Character Analysis
Artie (Jack Webb) is a good guy, really. But he's not exactly a mover and a shaker.
He's Betty's boyfriend and one of Gillis's close friends, and he seems like a happy enough dude. But he probably senses that Gillis and Betty have a lot of chemistry from the first moment they meet, and that's an awkward place to be. Betty pursues Gillis with help and suggestions about his screenplay, and all the while shows less and less interest in her actual boyfriend. For instance, when Artie chimes in, "Could you write in plenty of background action, so they'll need an extra assistant director?" Betty replies, "Shut up, Artie," before turning back to Gillis. Oof.
Aside from acting as a waning love interest for Betty, Artie provides the occasional joke—like, musing whether Joe Gillis has been smuggling opium, which would explain the fine clothes he's been wearing. Ironically enough, Artie might actually be the one who "gets the girl" in the end. After Artie proposes marriage to Betty, she wants to run away with Joe, but Joe shoots her down, explaining that he's actually a gigolo to Norma Desmond, which is just about the worst thing you can hear from a guy you're in love with. He tells Betty to go marry Artie and have a nice, virtuous life—which, hey, might be a possibility. Artie's one of the good ones.