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Directed by Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity (1944) begins with insurance agent Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) returning to his office late one night. Bleeding from a gunshot wound, he records his murder confession on a Dictaphone, addressing his boss and friend, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), a meticulous and intuitive claims manager. In a flashback, Walter then remembers the day when it all started. While making a routine call on an automobile insurance client, Mr. Dietrichson (Tom Powes), he meets the man's alluring blonde wife Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck), who greets Walter wearing only a towel. Although she seems to be subtly seducing him, Phyllis coldly rebuffs Walter's advances and sends him away. Soon, however, they mutual attraction develops into an illicit romantic affair.   Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity . When Phyllis asks how she could take out an accident policy on her husband's life without his knowledge, Walter de...

Directed by Tay Garnett, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) begins when drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) stops at the rural Twin Oaks diner for a meal and ends up accepting a job offer from its middle-aged, alcoholic owner, Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway). He is immediately intrigued by Nick's young wife, Cora (Lana Turner), with whom he soon becomes involved in a passionate love affair. They run away together when Nick is out of town, but only travel a short distance, as Cora cannot face a penniless future with Frank. Determined to continue her furtive romance and make a better life for herself, Cora convinces Frank to help her kill her husband, so she can cash in on his insurance money.   After a failed attempt to kill Nick in the bathtub, Frank and Cora stage a car accident, unaware that District Attorney Kyle Sackett (Leon Ames) has been following them. Although Sackett arrives on the scene too late to save Nick, he is certain that Cora and Frank are the culprits. Without...

In honour of Joan Crawford's (probable) 112th birthday, which was on Wednesday, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you what is perhaps the most iconic of her films, the one that gave her the only Academy Award of her career. Directed by Michael Curtiz, Mildred Pierce (1945) is the story of the eponymous housewife and mother (Joan Crawford), who devotes herself solely to her two daughters: snobbish Veda (Ann Blyth), and sweet-natured Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe). Mildred's main goal is to provide for Veda, who craves high social status and possessions her mother cannot afford. After her husband, Bert (Bruce Bennett), loses his job, they quarrel frequently and he eventually moves out to be with his mistress, Maggie Biederhoff (Lee Patrick). Faced with a stack of bills, Mildred takes a job as a waitress.When Veda ridicules her mother for what she does for a living, even though this work has paid for her expensive singing lessons, Mildred decides to open her own restaurant. With the he...