This acid-etched portrait of Tinseltown remains one of the darkest movies on movie-making. Broke screenwriter Joe Gillis (Holden) hides out in a seemingly deserted mansion. There he meets the property’s owner, faded screen star Norma Desmond (Swanson), who’s planning her comeback and wants Joe to help her with the self-penned script. Joe moves in, becoming a kept man and the object of Norma’s obsessive affection.
Sunset Boulevard
Directed by Billy Wilder