'The Maltese Falcon' is one of the most popular and best classic detective mysteries ever made, and many film historians consider it the first in the dark film noir genre in Hollywood. It leaves the audience with a distinctly down-beat conclusion and bitter taste.
'Double Indemnity' (1944) is director Billy Wilder's classic film noir masterpiece - a cynical, witty, and sleazy thriller about adultery, corruption and murder. The urgently-told, highly-stylized story was Wilder's third film after The Major and the Minor (1942) and Five Graves to Cairo (1943).
'Laura' (1944) is one of the most stylish, elegant, moody, and witty classic film noirs ever made with an ensemble cast of characters. Preminger's film falls under the category of romantic, melodramatic mystery/detective thriller. It might also be called a psychological study of deviant, kinky obsession, because almost everyone in the cast loves the title character - Laura. One lobby poster dramatically declared: "The story of a love that became the most fearful thing that ever happened to a woman."
1944 was a big year for film noir. Early film noirs 'Double Indemnity', 'Laura' and 'Murder, My Sweet' were all released near the end of '44 and all were box office hits. 'Murder, My Sweet' helped Dick Powell– known as a song and dance man in film up to this point – change his screen persona to a tough-talking film noir hero in many movies and television shows afterward. The film also features Claire Trevor as a convincing “black widow” and Mike Mazurki in his most memorable role as Moose Malloy.
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