Chicago (1927)

Real-life killers Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan were Maurine Dallas Watkins' inspiration for her play's dubious heroine Roxie Hart and rival Velma Kelly; two women who became idolised despite their abhorrent criminal activity. Chicago is a modern morality play and a poignant indictment of a society obsessed with celebrity culture, the theatrics of the legal system and journalists' desperation for scandal. In our mollycoddled society, do we care more for performance and entertainment over truth and the lives of the innocent? Still relevant today; Frank Urson's film highlights how susceptible we are to the razzle dazzle of media and law.