50 Movies Where Evil Won

Plot: Scottie (James Stewart), a retired detective with a crippling fear of heights, is asked by an old college friend (Tom Helmore) to observe his troubled wife (Kim Novak), and Scottie begins to fall in love with her.

Alfred Hitchcock's mesmerising study of obsession is a deeply haunting affair, not least because the evil man who orchestrated it all never faces justice. 

Around halfway through, Madeleine (Novak) seemingly commits suicide by jumping from a bell tower while Scottie fails to save her thanks to his vertigo. Not long after, the viewer learns that the woman Scottie knew wasn't Madeleine at all, but a decoy named Judy (also Novak). 

The whole thing was an elaborate scheme by Gavin Elster (Helmore) to murder his wife. When Judy ran up to the top of the tower, Elster was waiting above and threw the body of his real wife (he'd already killed her) off the tower. Scottie was there to be a witness to this 'suicide', and the sicko knew he wouldn't catch Judy due to his phobia. 

Elster moves abroad after the 'suicide' and disappears from the movie, which was an unusual narrative choice. It works, though, as this is really about Scottie's journey rather than the crime. Hitchcock did film an ending where Scottie hears a broadcast reporting Elster being pursued by authorities, but ultimately the director chose to leave it out. 

One likes to think justice would've caught up to Elster eventually. Sadly, things don't always end that happily, especially in Hitchcock's world.