It's only been a month since I saw this but my memory is kaput. I think the opening scene is in a bar a man sitting in a booth. Another man approaches and sits; they match pieces of a torn business card. The man who was there first wants to hire the 2nd man to murder someone. He gives the hit man money and the name and address of the victim, or maybe just the address. Unknown to us and the hitman the victim to be in the man who hired the killer. Later, something happens in the life of the "victim" and he wants to call it off but he doesn't even know the ID of the hitman. What is this movie?

Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Ann Bancroft. Some scenes shot ìn Wyming near the Teton range...Jacques Tourneur directed and Stirling Silliphant did the scteenplay.

Thugs chase Aldo Ray thinking he has their stolen loot...1956

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It's mesmerizing that despite film noir has it's main concepts like femme fatale, damsel in distress, morally ambiguous attorney, detective or bad boy; there are so many variety of stories they managed to put on the big screen. I watched 67 movies so far in a month during my film noir binge watching marathon. Every single movie has different characters, different stories...we humans are drown into human stories. And so sad that creativity has died. Everything is the same now, product of same assembly line...it's why I will never stop being mesmerized by those black and white stories and humans that take me away from this dull world we live in now.

Great late noir (59) directed by Robt Wise with Harry Belafonte Robert Ryan Ed Begley Shelly Winters and Gloria Graham...heist caper/noir great use of infrared film

This is from Eddie Muller's intro to "The Glass Key" on Noir Alley, shown on Jan 10, 2021 :

"Red Harvest", based on Hammett's classic novel about gang wars in a midwest city, was to be Ladd's follow-up to "This Gun For Hire". Jonathan Latimer wrote a cracker jack adaptation, but for reasons never totally clear the film was shelved. Instead, Latimer set about scripting "The Glass Key".

I don't know how it's possible that I have not watched the film, Crime of Passion, before, but I'm so glad I did! It's a feminist take on the old story of the 1950s malaise. Definitely check it out...I love the entire cast and I may watch it again tonight...

I know this is a broad topic, but I'm looking for the best of the best where a spouse steps out of his/her marriage, and there are dramatic consequences.

I don't care who suffers the consequences - can be the spouse stepping out, the goomah, whomever. Just looking for great drama to remind us all to consider the seventh commandment...

I want to get into some film noir. Suggestions? I have Tubi, PlutoTV, I can access Netflix

How about some music in black-and-white? With occasional bits of spicy dialogue and sound effects thrown in.

https://jungleroomrecords1.bandcamp.com/album/killer-take-all-rare-unreleased-noir-sounds-1945-1965

If someone elaborated & expanded the story more it would be a great film noir. The madman would be a great villain.

I tried getting into the westerns from the 40s and 50s that my dad grew up on and loved, but apart from a few stand outs like high noon they are mostly poor - basic scripts, one dimensional characters, tinny orchestral soundtracks that are just jarring. Conversely most noir movies still pull me in.