Revisit the birth of film noir in the early 1920s, paving the way for stars like Barbara Stanwyck to grip audiences with 1944's Double Indemnity.

With film noir in full flight, a slew of now-renowned noir 'bad girls' take centre stage, from Rita Hayworth in Gilda to Ava Gardner in The Killers.

Private eye arrives as a noir counterpart to the femme fatale in the form of 1944's "Murder, My Sweet", with Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe.