Double Indemnity

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: STRAIGHT DOWN THE LINE....
Review: Few film noirs from the 40's are as somber and dark in tone as this classic adaptation of the James M.Cain novel written for the screen by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Wilder's and Chandler's script is sarcastic and loaded with double entendre. As directed by Wilder, "Double Indemnity" is also a sarcastic and ironic look at insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) who makes a fateful last house call on a lapsed car insurance policy. There he encounters Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) a femme fatale lying in wait for the right sucker. That sucker is Neff. One look at her sexy ankle chain and he's hooked. She wants to bump off her aging tightwad husband and collect some loot in the process. So, Neff concocts an accident policy with a double indemnity clause guaranteeing double payment in the event of a fatal accident. No problem. After tricking the man into signing it, Phyllis arranges a train trip for him and Neff finishes the job with a "fall" from said train. No problem. When time comes for Phyllis to collect, BIG problem. That being Neff's inscrutable boss Keyes (Edward G.Robinson) whose stomach ulcer always acts up whenever he detects a ruse. Then Neff discovers Phyllis is even more low-down than she let on. She's murdered before and she's a tramp to boot. The performances in "Double Indemnity" are so natural that it seems almost contemporary. Robinson is superb as Keyes---chomping the cheap cigar and griping about everything. MacMurray is miles away from his good guy image in "My Three Sons" on TV. Stanwyck is sultry and sexy (in a blonde wig) as Phyllis with her lips and eyes glistening with wicked deceit. Miklos Rosza's score is gloom and doom crime drama perfect and keeps you in check that things are bad and will only get worse. This is certainly downbeat film noir---a dark netherworld of LA story with no happy ending but a less entertaining film would be hard to find. My DVD from Image is a good print but I would love to see this reissued in an even better package. It is SO worth it.

Rating:
Summary: One of The Best Film Noirs!
Review: The title says it all. If you love film noir or if you want to start watching some film noir films, this is the one.

This is beautiful shot in black and white by the great Billy Wilder.

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck both give great performances in this film. Barbara is one of the best femme fatales in the history of cinema. The dialogue between MacMurray and Stanwyck is well written and very well spoken.

It doesn't get any better than this...well, maybe Touch of Evil. :)