Rating: 
Summary: Film noir at its best
Review: This is the film noir classic against which others are measured. The remake, Body Heat, fell far short of this winner. Barbara Stanwyck is at her best, as are Fred McMurray and Edward G. Robinson. Excellent movie.
Rating:
Summary: The height of "film noir"
Review: An insurance salesman falls for a seductive "femme fatale" and they hatch a plan to murder her husband, while making it look like an accident, so that they may collect on his life insurance, which has a substantial "double indemnity" clause attached. Every aspect of this pioneering "film noir" is perfect, in its seedy, monochrome portrayal of L.A. in the forties. Cinematograpahy, music, editing and direction are of the highest standard. Scripting is superior (credit goes to Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler) and the dialogue bristles with innuendo, wit and extremely eloquent exchanges, though it may seem campy by today's standards. The performances of Barbara Sranwyck as the adulteress and Fred MacMurray (a light actor who nevertheless provides a powerful contribution as her love-struck tool) are superb. Also memorable is Edward G. Robinson as the insurance investigator who evebtually foils the greedy plot of the illicit lovers. An air of existential loss and desperation is suggested by the film, in its depiction of a twilight of morality in the years of the war. The hero/villain dichotomy is abolished, as the main characters nonetheless elicit our sympathy, despite being racked by a dangerous but a true surfeit of social and sexual hungerings.
Rating: 
Summary: They Don't Make 'Em Like This Anymore, Baby...
Review: Billy Wilder plays around near SUNSET BLVD again with this fast talking film noir experience. A true classic for its efficient photography, over-the-top performances by MacMurray and Stanwyck plus a bold and brash musical score by Miklos Rosza. All of this adds up to a well aligned "detecting" story. And the stories 'hooks' are only predictable to us through the many DOUBLE INDEMNITY knockoffs that are still happening today. This is a good film to get to know the noir genre as the dialogue and story are stereotypical. A nice classic break... The DVD is barren and, like the original, fits nicely in a standard television screen but contains several imperfections.
Rating:
Summary: Just Plain Rotten
Review: Barbara Stanwyck is deliciously rotten as the unfaithful wife who sex appeals insurance agent Fred MacMurray into selling her husband insurance and then helping her bump him off. Edward G. Robinson is Fred's boss who gets a whiff of something in the air. Wearing a blond wig and an ankle bracelet, Barbara is more than a match for the uncharacteristically unfriendly Fred here. Theirs is a sadomasochistic love, filled with passionate embraces and rude retorts. Just plain rotten, both of 'em!
Rating:
Summary: Great "Film Noir", Perfect Cast and Lighting, and Writing
Review: Double Indemnity was probably the first film noir I saw. If defines the genre. The dark lighting, moody feeling, and fantatic femme fatale all add to its total enjoyability. The story starts with Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) going to his insurance office late one night. He sits down and begins to talk into a recording machine. He begins to confess to a crime. Then, there's a flashback.... He drives up to the Dietrichson resience in Los Angeles. His intention is to have Mr. Dietrichson renew his car insurance policy, but Mr. Dietrichson isn't home, so he talks to Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). Her anklet, perfume, and manner enthrall Neff, and before long, she gets him to sell her husband accident insurance. Then, the two of them are involved in a murder plot to murder her husband, collect the insurance, and run off together. Every insurance policy has a "Double Indemnity" clause which says that if the accident happens on a train or a plane, the inurance is doubled. This film is pure classic! Don't miss it. The three main characters all compliment each other, so neither outshines the other, they each have their special scenes. With the exception of Lana Turner a Cora in The Postman Always Rings Twice, Claire Trevor in Murder, My Sweet, and Rita Hayworth in The Lady from Shanghai, Barbara Stanwycks Phyllis is the best femme fatale ever! If you want a good "Film Noir" to see, rent Double Indemnity.
Rating:
Summary: and you thought insurance was boring
Review: Possibly the greatest film noir of all time, this Wilder classic is something I can watch over and over again. Simmering sex appeal and Hitchcock worthy suspense build from the first scene. If Hitchcock had directed this, he would probably have focused on the husband. Wilder's decision to focus on the villains and putting the husband in only two scenes forces us to root for them, and greatly increases the tension. One of Wilder's best, definitely.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent film noir
Review: Insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) uses his inside knowledge of insurance fraud to help Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) knock off her husband and collect his insurance money. However, as inevitably happens in these films, the scheme doesn't come off exactly as planned, and guilt, doubt and fear begin to gnaw at the conspirators, leading to the final betrayal. A time-tested formula, never done better than it is here. The photography, the sharp dialogue, the tense direction, and the fine acting all lead to a very satisfying film. The scenes between MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson, as the insurance investigator who closes in on MacMurray and Stanwyck, are the highlights of this excellent film.
Rating:
Summary: Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler Create A Classic
Review: Double Indemnity is a truly classic film noir and it achieves this status with its tight, simple script and its marvelously efficient and effective direction. Both Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray give their best performances here and that is part of the charm. As actors they were almost out of their league stretching to the limits of their abilities in the same way their characters were. Edward G. Robinson was note perfect all the way through without breaking a sweat and, as an actor and a character in the movie, one knew he had it all over the scheming pair. Billy Wilder took away some of the needless, and often silly, twists, turns and complications of some film noir and boiled it down to its essence and what bubbled up was a classic both in the genre of film noir and beyond it into movies in general. The movie holds up wonderfully.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest ever...but a poor excuse for a DVD
Review: This is one of my favorite movies of all time and I went through a lot of trouble trying to get this on DVD since the studio is no longer producing it. When I finally did get the DVD, I was disappointed to find that such little care was put into the transfer to DVD. The picture quality is extremely poor and there are no 'extra's either. You would think for a classic like this movie is, Universal would have the decency to at least put some effort into restoring this film. As it turns out, they are no longer producing it on DVD. Hopefully, the next time it is released it will be digitally re-mastered...
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: This is the definitive "film-noir" movie of all time. Everything you could ever want from a movie is showcased right here! A beautiful femme fatale, murder for money, suspense, romance, you name it, it's here! Fred MacMurray plays an insurance salesman and Barbara Stanwyck is a cool, calculating dame in this exquisite example of film-noir. This is a good film to purchase if you'd like to know what film-noirs are like or if you are a fan of Barbara Stanwyck or Fred MacMurray. Also features Edward G. Robinson as a rigid insurance claims manager.
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