11. Sunset Boulevard
The Film: At the turn of the decade, director Billy Wilder unleashed the definitive Hollywood satire on viewers. Told from the perspective of dead screenwriter, Joe Gillis, as he plays narrator of the piece recounting his fate to viewers; the film sees Gillis hole up with reclusive silent film star, Norma Desmond (played by silent era queen Gloria Swanson), as he becomes drawn in to her frazzled world. No film that came before it cast such a crooked eye on Tinseltown, and thanks to John F. Seitz's musty cinematography the film glided successfully under the guise of a noir, allowing plenty of inside quips and nods look out for the likes of Buster Keaton and Cecil B. DeMille in sly cameos - to sink into the viewers consciousness. A dark classic.
Classic Moment: The finale is rapturous, but the films opening glimpse of William Holdens Gillis, floating in a pool shot from the bottom, remains a composition that deserves applause.