Kenneth MacGowan in “When the Talkies Came to Hollywood” claims that “Hollywood resisted sound for a number of good reasons besides general inertia”. He found that the adding of sound to film created a large number of problems most notably the need for screenwriters who could create dialogue. He also mentions that since the camera itself made noise, films had to be shot in a more simplistic way; Hollywood had not yet figured out silent gears. MacGowan states that many actors and actress of the silent era were unable to make the transition as they never had their voice trained and also tended to overact when sound allowed them to be more subtle; he notes that Hollywood turned to Broadway actors in the early days of talkies. He also mentions the trouble directors had in being able to coach an actor through dialogue. In Sunset Boulevard, two of the actors were famous during the silent era and ended up having trouble making the transition to sound; Gloria Swanson was a star before talkies and Erich Von Strohiem was a director.

            Perhaps the most brilliant casting job ever done for a film was the casting of Gloria Swanson as the silent film star Norma Desmond and Erich Von Strohiem as her butler/ex-husband/ex-director Max von Mayerling. Both actors are essentially playing themselves and that is what makes them so good. Once Hollywood transitioned to sound Gloria Swanson faded from the spotlight until Sunset Boulevard, when she finally made an impact as a sound actress. Also, Erich Von Strohiem went from a great director to a type-cast actor. Since each actor's real life mimics that of their characters they are able to connect with the parts and add to the satirical value of the film.