Touch of Evil

(Universal International, 1958)

Orson Welles
Charlton Heston
Janet Leigh
Marlene Dietrich





Touch of Evil was directed by, and co-stars Orson Welles. The screenplay was loosely based on the novel Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson. It is one of the last examples of film noir in the genre's classic era (from the early 1940s until the late 1950s).

In 1998, the film was re-released in a re-edited form, which was based on a Welles memo and edited by Walter Murch, working from all available material As Welles' original rough cut no longer exists, no true 'Welles cut' is possible.

Out of the Past

(RKO Pictures, 1947)

Robert Mitchum
Jane Greer
Kirk Douglas







Out of the Past was directed by Jacques Tourneur. The movie was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring (using the pseudonym Geoffrey Homes) from his novel Build My Gallows High (also written as Homes). Uncredited revisions were made by Frank Fenton and James M. Cain.

In 1991, Out of the Past was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The film is considered by film historians to be a superb example of film noir, due to its convoluted, dreamlike storyline and its chiaroscuro cinematography (cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca also shot Tourneur's Cat People).

Laura

(20th Century Fox, 1944)

Gene Tierney
Dana Andrews
Clifton Webb
Vincent Price





Laura was directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Elizabeth Reinhardt is based on the 1943 novel of the same title by Vera Caspary.

In 1999, Laura was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

In 2005, the American Film Institute ranked its score #7 in AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores, and in 2008, they named it the fourth best film in the mystery genre in AFI's 10 Top 10.

Double Indemnity

(Paramount Pictures, 1944)

Fred MacMurray
Barbara Stanwyck
Edward G. Robinson







Double Indemnity was directed by Billy Wilder and adapted by Wilder and Raymond Chandler from the novella of the same title by James M. Cain which first appeared in 1935 as an abridged 8-part serial in Liberty magazine.

The story was based on a 1927 crime perpetrated by a married Queens woman and her lover. Ruth Snyder persuaded her boyfriend, Judd Gray, to kill her husband Albert after having her spouse take out a big insurance policy—with a double-indemnity clause. The murderers were quickly identified and arrested.

Double indemnity refers to a clause in certain life insurance policies where the insuring company agrees to pay twice the standard amount in cases of accidental death.