In The Dark Mirror (1946), directed by Robert Siodmak (The Killers), a man is murdered and theres an obvious suspect, but she has an identical twin sister (both played by Olivia de Havilland, Gone with the Wind), and one of them has a cast-iron alibi. The perfect crime? A psychologist with a specialist interest in twin psychology delves into the heart of the mystery, at considerable risk to himself.

In Secret Beyond the Door (1947), Fritz Lang (The Big Heat) adapts the Bluebeard legend with a dash of Daphne du Mauriers Rebecca. Shortly after their marriage, Celia (Joan Bennett, Suspiria) begins to suspect her architect husband Mark (Michael Redgrave, Dead of Night) of having a secret past, and wonders about the reason behind multiple rooms in his self-designed home, one of which is kept permanently locked.

In Abraham Polonskys Force of Evil (1948), an unscrupulous lawyer (John Garfield, The Postman Always Rings Twice) scents a personal fortune when he concocts a plan to merge New York Citys numbers rackets into a single powerful and unbreakable operation, but reckons without his brother, whod rather stay independent.

And in Joseph H. Lewiss ultra-stylish The Big Combo (1955), Lieutenant Diamond (Cornel Wilde, The Naked Prey) is determined to bring down mob boss Mr Brown (Richard Conte, Thieves Highway), even if it means jeopardising his own career. But the feeling is mutual and the unscrupulous gangster is more than willing to operate outside the law to get his man, leading to some wince-inducing set-pieces (some involving a pre-stardom Lee Van Cleef).

This collection showcases many of the genres major names on both sides of the camera. In addition to the directing and acting talent there are cinematographers Stanley Cortez (The Night of the Hunter) and John Alton (An American in Paris), composers Dimitri Tiomkin (High Noon) and Miklós Ró