Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray as mind-blowers

I first saw Double Indemnity (USA, 1944, Paramount) in a college film class. I had grown up with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray as the perfect TV mom and dad on The Big Valley and My Three Sons. Seeing them younger, plotting murder for the insurance money, just blew my mind. Add in Edward G. Robinson not playing a gangster, but a gruff, funny, and smart insurance investigator. This is both film noir and director Billy Wilder at their best.

Available on iTunes and YouTube.

In Sneakers (USA, 1992, Universal), Robert Redford is the head of a security-consulting firm that breaks into places to expose weaknesses in their security systems. He also has a secret past and is approached by the NSA, who blackmails him into doing a slightly illegal job for them. That’s when things go horribly bad. It’s a fun film with an insanely good cast, including Sidney Poitier, Ben Kingsley, Dan Aykroyd, and River Phoenix.

Available on iTunes and Amazon Video

• Chris Sturhann
• Technical writer, chrissturhann.blogspot.com