorma's New Year's Eve Confession第 10 章close, but no cigarJoe Meets Betty at Artie's Party第 11 章sell on somethingNorma Sends Her Script to DeMille第 12 章write on specBetty Asks Joe to Write With Her第 13 章give someone the brushNorma Desmond Returns to Paramount第 14 章nothing would please me moreNorma Desmond's Comeback Falls Apart第 15 章sell like hotcakesJoe and Betty Write the Script Together第 16 章come cleanBetty Tells Joe the Nose Story第 17 章wipe outBetty Confesses She Loves Joe第 18 章a good dealJoe Shows Betty Norma's Mansion第 19 章have the heart toJoe Tells Norma He's Leaving
第 3 / 19 章 · 残り約 54 分