Double Indemnity
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| Double Indemnity | |
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 Double Indemnity movie poster |
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| Directed by | Billy Wilder |
| Produced by | Buddy G. DeSylva Joseph Sistrom |
| Written by | Novel: James M. Cain Screenplay: Billy Wilder Raymond Chandler |
| Narrated by | Fred MacMurray |
| Starring | Fred MacMurray Barbara Stanwyck Edward G. Robinson |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa Victor Schertzinger |
| Cinematography | John F. Seitz |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  September 6, 1944 |
| Running time | 107 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $927,262 |
| IMDb profile | |
Double Indemnity is a 1944 film noir. It stars Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson. The movie was adapted by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler from the novella of the same title by James M. Cain that first appeared in 1935 in abridged, 8-part serial form in Liberty Magazine. It was directed by Wilder. The story was based on a 1927 crime perpetrated by a married Queens woman and her lover. Ruth (Brown) Snyder persuaded her boyfriend Judd Gray to kill her husband Albert, after having her spouse take out a big insurance policy—with a double-indemnity clause. The murderers were quickly identified and arrested. 1
Other films inspired by the Snyder-Gray murder include The Postman Always Rings Twice and Body Heat. Both Postman and Double Indemnity were remade, with Double Indemnity being a "made-for-TV" movie in 1973.
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[edit] Characters
The main characters include:
- Fred MacMurray as Walter Neff, an insurance salesman.
- Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, an unhappily married wife who seduces Neff.
- Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keyes, a claims adjuster who works in the same insurance company as Neff.
[edit] Plot
The film tells the story of an insurance salesman (MacMurray) who finds himself entwined in a plot to kill a woman's husband. A tenacious investigator (Robinson) thinks it's foul play and may suspect his co-worker and the recently widowed femme fatale.
The title of the film is a reference to a frequently-found provision in many life insurance policies in which an amount twice the amount which would normally be paid to the beneficiary becomes payable in the event of the accidental death of the insured. An alternate ending was shot for the film (to appease censors) featuring killer MacMurray going to the gas chamber. This footage is lost but stills of the scene still exist.
[edit] Critical response
Today, the film is considered a classic. Film critic Roger Ebert in his review of the film praises the director Wilder and cinematographer Seitz: "The photography by John F. Seitz helped develop the noir style of sharp-edged shadows and shots, strange angles and lonely Edward Hopper settings."[1] A review of the film in the New York Times September 7, 1944 gave the film a negative review. Reviewer Bosley Crowther found Edward G. Robinson's supporting role excellent but also stated "Such folks as delight in murder stories for their academic elegance alone should find this one steadily diverting, despite its monotonous pace and length. Indeed, the fans of James M. Cain's tough fiction might gloat over it with gleaming joy."
[edit] Elements of film noir
Double Indemnity is an excellent example of a genre of films called film noir. Its plot and style contains almost all the elements that make up classic film noir:
- Characters commit brutal, vengeful, and often psychopathic acts of violence.
- The plot is about how a crime is committed and the story is told from the point of view of the criminal. In the case of Double Indemnity, the plot is literally told from the point of view of the criminal. The entire plot (except the very first scenes and the very last scenes) is told in flashback by Walter Neff, who commits murder and very nearly gets away with it.
- Double Indemnity, like many other films noir, takes a naturalistic view of human nature. This is due in part to the flashback structure of the film. As everything in Double Indemnity described by Neff into the dictating machine clearly happened in the past, and there is no way in the present or future to alter events that occurred in the past, it is evident that the events leading up to the eventual execution of Neff were inevitable and were due mostly to Neff's nature as a weak-willed man in the hands of a femme fatale.
- Themes about how sexuality and psychology are interwoven emerge.
- Moody lighting including Venetian blind effects on the walls and on characters' faces in some scenes look like bars on a jail and make the characters of Double Indemnity seem as though they are trapped by their human weaknesses and doomed to failure. The cinematographic compositions and the art direction are particularly claustrophobic as well. Characters are often backed into a corner where mobility is impossible (such as in cars or telephone booths).
[edit] Trivia
- Fred MacMurray, a bachelor in the film, is always seen wearing a wedding ring. This was not noticed until post-production when it was too late.
- Judd Gray, the man on whom MacMurray's Neff character was loosely based, stated while confessing, after he had killed Albert Snyder, “When I walked I listened for my step – no sound seemed to follow.” In the film Neff says, “I couldn’t hear my footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man.”
- The character Walter Neff was originally to be named Walter Ness. However, there really was a Beverly Hills insurance salesman named Walter Ness at the time. To avoid being sued for defamation of character, the name was changed to Walter Neff.
- The scene in which Phyllis hides behind an apartment door in the hallway would be an impossible situation. Apartment doors are not allowed to open into the hallway because it would be a potential fire hazard and building codes, even at the time the film takes place in 1938, strictly prohibited it.
- The two commentary tracks on the 60th edition DVD make no mention of a Beverly Hills insurance salesman named Walter Ness. The name of the insurance salesman in the James M. Cain novel is Walter Huff. The screenwriters changed this as they felt that name was too comical. Similarly, the name of Phyllis Dietrichson in the novel was Nerdlinger. Also, the character of insurance adjuster Barton Keyes (played by Edward G. Robinson) had a much less significant role in the novel. Although he did uncover the insurance scam, he had no relationship with the younger salesman. Ultimately, the film is about the father-son feeling between the two employees.
[edit] Awards
Double Indemnity was listed at number 38 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 American films of all time.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for
- Best Actress in a Leading Role (Barbara Stanwyck)
- Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
- Best Director (Billy Wilder)
- Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
- Best Picture
- Academy Award for Best Sound, recording
- Best Writing, Screenplay.
This film noir received no Academy Awards.
The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
[edit] Quotes
Walter (MacMurray): It was a hot afternoon, and I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle? Maybe you would have known, Keyes, the minute she mentioned accident insurance, but I didn't. I felt like a million.
The following quote was one of 400 nominated quotes in the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list of the best film quotes in American film history:
Phyllis (Stanwyck): There's a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. 45 miles an hour.
Walter: How fast was I going, officer?
Phyllis: I'd say around 90.
Walter: Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket.
Phyllis: Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.
Walter: Suppose it doesn't take.
Phyllis: Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles.
Walter: Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder.
Phyllis: Suppose you try putting it on my husband's shoulder.
Walter: That tears it...
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Double Indemnity at the Internet Movie Database
- Double Indemnity Profile at Turner Classic Movies
- Roger Ebert's Great Movies review
- New York Times review
Note 1: Ruth Snyder's story [2]
