Often the original transgression of the dangerous lady of film noir (unlike the vamp seductress of the 20s) is ambition expressed metaphorically in her freedom of movement and visual dominance. This ambition is inappropriate to her status as a woman, and must be confined. She wants to be the owner of her own nightclub, not the owner’s wife (Night and the City). She wants to be a star, not a recluse (Sunset Boulevard). She wants her husband’s insurance money, not her comfortable, middle-class life (Double Indemnity). She wants the ‘great whatsit’, and ends up destroying the world (Kiss Me Deadly). She wants independence, and sets off a chain of murders (Laura). She wants to win an uninterested lover, and ends up killing him, herself, and two other people (Angel Face). She wants money, and succeds only in destroying herself and the man who loves her (Gun Crazy, The Killers). She wants freedom from an oppressive relationship, and initiates events that lead to murder (The Big Combo, The Postman Always Rings Twice). Whether evil (Double Indemnity, Gun Crazy, Kiss Me Deadly, Night and the City, The Maltese Falcon, The Postman Always Rings Twice), or innocent (Laura, The Big Combo), her desire for freedom, wealth or independence ignites the forces which threaten the hero.