Torn apart by internal forces: "Detour" and "The Killing"

Tom Neal and Ann Savage in "Detour" (1945)
directed by Edgar G. Ulmer

Detour (1945) is far more film noir in style than Constructivist, compared to The Black Cat. Detour is considered an archetypal example of film noir. The film has an elaborate "narrated flashback" structure frequently found in noir. It also has a femme fatale, and many discussions about fate. These lines are highly quotable, and are often cited as exemplars of philosophies that lie behind noir as a whole.
Tom Neal as Al Roberts and Claudia Drake as Sue Harvey in "Detour" (1945)

Like The Black Cat, Detour centers on a romantic couple who are torn apart by evil circumstances. Here, however, the woman breaks up the romance initially, because she wants to achieve success in Hollywood, a dream the film explicitly suggests is a delusion. Unlike the hero and heroine of The Black Cat, who show exemplary loyalty to each other, this couple is torn apart by internal forces. Source: mikegrost.com

Marie Windsor and Sterling Hayden in "The Killing" (1956) directed by Stanley Kubrick


The Killing is a 1956 film noir produced by James B. Harris and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It was written by Kubrick and Jim Thompson and based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. The drama features Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards and Elisha Cook Jr