![Eddie Murphy in a scene from Beverly Hills Cop 2](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410036373549/d9987c6a-93e9-4a72-9e3e-1aca54ecc6ce-620x548.jpeg)
![John Turturro and Michael Lerner, in the 1991 Coen brothers film, Barton Fink.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410036467341/59a1a55c-d0db-4482-b21e-64756540a77a-620x419.jpeg)
![While not quite a swimming pool, jacuzzis may well be consigned to a watery bin as well. Cynthia Stevenson, and Tim Robbins read scripts in Robert Altman's 1992 film The Player.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410036594628/4bebdfdf-c97c-4419-ba2c-5800e59a7101-620x493.jpeg)
![Perhaps one of the most famous Californian swimming pool scenes of all time, Joe Gillis, played by William Holden, lies face down in Norma Desmond's pool in the film Sunset Boulevar](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410037348281/e15ac253-0d85-4999-811d-074801394e52-620x464.jpeg)
![Great for glamorous photo shoots, Jean Harlow poses in front of her home at 1353 Club View Drive, Beverly Hills, California, circa 1933.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410036750547/66ffa92a-e6cd-4772-b7b1-4c012d926ff5-389x480.jpeg)
![A scene from The Last Boy Scout, where a car is dropped into a swimming pool.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410036869261/478fc1d8-dcd8-452d-b951-f45123717739-620x423.jpeg)
![In the remake of Jean-Luc Godard's classic À Bout de Souffle, Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky star in Breathless.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410036975549/ed08abb3-ddf2-4369-a4f1-6d34186118e8-620x412.jpeg)
![Swimming star Esther Williams appeared in a number of water based movies, including Bathing Beauty, a story which takes place in Los Angeles.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410037131895/8746d7e9-352a-4590-9b13-88b8eb8fa3ca-620x421.jpeg)
![Sharon Tate in a scene from Valley Of The Dolls.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410037181392/ec2acede-061e-4566-b5f9-762cb4c7dd40-384x480.jpeg)
![And to finish our filmic swimming pools, Dustin Hoffman, William Daniels, and Elizabeth Wilson get to know each other better in a scene from The Graduate.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912170511im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/6/1410037496448/6f55218c-9838-4791-bc0d-c98a2ac9c045-620x465.jpeg)
As a three-year water crisis in California prompts questions about the feasibility of having your own private swimming pool in the Golden State, we take a nostalgic look back to a time when the ubiquitous back-yard oasis took centre stage in Hollywood films
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