Here it’s all about the words. The patter. The killer lines. The first clue that this character is a force to be reckoned with. We’ve named it after Gloria Swanson’s grand Guignol dame in Sunset Boulevard because the way she swats away Joe Gillis’ “You used to be big” faux pas – “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small” – with the indignance of a leopard swatting a fly is timeless. Another fast-mouthed goddess, Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) in His Girl Friday, introduces herself with a visit to her ex husband that establishes her as the heart of the newsroom and someone who's in with everyone and a match for Cary Grant's cunning editor.

A bit less cerebral but just as sassy is Kelly LeBrock’s cyber goddess who announces herself to her makers with a saucy, “So, what would you little maniacs like to do first?” in Weird Science. Less cerebral and less sassy, but just as memorable is the first appearance of Jeff Bridges’ the Dude in The Big Lebowski. He shuffles through a supermarket in his dressing gown while Sam Elliott’s narrator tells us of “a man... I won't say a hero, ‘cause, what’s a hero?” Now, here’s one we can all emulate.