Comedy without dialogue about warring neighbours.

A young screenwriter (William Holden) is going nowhere fast - pursued by repo-men after his car, he attempts to hide in a driveway off Sunset Boulevard. He finds himself in the strange realm of Nora Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Nora was once a great star of silent movies. Now she hides away in her mansion, with only the butler (Erich von Stroheim) for company, surrounded by and feeding off the remains of her glorious past. Our hero finds himself attached to this unusual household - a mixture of greed and pity keeps him coming back. Soon he is living a bizarre double life - trying to hold down a normal job and pursue a normal relationship while simultaneously living as a toy-boy and pandering to the desperate Nora's dreams of a comeback picture.

Sunset Boulevard is an absolute classic - it falls into the category of 'movies about Hollywood' and savagely exposes the booby-traps of fame and ambition. The irony is sometimes overly thick - Swanson was a silent movie star making a fantastic comeback playing an ageing star longing for a comeback, Stroheim was a famous director from the same period and the cast is full of silent-era cameos. The brilliance of the script and acting manages to wash away any idea that the film is too clever by half.

Sunset Boulevard won three Oscars, including the Best Screenplay award. It is one of the most referred to movies of all time (just below Citizen Kane) and deserves a look from anyone interested in the glory days of Hollywood, or indeed anyone who appreciates a fine film.