Double Indemnity

The “grand-dad” of the film noir genre, this razor-sharp masterpiece remains the definitive blueprint for every crime thriller that followed. Insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) finds his perfect life unraveling when he falls for the platinum-haired, venomous Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). Together, they conspire to murder her husband and trigger a fraudulent accidental death claim, only to find the meticulous investigator Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) closing in. Wilder’s use of shadowy, German Expressionist lighting and a cynical, fatalistic voiceover created an atmosphere of existential dread that the country had never before seen. A critical and box-office smash, it solidified the femme fatale archetype and has influenced every noir ever made, from Chinatown to Scarface.