Double Indemnity
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA/1944
Paramount Pictures
Repeat viewing
#172 of 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die
[box] Phyllis: We’re both rotten.
Walter Neff: Only you’re a little more rotten.[/box]
You have to hand it to Billy Wilder. He was a true original and yet his films established many new genres. Some critics believe this movie was the first “true” film noir. Wilder claimed it was intended to be a “documentary”. Whatever it is, it is a masterpiece.
Insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) spots Phyllis Deitrichson’s (Barbara Stanwyck) anklet and it is lust at first sight. Neff is trying to renew an auto policy but Phyllis convinces him that what she needs is an accident policy on her husband … and a fatal accident. But can the pair collect when Walter’s friend, claims adjuster Barton Keyes (Edward J. Robinson), smells a fraud?
[box] Walter Neff: Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money – and a woman – and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?[/box]
This film is just loaded with everything it takes to make a movie great. The direction, acting, cinematography, screenplay, and music are all brilliant. The care with which the first few minutes are handled, with MacMurray taking his time to settle in with the dictaphone are masterful and this is before the plot starts rolling. Barbara Stanwyck is the perfect amoral femme fatal, but it strikes me that the fatal flaw here is within Walter. Once again the sin of pride rears its ugly head and Phyllis merely gives Walter the opportunity to prove he his smarter than Barton Keyes, which has been his motive all along. But Walter isn’t smarter; he is only taller.
The special edition DVD was loaded with two commentaries and a documentary. One of the folks on the documentary said that “I did it for the money and the woman…and I didn’t get the money or the woman” is film noir in a nutshell.
Double Indemnity was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. It failed to win any, largely because Paramount was promoting its other 1944 classic Going My Way. The story goes that Wilder was so miffed when Leo McCarey got up to claim his Best Director prize, he put his foot in the aisle to trip him.
This is truly not to be missed.
Trailer
Practically perfect in every way!
Isn’t it though?
Meandering through posts . . . The blog looks wonderful and reads beautifully. You’ve done a great job!
That is a great complement coming from you. I love your writing.
Too bad a stupid musical won the Best Picture that year instead. This movie deserved it because Billy Wilder is the man.
How right you are. I love all his movies so much.
I’ve always wanted to tell a girl that she had a honey of an anklet.
I don’t know why your much appreciated comments end up in my spam file! I’ll have to be more careful about checking it.
If I were a girl wearing an anklet, I would melt immediately. Not so the steely Mrs. Dietrichson…
Immaculate movie is immaculate. I love many films, but I don’t always think a film I love is perfect. But I freely use the word “perfect” to describe Double Indemnity. To me, this is a rare example of cinematic perfection. EVERYTHING is right. EVERYTHING works. EVERYTHING is SO GOOD. My love knows no bounds for Double Indemnity. Plus it has my favorite movie quote ever:
“I wonder if I know what you mean.”
“I wonder if you wonder.”
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
As I said before, immaculate movie is immaculate.
When Wilder was great, and it was for a long time, he got it completely right.
Your review and the comments pretty much say it all. I hate to use a cliche but “they don’t make ’em like this anymore”. I love seeing Fred MacMurray as a bad guy…..he didn’t get that chance very often. It is awesome in so many ways and proves, once more, that Wilder could direct every genre of film and do it to perfection.
Funny, all of Fred MacMurray’s best parts were as louses – here, in The Apartment, and in The Caine Mutiny. He had untapped depths.
That sound like a good DVD edition. Mine had only the film itself. I would love to see some background material on the film.
There are a lot of good lines in the film. You found some good ones.