Double Indemnity (1944)

We're returning to the 1940s and the style of film made famous during that decade, Film Noir, with two films looked upon as classic examples! First up, the year was 1944, and the story of an insurance salesman who falls for a beautiful but terribly unhappy married woman so hard he agrees to kill her husband so they can be together. Thus begins a twisted tale of murder, lies, betrayal, and ultimately failure. Directed by Hollywood legend Billy Wilder, and starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Byron Barr, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, and Tom Powers, the film unspools with a tale as tawdry and disturbing as any that came from the hallowed halls of Hollywood. The film provided MacMurray, who had made a career for himself playing good guys, a chance to stretch his acting skills with a role of a completely corrupted, unprincipled individual, and cemented his place as one of the great actors of his time.