Question 1

True or false: Cecil B. DeMille played himself in the movie, using his actual directing style on set.

Accepted Answer

True. DeMille appeared as himself and even shot real scenes from 'Samson and Delilah' during the film. He was a silent-era legend, adding authenticity.

Question 2

True or false: Norma Desmond's pet chimpanzee was played by a trained orangutan from the San Diego Zoo.

Accepted Answer

False. The chimp was a real chimpanzee named 'Jiggs,' not an orangutan. He was a well-known animal actor, but the claim mixes up primate species.

Question 3

True or false: The mansion used for Norma Desmond's house was also the setting for a famous horror film.

Accepted Answer

False. The mansion at 641 S. Irving Blvd was demolished in 1957, three years before Psycho's release, and the Bates house in Psycho was a purpose-built set on the Universal backlot, not a real mansion.

Question 4

True or false: Gloria Swanson actually owned the vintage car she drives in the film.

Accepted Answer

False. The 1929 Isotta Fraschini was rented from a collector. Swanson did not own it, though she famously kept costumes and props from her silent film era.

Question 5

True or false: In Sunset Boulevard, the famous line 'I am big! It's the pictures that got small' was improvised by Gloria Swanson.

Accepted Answer

False. The line was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and D.M. Marshman Jr.; Swanson did not improvise it.

Question 6

True or false: Sunset Boulevard was a huge box office hit upon its 1950 release, breaking records.

Accepted Answer

False. Sunset Boulevard was a commercial success, earning $5 million on a $1.75 million budget, but it did not break records or become a huge blockbuster upon release.

Question 7

True or false: Erich von Stroheim, who plays Max, had actually directed Gloria Swanson in a silent film decades earlier.

Accepted Answer

True. Von Stroheim directed Swanson in the 1928 flop 'Queen Kelly.' Their real-life history mirrored the film's fiction—he was once a major director now reduced to bit parts.

Question 8

True or false: Billy Wilder originally wanted Mae West to play Norma Desmond, but Mae West refused.

Accepted Answer

True. West turned down the role because she thought the script made fun of aging stars. Gloria Swanson, then 50, took the part and earned an Oscar nomination.

Sunset Boulevard Trivia Questions