Turner Classic Movies host Eddie Muller once said, “I am often asked, ‘What is the definitive film noir?’ and there are only two possible answers: Double Indemnity and Out of the Past.” He’s right, of course. They don’t call him “The Czar of Noir” for nothing, you mugs. Double Indemnity scorched movie screens first, released nationwide on July 6, 1944, followed by Out of the Past three years later. Pushing the Production Code to the limit, Double Indemnity delivered a gut-pun

Picture this: You’re 42 years old. You’ve been kicking around Hollywood for a decade, mostly playing gangsters in one crummy programmer after another. Your third marriage is on the rocks, you’ve just shot your 40th movie, and you wonder if stardom is just for pretty boys like Errol Flynn, not serious actors like you. Then, just like that, you’re cast in one of the most legendary films of all time. The Maltese Falcon was life-changing for Humphrey Bogart in three key ways: It

“Always understated and all too underrated.” That’s how writer David Stenn describes Dana Andrews. Film historian Jeanine Basinger...