"Born to Kill" (1947)

The French have a phrase for it, 'amour fou', a kind of insane obsessive love, one that in most film noir almost always ends in tragedy. Bad for the characters, good for us...because it's such fun to watch. Here, Claire Trevor and Lawrence Tierney play two nasty lovers so cold and venal you can't decide if they're gonna kiss or kill each other. He's a ne'er-do-well grifter after her sister's millions; she knows he's a murderer but with his looks who cares? Even the private detective who's hot on their trail (Walter Slezak) is a slimeball, selling his services to the highest bidder. The whole hard-boiled stew is served up with a deft hand by director Robert Wise. A cult film must-watch.