Based on a 1920s true-crime story, Double Indemnity finally made it to the big screen in 1944. Director Billy Wilder, an expert at getting past the censors, and co-writer Raymond Chandler produced a film filled with snappy dialog, sexual innuendo, and hard-edged atmosphere. The story, revealed in flashback, is narrated by Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), an insurance salesman who meets the beautiful, bored Phyllis Dietrich (Barbara Stanwyck). Together they hatch a plan to take advantage of the “double indemnity” clause in a policy they concoct without her husband’s knowledge. The lead actors had to be convinced to act in a film that would probably be torn apart by the censors. Later they agreed it was probably the best film of their careers. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, Double Indemnity is widely considered one of the greatest films of all time. — Leanne von Mittenwald
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