What happens
Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, is turned down at Paramount and drives off in a car that is later repossessed. Hiding from creditors, he ends up in the decaying mansion on Sunset Boulevard, where Norma Desmond, a forgotten star of the silent era, lives with her loyal servant Max. Norma hires Joe to polish her screenplay for a comeback, offering him money and a place to stay. The story follows their growing and uneasy partnership, Norma's fixation on her former fame, and Joe's conflicted feelings toward her and toward Betty Schaefer, a young reader at the studio. Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Nancy Gates star in this Lux Radio Theatre production, broadcast on September 17, 1951.
Hollywood, including Paramount studios and a decaying mansion on Sunset Boulevard near the beach
Characters: Joe Gillis, Norma Desmond, Max, Betty Schaefer, Mr. Sheldrake
Listen for: Norma Desmond's dramatic reactions to Joe's rejection of her, and the tension in her house during the New Year's Eve party
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.