Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity (1944)

starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson

directed by Billy Wilder

107 minutes

Insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) teams up with Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), the unhappy second wife of one of his clients to murder her husband and collect the loot. Everything goes to plan up to a point. Neff murders her husband and then they dump the body in such a way as to make it look like he fell from a moving train.

Walter's boss, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), suspects foul play. His investigation into the death of Mr. Dietrichson causes the murderous pair to ultimately turn on one another.

Thoughts

I wasn't too crazy at the attempt to redeem Walter Neff toward the end of the film, after he murdered Phyllis. I didn't really buy her explanation for why she didn't kill him right before he killed her.

Edward G. Robinson had the standout performance in my estimation. I suppose part of the credit for the lines he delivered should go to the screen writing team of Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler. The screenplay was based upon the novel of the same name written by James M. Cain, who also wrote the novels upon which Mildred Pierce (1945) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) were based.

I like the second half of this movie, after Walter and Phyllis dump her husband's body on the tracks, better. The first half dragged a bit. I never bought that Walter and Phyllis were in love. I think that they were both in it for their own personal gain.

Notes

Double Indemnity was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Motion Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. The other four Academy Awards for which it was nominated were Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Black and White), Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Sound Recording. It did not win any Academy Awards.

This is at least the eighth film I have seen in which Barbara Stanwyck has appeared. She received her third (of four) Academy Award nomination for her performance in this film. I have now seen all four of those films and three of them in recent years. The one I saw prior to this one was Stella Dallas (1937).

Porter Hall has a small but key role in this film. I have seen him in at least seven other films but the most recent thing in which I saw him was an episode of Four Star Playhouse, 1.01 My Wife Geraldine.

This is at least the ninth film that Billy Wilder directed that I have watched. The one I watched prior to this was Sunset Blvd (1950). This is the third of eleven films which Billy Wilder wrote of co-wrote that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Screenwriting. I have now seen six of those films. This is the first of seven films that Billy Wilder directed for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. I have now seen five of those films. 

Shadows of Suspense (2006)

directed by Jonathan Gaines

37 minutes

This is a great companion piece to Double Indemnity.

This documentary feature was included on the DVD that I borrowed from the library. There were about a dozen people interviewed for feature including Eddie Muller, Drew Casper, James Ellroy, and William Friedkin. It delved into several aspects of Double Indemnity including how such a dark story made its way to the screen, how Wilder and Chandler collaborated in the writing process, casting the main characters, shooting the film, differences between the movie and the story upon which it was based, the impact of the movie at the time and the lasting impact of it.