Note: the Friday night screening of DOUBLE INDEMNITY features a special introduction by and post-movie discussion with author, musician and journalist Jesse Sublett. Read more about Sublett and his work here.

“Every turn and twist is exactly calculated and achieves its effect with the simplest of means. This smooth, tawdry thriller is one of the high points of 40s films.” – Pauline Kael

“It is the only picture made from one of my books that had things in it I wish I had thought of.” – Author James M. Cain

Billy Wilder’s adaptation of James M. Cain’s slim novel of sex, murder, and the art of the insurance investigation provided a template for many subsequent noir films. Barbara Stanwyck as the rapacious and determined suburban wife, Fred MacMurray as the tough-talking but weak-willed insurance agent, and Edward G. Robinson as the patron saint of pencil pushers deliver an unbeatable triumvirate of canonical performances.