On the 20th of March 1927, Ruth Snyder murdered her husband, Albert. She was arrested on the same day, and was executed by electrocution on January 12, 1928.
Ruth Snyder was in an affair with a married corset salesman, Henry Judd Gray, and pressured him into helping her plan and execute the murder of her husband. She persuaded her husband to get life insurance worth $48,000, which was double indemnified if Albert died of an unexpected act of violence. She then proceeded attempt the murder of Albert and after seven failed attempts of murder, Ruth beat him with a dumb-bell and strangled him to death. The lovers Ruth and Henry were infamous and the case was popular because of heavy and exaggerated publication of the New York News, and also by the photograph taken of Ruth was being electrocuted.
Ruth Snyder was in an affair with a married corset salesman, Henry Judd Gray, and pressured him into helping her plan and execute the murder of her husband. She persuaded her husband to get life insurance worth $48,000, which was double indemnified if Albert died of an unexpected act of violence. She then proceeded attempt the murder of Albert and after seven failed attempts of murder, Ruth beat him with a dumb-bell and strangled him to death. The lovers Ruth and Henry were infamous and the case was popular because of heavy and exaggerated publication of the New York News, and also by the photograph taken of Ruth was being electrocuted.
Ruth Snyder's case is heavily linked to the film noirs we are currently studying now. Her idea and reason to murder her husband, out of mere dislike and dissatisfaction, for the insurance money that she persuaded him to purchase, is almost exactly the same as the plot of the film "Double Indemnity".
This case strongly represents a real-life film noir case through the femme fatale character of Ruth Snyder, and her affair with another man. In those times Ruth was considered as a beauty, but her husband was clearly still in love with his late fiancee, even proclaiming that she was "the finest woman I have ever met" and insisting on hanging a picture of her in their home. Because of this she begins an affair with another man and compels him to help her with the murder of her husband so she collect his life insurance, especially with a double indemnity. This is the perfect and ideal scene of a film noir - affairs, betrayal, and murder. The woman, Ruth Snyder, is the evil villain of the case, just as in all film noirs we have studied (The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Kiss Me Deadly, etc), exemplifying the femme fatale that we see in film noirs. Lastly, Ruth and her former lover Henry were both sentenced to death, and the lack of a happy ending, with Ruth paying for her actions, is just like film noir according to the Hays Code.
This case strongly represents a real-life film noir case through the femme fatale character of Ruth Snyder, and her affair with another man. In those times Ruth was considered as a beauty, but her husband was clearly still in love with his late fiancee, even proclaiming that she was "the finest woman I have ever met" and insisting on hanging a picture of her in their home. Because of this she begins an affair with another man and compels him to help her with the murder of her husband so she collect his life insurance, especially with a double indemnity. This is the perfect and ideal scene of a film noir - affairs, betrayal, and murder. The woman, Ruth Snyder, is the evil villain of the case, just as in all film noirs we have studied (The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Kiss Me Deadly, etc), exemplifying the femme fatale that we see in film noirs. Lastly, Ruth and her former lover Henry were both sentenced to death, and the lack of a happy ending, with Ruth paying for her actions, is just like film noir according to the Hays Code.