What 1944 film noir directed by Billy Wilder stars Barbara Stanwyck?

What 1944 film noir directed by Billy Wilder stars Barbara Stanwyck? The answer is Double Indemnity.

Stanwyck plays Phyllis Dietrichson, who persuades insurance salesman Walter Neff, played by Fred MacMurray, to help kill her husband and collect a life-insurance payout. Edward G. Robinson co-stars as claims manager Barton Keyes, whose instinct for detecting fraud steadily closes in on the conspirators.

Billy Wilder directed the film and co-wrote its screenplay with novelist Raymond Chandler. The story was adapted from James M. Cain’s 1936 crime novella, which was inspired in part by a real murder case. Wilder’s use of voice-over narration, flashbacks, venetian-blind shadows, and morally compromised characters became defining features of American film noir.

The title refers to an insurance provision that doubles a policy’s payout under certain accidental-death conditions. That technical detail drives the murder scheme, while the film’s dialogue and cynical atmosphere give it much of its lasting power. Double Indemnity was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but won none.