Rating: 
Summary: A classic? Not by a longshot.
Review: This is straight opinion, no summary here.Just because a film is from 1944 doesn't mean that the acting has to be stiff or the director has to make his actors aspire to be in a soap opera. Please! Citizen Kane and the Maltese Falcon were made 3 years before this film and yet 'DI' can't produce a truely beleivable dramatic moment! It's hard to beleive that Wilder could direct both this and Some Like it Hot! Excellent Characters, hilarious dialogue and even though men were dressing as women, IT WAS BELEIVABLE! Billy, if YOU stuck to comedy and STALLONE stuck to killing, Hollywood would be a better place! Fred MacMurray reaches with every line. (It's so sad when a drip can't even play an insurance salesman) And the chemistry between Stanwyck and him is oil and water. I beg of you, spend your money on something that will ENTERTAIN YOU for 2 hours, not this predictable, unbeleiveable uninspired wanna-be thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: Great film, deplorable DVD
Review: What a tremendous film! It's just wonderful. Especially Edward G. Robinson. Sadly, it's a bit dated (much of the dialogue looks rather campy by today's standards), but the plot hasn't aged a day. It's still a tense and enthralling film noir masterpiece. It's a pity the DVD is so very poor. It's really awful. I can't stress this enough. It's very grainy, there are no bonus features at all, and there's no liner notes at all. Extremely shoddy treatment of such a wonderful film. I'd like to see a special edition of this film produced as soon as possible, and done right!
Rating: 
Summary: CLOSE TO PERFECTION-CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF FILM NOIR
Review: Based on the notorious Snyder-Gray case of 1927, DOUBLE INDEMNITY is terrific fun to watch. A starkly realistic film noir that is truly remarkable on all levels-performance, script and direction- a dark masterpiece of murder. Stanwyck is astonishing in her playing of the seductive, rotten-to-the-core Phyllis Dietrichson. MacMurray is terrific in a very untypical role and although Stanwyck's blonde wig is quite obvious and slightly bothersome, she gives us a performance well worth mulling over; she's memorable serving iced tea, wearing that ankle bracelet or just being sluttish while "Tangerine" is wailing in the background. As Barton Keyes, Edward G. gives a nicely crafted performance and Tom Powers is appropriately boorish in his characterization of the unfortunate Mr. Dietrichson. The music score is by the famed Miklos Rozsa and the excellent cinematography is by John F. Seitz. Stanwyck lost her Oscar to Ingrid Bergman for her role in GASLIGHT.
Rating:
Summary: Flawless film noir, touching and nasty
Review: This movie is a miracle of intertwining, seemingly contradictory tones. It manages to be a down-and-dirty murder story, filled with lust and betrayal, and also a story of genuine friendship between two male co-workers who can look past each other's flaws until murder is involved.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic film but an appallingly bad DVD transfer.
Review: Double Indemnity is obviously a classic film but this DVD transfer is appalling. Almost every scene is incredibly grainy, the source print is obviously not in very good conditon (perhaps needing to be refurbished), and to top it off, there are no deluxe features and the extra packaging is rather inadequate(with no information booklet or history of the movie). This would be frustrating for any film but is downright shameful treatment of a cinema classic. We can only hope someone will spend the time and money necessary to restore the print for a new theater run, as has been done with other older films. Perhaps then, DVD buyers will get the version of this classic they deserve.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING
Review: Simply the greatest film, in my opinion ever made. Nothing can compare to this perfectly constructed film. Every shot, angle and every piece of dialogue is so carefully mastered. The performance from Barbara Stanwyck (as well as all overs) is fantastic. How brilliant that twisted look in her eyes when...I don't want to give anything away!! This film is so perfect, and the music just sweeps the film along, as well as the viewer, and you progress through the often nightmarish world of the main caracter. Can not be faultered, from the brilliant opening credits-to the last scene. You have to buy this film!
Rating:
Summary: Double Indemnity is money in the bank
Review: This, by far, is the best-acted of any movie I have ever seen. And, beside Casablanca, is the second-greatest movie of all time. Fred MacMurray was actually third or fourth on the depth chart of actors considered for the role of seedy insurance man Walter Neff. Nevertheless, he performed the monumental task perfectly and deserved an Oscar. Barbara Stanwyck, as the estranged housewife, is masterfull as she spins a web of corruption and greed around Neff. And Edward G. Robinson is fabulous as the insurance investigator Keyes(who talks and thinks a mile a minute). Double Indemnity is also the best piece of film noir ever to come out of Hollywood. It is cynical, but slickly made. The dialog is timeless and fits seamlessly into today's culture as much as it did the 1940's. Five stars simply doesn't do it justice.
Rating:
Summary: It Was I, Walter Neff!
Review: From the start on, this film induced me for every milli-second! The acting was provacative, lavishing, fabulous, and down-to-earth! I was in suspence for the whole 107 minutes. Barbara Stanwyck's intense style, Fred MacMurray's gripping character, and Edward G. Robinson's money-craving, non-desisting role was what made this a movie beyond words. The idea of a woman who wants to collect twice as much money for insurance in order for her husband to die by falling from a moving train is overwhelmingly original and not to mention ahead of its time! And just to think that Walter Neff (MacMurray the insurance salesman) does the crime and conceals it. If any viewer wants to have among the best hour and forty seven minutes of his or her life, buy (don't rent) this film!!!!! P.S.- This, in my strongest opinion, is a movie that is better than the book it comes from.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT MEMORIES
Review: I remember seeing this film for the first time as a teenager sitting in the Harding Theatre in Chicago. I was so impressed with even at that age.I think it was the first film that turned me on to movies.
Rating:
Summary: "Double Indemnity" is the Definition of Classic Film Noir
Review: "Double Indemnity" is one of the greatest film noirs ever made, if not the greatest. Barbara Stanwyck is perfect as the icy platinum blonde femme fatale, and Fred MacMurray is surprisingly effective as the insurance man she seduces. The crackling dialogue is about as slick as it comes, which is appropriate, as the film was released at the creative apex of it's genre. The writing and the expert direction of Billy Wilder can uphold the masterpiece status on their merits alone. The DVD transfer is so-so, but it doesn't detract from the movie whatsoever. I don't know why it was not included, but the theatrical trailer would have been a nice addition. [In response to the review made before--placed after--this, there are no ending credits because, as was the case with most films of the time, the credits are at the beginning of the film.]
| 
