1950' "Sunset Boulevard" was directed by Billy Wilder and stars Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Small parts by a "happy" Jack Webb, Cecil B. DeMille, and Nancy Olsen. The film makes some derogatory references to the Hollywood industry, and many insiders said, "Billy, how could you?" (and worse). Nominated for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director.
In a nutshell, Holden is a struggling Hollywood writer being chased by men trying to repossess his car. Holden's car has a flat tire, so he pulls into a garage of a large house. He wants to use the phone. The butler thinks Holden is the undertaker who will make arrangements to bury Swanson's dead "friend".
By the middle of the movie, Swanson and Holden (reluctantly) are getting "chummy" while he writes Swanson's great "comeback" script entitled "Salome". Here, they are watching a (vintage) Swanson silent movie (which was directed by Erich von Stroheim (the "butler") in real life).
Here, Swanson is playing cards with "her waxworks", former stars Buster Keaton, HB Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson.
Spoiler alert - the ending. Holden has already been shot to death and has been retrieved from the pool, which mimics the opening scene. One of the best scenes in cinema.