Double Indemnity (film)
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| Double Indemnity | |
|---|---|
| Image:Double indemnity.jpg Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by | Billy Wilder Jack Gage (dialogue director) |
| Produced by | Buddy G. DeSylva Joseph Sistrom |
| Written by | Novella: 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 (U.S.A.) |
| Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $927,262 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Double Indemnity is a 1944 film noir starring 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 as an abridged 8-part serial in Liberty Magazine.[1]
The film 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.
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 starring Richard Crenna, Lee J. Cobb, and Samantha Eggar.
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[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 that would normally be paid to the beneficiary becomes payable in the event of an unlikely accidental death of the insured (in this case a train accident, usually considered one of the less-frequent causes of death ever). 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] Background
Both the director and the cinematrographer were big fans of the painter Edward Hopper and were clearly influenced by Hopper's use of shadow and isolation in his works. Raymond Chandler once remarked upon Wilder's admiration for Hopper and his efforts to introduce similar themes into his films. Billy Wilder is believed to be the anonymous benefactor who donated Hopper paintings to LA area museums.
[edit] Cast
The main characters include:
- Fred MacMurray as Walter Neff, a salesman for the Pacific All-Risk insurance company.
- Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, an unhappily married wife who seduces Neff.
- Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keyes, a claims adjuster at Pacific All-Risk and friend and colleague of Neff's.
[edit] Other cast
- Porter Hall as Mr. Jackson
- Jean Heather as Lola Dietrichson
- Tom Powers as Mr. Dietrichson
- Byron Barr as Nino Zachetti
- Richard Gaines as Edward S. Norton, Jr.
- Fortunio Bonanova as Sam Garlopis
- John Philliber as Joe Peters
[edit] Critical response
Today, the film is considered a classic. Film critic Roger Ebert in his review of the film praises 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."[2]
A review of the film in The New York Times on September 7, 1944 was not positive. Film critic Bosley Crowther found Edward G. Robinson's supporting role excellent but also wrote, "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."[3]
[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 by the criminal. The entire plot (except the very first and 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 illustrating 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] Awards
Double Indemnity was listed at number 38 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 American films of all time and at number 29 on the 10th Anniversary Edition of the list.
Nominations
- 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
Other honors
- Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
[edit] Notable 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] Footnotes
- ^ Double Indemnity at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, film review, December 20, 1998. Last accessed: December 29, 2007.
- ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, September 7, 1944. Last accessed: December 29, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Double Indemnity at the Internet Movie Database.
- Double Indemnity at All Movie Guide.
- Double Indemnity at Film Noir of the Week (includes a movie trailer).
- Double Indemnity Profile at Turner Classic Movies.
Image:United States film.png American films of the 1940s |
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| 1940 •1941 •1942 •1943 •1944 •1945 •1946 •1947 •1948 •1949 |
Films directed by Billy Wilder |
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Mauvaise Graine • The Major and the Minor • Five Graves to Cairo • Double Indemnity • Death Mills • The Lost Weekend • The Emperor Waltz • A Foreign Affair • Sunset Boulevard • Ace in the Hole • Stalag 17 • Sabrina • The Seven Year Itch • The Spirit of St. Louis • Love in the Afternoon • Witness for the Prosecution • Some Like It Hot • The Apartment • One, Two, Three • Irma la Douce • Kiss Me, Stupid • The Fortune Cookie • The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes • Avanti! • The Front Page • Fedora • Buddy Buddy |
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