Tag: Dennis O’Keefe
-
In noir, life insurance appeals to profit-minded killers
Few noir plots are as coldly logical as insurance murder. Unlike inheritance killings, which require wealth, insurance turns death into an accessible commodity. It democratizes murder. Movie gangsters who kill often say it’s strictly business, nothing personal. But with insurance fraudsters, it’s typically a family affair, and it’s always deeply personal. Here are some noirs…
-
Skepticism takes a holiday: When noir became public relations
Noir traditionally thrives on moral instability. Criminals, police, politicians and ordinary citizens occupy the same compromised terrain, where motives blur and institutions rarely deserve trust.But a parallel strain of postwar crime films moved in the opposite direction. Documentary-style procedurals borrowed noir’s visual tension while stripping away its skepticism, replacing ambiguity with institutional certainty and turning…