Directed by Billy Wilder. Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson.
This is perhaps one of the most cynical films ever bankrolled by a Hollywood studio, and little wonder- no fewer than three world-class cynics were involved in the film (director/cowriter Wilder, cowriter Raymond Chandler, and source author James M. Cain). MacMurray stars as an insurance man who joins with femme fatale Stanwyck to kill her husband and collect his life-insurance payment, but what really gives the film its zing is that neither of the characters seem to be in it for obvious reasons- Stanwyck doesn't seem to care that much about the money, and the two of them don't seem to be in love or even to like each other very much. Some of the film's best scenes involve MacMurray's relationship with Robinson, a claims investigator who knows more than he lets on. This film is dark and amoral even by present-day standards, and all the more potent as a result.
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