One of the first essential noir films, Double Indemnity is about a femme fatale who lures a straight-arrow insurance salesman into killing her husband. Despite the sizzling undercurrent in the repartee between Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (“I wonder if I know what you mean.” “I wonder if you wonder.”), the real love story here is between the insurance salesman and his boss, played by Edward G. Robinson.

Imogen Sara Smith is a film critic and historian based in New York City. She is the author of two books: In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City and Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy and is a regular contributor to Film Comment, Sight & Sound, the Criterion Collection, and other publications.