Blood Simple and Raising Arizona

The screenplays of the first two films by the Coen Brothers. Blood Simple is a contemporary noir thriller in which a woman commits adultery and her estranged husband hires a killer to exact revenge. Blackmail, violence and mistaken assumptions lead to an unexpected climax. Raising Arizona concerns a veteran criminal who marries a prison guard. Because they can't conceive, they kidnap one of the 'Arizona Quintuplets'. A bounty-hunter biker and the criminal's two pals who have just escaped from prison raise the stakes to a particularly violent level. The work of Joel and Ethan Coen has a unique wit and verbal dexterity that make these screenplays a joy to read.