“For the first time in my life I have met a woman worth … even committing a crime.” The legacy of German Expressionism shines brightly in Curd Jürgens’ Prämien auf den Tod (US: Bonus on Death), a moody, despairing, even surrealist story about a man so desperate to attract his ideal woman that he’s willing to destroy himself. After a first act that establishes the daily routines and trials of unsuccessful insurance salesman Peter Lissen (Siegfried Breuer), the film descends (or ascends) into a thick blanket of noir with dark alleys, rays of moonlight, and nightclubs designed like cages where women dance on platforms and tables. One day, when Lissen pays a cold call to a beautiful, high society lady named Evelyn Biaggi (Judith Holzmeister), he becomes instantly infatuated and obsessed only to learn that Evelyn will only consider dating a rich man. Despondent and drunk, he later concocts an insurance fraud plot with retired Dr. Schmidt (Werner Krauss) in which Lissen will create fake customers who die one by one, collecting the premium each time. With initial success, he’s able to take Evelyn out for a night on the town in the most exclusive establishments, but whenever the money disappears, so does she. His desire, meanwhile, only intensifies, which leads him down an even more reckless path. Lissen’s tiny, dreary apartment and the sleazy, tired bar where he socializes with misfits offer stark contrast to the high life lived by Evelyn and her other suitors, and Sandtner earns his editing salary by, among other things, superimposing phantom-like footage of the fake customers with whom Lissen makes regular conversation.