It is 1938 in LA. Walter Neff, a top insurance salesman (MacMurray), falls for the bored, sharp-talking wife (Stanwyck) of an oilman and goes in with her on a murder and insurance fraud scheme. The plan seems fool-proof, but Walter's colleague and mentor (Robinson) smells a rat and unravels part of the plot; the question is, who loves who, and who's going to get caught? Based on a James M. Cain novel, director Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler cooked up a smart-talking screenplay for this 1944 classic of film noir (remade for TV in 1973 with Richard Crenna and Samantha Eggar, and the obvious inspiration for 1981's "Body Heat"). Some of the acting's a little creaky, but the camera work and dialogue are snappy and arresting. Stanwyck is keen and cold-hearted, MacMurray charming and likable as a man who's not dumb but not as smart as he'd like to think.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
