Double Indemnity

Plot synopsis:
Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), a successful insurance salesman, returns to his office building in downtown Los Angeles late one night. Visibly in pain and sporting a gunshot wound on his shoulder, he begins dictating a confession into a Dictaphone for his friend and colleague, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), a brilliant claims adjuster. The story, told primarily in flashback, ensues.
Neff first meets the alluring Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) during a routine house call to remind her husband (Tom Powers) that his automobile insurance policy is up for renewal. They flirt, until Phyllis asks how she could take out an accident policy on her husband's life without his knowledge. Neff deduces she is contemplating murder, and makes it clear he wants no part of it.
However, he cannot get her out of his mind, and when Phyllis shows up at his own home, he cannot resist her any longer. Neff knows all the tricks of his trade and devises a plan to make the murder of her husband appear to be an accidental fall from a train that will trigger the "double indemnity" clause and pay out twice the policy's face value.
After Dietrichson breaks his leg, Phyllis drives him to the train station for his trip to Palo Alto for a college reunion. Neff is hiding in the backseat and kills Dietrichson when Phyllis turns onto a deserted side street. Then, Neff boards the train posing as Dietrichson and using his crutches. He makes his way to the last car, the observation car, and steps outside to the open platform to supposedly smoke a cigarette. A complication ensues when he meets a passenger named Jackson (Porter Hall) there, but he manages to get the man to leave. Neff then throws the crutches on the railway tracks, jumps off at a prearranged meeting spot with Phyllis, and drags Dietrichson's body onto the tracks by his crutches.
Mr. Norton (Richard Gaines), the company's chief, believes the death was suicide, but Keyes scoffs at the idea, quoting statistics indicating the improbability of suicide by jumping off a slow-moving train, to Neff's hidden delight. Keyes does not suspect foul play at first, but his instincts, to which he refers as the "little man", pointing to his stomach, starts nagging. He wonders why Dietrichson did not file a claim for his broken leg, and deduces he did not know about the policy. Keyes tells Neff of his theory outside Neff's apartment, while Phyllis hides behind the door. Keyes soon concludes that Phyllis and some unknown accomplice murdered Dietrichson for the insurance money, but needs more proof.
Keyes, however, is not Neff's only worry. The victim's daughter, Lola (Jean Heather), comes to him, convinced that stepmother Phyllis is behind her father's death. Lola's mother also died under suspicious circumstances, when Phyllis was her nurse. Neff begins seeing Lola, at first to keep her from going to the police with her suspicions and then because he is plagued by guilt and a sense of responsibility for her.
Keyes brings Jackson to Los Angeles, suspecting that the man aboard the train had not been Dietrichson, but rather had been Phyllis' accomplice in Dietrichson's murder. After examining photographs of Dietrichson, Jackson is sure the man he met was not that old, but at least 10 years younger. Now certain that he can prove murder, Keyes is eager to reject the claim and force Phyllis to sue. Neff warns Phyllis not to pursue the insurance claim in court and admits he has been talking to Lola about her past. Phyllis, however, insists on filing suit to pursue the claim despite the risk to both her and to Neff. Lola eventually tells Neff she has discovered her boyfriend, the hotheaded Nino Zachetti (Byron Barr), has been seeing Phyllis behind her (and Neff's) back.
When Neff learns that Keyes suspects Nino of being Phyllis' accomplice, Neff sees a way out of his predicament. He arranges to meet Phyllis at her house. He informs her that he knows about her involvement with Nino, and guesses that she is planning to have Nino kill him. He tells her that he intends to kill her and put the blame on Nino. She is prepared, however, and shoots him in the shoulder. Seriously wounded but still standing, he slowly comes closer and dares her to shoot again. She does not, and he takes the gun from her. She says she never loved him "until a minute ago, when I couldn't fire that second shot." Neff doesn't believe a word she says, and as she hugs him tightly, Neff says, "Goodbye, baby," and shoots twice, killing her.
Outside, Neff waits for Nino to arrive (something Neff had orchestrated). Neff advises him not to enter the house and instead go to Lola, the woman who loves him. Nino is reluctantly convinced and leaves as told. Neff drives to his office and starts speaking into his Dictaphone, as seen at the film's opening. Keyes arrives unnoticed and hears enough to know the truth. Keyes sadly tells him, "Walter, you're all washed up." Neff tells Keyes he is going to Mexico rather than face the gas chamber, but sags to the floor from his injury and blood loss before he can reach the elevator. A weakened Neff tells Keyes the reason he couldn't figure the case out was because the guy he was looking for was "too close, right across the desk from you." When Keyes replies "closer than that, Walter." Neff replies that he loves Keyes too. As Neff had done, lighting Keyes' cigars for him throughout the film, Keyes lights Neff's cigarette as they await the police and an ambulance.

Tags: mystery, boring, murder, bleak, cult, atmospheric, flashback, suspenseful

Review:
Barbara Stanwyck (as Phyllis Dietrichson, the murderous femme fatale in Double Indemnity) and Fred MacMurray (as Walter Neff, her victim'), have amazing chemistry on screen.
This is one of the best-liked classic films of all time and I am among that large group of fans as well.Few movies have ever had dialog this entertaining.....at least the conversations between Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray.
I think it's a big appeal to this movie, except to younger folks who look at it as "cheesy."I read the book, Double Indemnity written by James Cain, and was surprised that the film's snappy dialog was not in it.
He can even make a speech about something as boring as insurance and still keep you riveted to the screen.Stanwyck was no sex symbol (at least to me) but she looked great here in the most seductive of 1940s clothing and, like Robinson, has a distinctive voice and accent that keeps your attention.This film was the inspiration for the 1980 movie, "Body Heat," starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner.
Robinson is perfect in the role of Barton Keyes and just about steals the moment every time he appears on screen.I personally love a good Noir film and this is right up there with the best of them.
Then, the lucky break in getting the right man to direct it, Billy Wilder, a man who knew about how to make a classic out of the material that he adapted with great care and elegance with Raymond Chandler, a man who knew about the genre."Double Indemnity" works because it's a story we can relate to.
Edith Head's costumes are absolutely what a woman like Phyllis would wear right down to her ankle bracelet.This film shows a great man at his best: Billy Wilder!.
Double Indemnity is based on a novel by James Cain adapted to the screen by great novelist Raymond Chandler, who made here his most important contribution to the cinema history in his career, though somehow matched by following screenwriting work for 1946 Howard Hawks' classic The Big Sleep, and Billy Wilder, who previously worked as a screen writer for Ernest Lubitsch and had been already nominated three times for Academy Awards in the process before making Double Indemnity, which nevertheless played the key role in establishing him as one of the best writer-directors in Hollywood, and giving him his fourth Oscar nomination as a writer and his first one as a director.Double Indemnity was the third feature Wilder directed after 1942 The Major and the Minor and 1943 Five Graves to Cairo, but it was definitely the first film, his primary American tragedy where the author for the first time revealed his black and somehow hopelessly pessimistic view of the American society and of the human society in general, blackishly desecrated in the film simply by populating it with exceptionally sordid characters, who independently of being a victim or victimized, of being the protagonists or just simple supporters are never really able to transcend the utterly low and devilish motivations in theirs as a consequence sordidly painful lives and reach such a state where the viewer might get relieved by considering one of them as a positive element.
Instead the characters' lives shown in a continuous noir flashback of Fred MacMurray's not-a-confession are driven from the start to the very end by an utter greed in a form of double and not only indemnities with consequential and inherent to it risks and fears in a rather unsure world of insurance.An insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), a man with `no visible scars', starts to lose his already shaky dominance over his mind's yearnings when glimpses on a horizon a possibility of becoming a recipient of a monetary fortune along with no less seductive desire from a part of unhappily married and as devilishly beautiful as resourceful in pursuing her zany in its deadliness schemes, an ultimate femme fatale blond Phyllis (marvellously portrayed by Barbara Stanwyck).Initially apparent as a romantic, the relationship gradually mutates into double confrontation of the two fears of the two characters in their greedy and ambitious pursuits, a conflict which at one point apparently results in a sort of humanization of Phyllis' character, appearing hiding the eyes of her soul behind the sun glasses, a humanization which is let to happen by her only to accentuate later her unchangeably fatal nature.The double confrontation gradually evolves into a triple one when the threatening presence on the scene of no less and probably more resourceful character of Barton Keyes (Edward G.
Permeated right from the start to the very end with the flavour of unstoppable fatality in an extent that a few other film-noirs achieved, accentuated by the wonderful music score by Miklos Rozsa, Double Indemnity's story is motored by the money like in nearly all of Billy Wilder films.
There were some superb thrillers coming out of Hollywood in the forties which did not rely on the private eye conventions  but somehow the best of them were spread throughout by the same cynicism, the same realism, the same ruthless suspense Best of all was Wilder's "Double Identity." It was based on a real-life assassination in New York in 1927, when a wife and her lover killed the husband for his insurance money In the film, a near-breaking-point tension was reached and sustained in the passion of an insurance salesman and a passionately sensual femme fatale  an intense desire for each other and for money; in the murder of the poor husband; and in their useless attempts to escape the ability of a fast-talking investigator.
Robinson) , not knowing his colleague is involved in it , suspects murder and sets out to prove it .This first-rate and entertaining American classic Noir film draws its riveting tale and power from the interaction of finely drawn roles as well as drama , emotion and moody atmosphere .
Twisted film Noir about murder , troubled relationships , treason , dark secrets , including an unforgettable dialog ; being based on the James M Cain's novel , which in turn was based on the true story of Ruth Snyder, the subject of a notorious 1920s murder trial , being screen-written by the prestigious Raymond Chandler and the same Billy Wilder .
And gradually, the film reveals that the relationship between Walter and Keyes is even more complex and interesting than that between Walter and Phyllis."Double Indemnity" will always be watched because of its role in establishing the conventions of film noir, but more importantly, it's still an entertaining movie--even if, sixty years later, it's sometimes entertaining for reasons the filmmakers never intended..
*Possible Spoilers!* Released in 1944 - Double Indemnity's story of vicious betrayal may be somewhat flawed and inconsistent - And, its 3 principal actors may have been miscast (especially Barbara Stanwyck as the deceitfully wicked femme fatale in a really cheap-looking wig) - But, overall, it's quite easy to see why this vintage, Hollywood Crime/Drama is considered to be a true "classic" of 1940s Film Noir.Containing plenty of loaded dialog, shadowy settings and frequent flashes of well-timed tension, Double Indemnity's story of murder and deception comes together quite nicely like that of a master jigsaw puzzle where all of the scattered pieces of its plot-line eventually become one.Even though I view Double Indemnity as essentially a "Chick Flick", its story is told (chiefly in long flashbacks) by a man who was directly involved in this double-crossing crime-of-passion that went seriously haywire.Fred MacMurray plays Walter Neff, an over-confident, yet naively gullible insurance salesman, who, thinking that he's got it all figured out, gets played for an all-time sucker when the seductive, well-to-do Mrs. Dietrichson snares him into a diabolical plot to kill her husband in order to collect $100,000 through the double indemnity clause in his life insurance policy.Needless to say, once Neff gets himself completely tangled up in a web of establishing alibis (while setting the wheels of the "perfect" crime into motion), things literally begin to come apart at the seams once he inadvertently learns about the treacherous activities (both past and present) of the calculating and conniving Mrs. Dietrichson.Filmed in glossy b&w, Double Indemnity's story was co-written by the famed crime-novelist, Raymond Chandler.
All I can say is that the suspenseful twists and turns of the the classic film-noir plot and the moral ambiguity of Walter and Phyliss brought to life by truly memorable performances by MacMurray and Stanwyck (and Robinson in his key supporting role as Keys) left an indelible mark on my cinema mad mind even before I had become aware of the film's deserved legendary reputation.
Although POSTMAN is probably the better film, INDEMNITY is the most famous--possibly due to the story's truly psychotic edge, which is given full life by Barbara Stanwyck in one of her most celebrated performances.Like POSTMAN, INDEMNITY offers the story of a married woman who plots with her lover to murder her husband.
Robinson, who endured decades of type-casting, is equally good as the blustery, slightly comic, and absolutely honest insurance man whose job it is to ferret out suspicious claims; it is largely due to his performance, which gives the film a moral center, that we are able to buy into the otherwise off-beat performances that drive the action.This was one of director Billy Wilder's first major hits, and he deserves considerable credit for making the weird elements of the story work as a whole, keeping the film smartly paced, and heaping it up with atmosphere.
I was aware that it was regarded as a film noir classic, and Billy Wilder is a great director, but I was put off by the casting of Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in the lead roles.
Phyllis Dietrichson, Barbara Stanwyck, seduces the insurance agent Walter Neff Fred MacMurray into murdering her husband to collect his accident policy.
There's not an ounce of superfluous material anywhere in this tightly plotted film classic about a wealthy middle-aged woman named Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) and an insurance salesman named Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray).
Walter Neff gives one of my favorite lines: "How could I have known that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"The film's excellent structure is organized around Neff's confessional, spoken into a Dictaphone and directed at his insurance company boss, Barton Keyes, played by the inimitable Edward G.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY is nothing less than a requirement for anyone who asks, "What is film noir?" For all the ingredients are present: the cold-hearted criminal plot, the adulterous romance, the step-by-step implementing of the deed, the anxiety-ridden moments as a steadfast mind zeroes in on the guilty parties, and the inevitability of the final justice---all filmed in grim black and white.Did Fred MacMurray ever have a greater moment in his acting career playing Walter Neff, the Los Angeles insurance agent knocked out by a bored housewife who ropes him into her diabolical web?
The classic "Double Indemnity" is one of the greatest of all "film noir" movies, and it has everything you could ask for: great acting, interesting characters, an imaginative plot, and lots of tension.
Billy Wilder's earlier vintage work, DOUBLE INDEMNITY is an unapologetically thrilling film- noir, without any fluffy fillers, this morally shocking murder tale has justified itself as a textbook exemplar of how cinema is able to be a heavyweight platform to narrate a story, apart from all those auxiliary foils (both visually and sonically), the marrow here is a neat but impeccable script (by Wilder and Raymond Chandler).The impending tragedy has been explicitly unraveled since the very beginning, the storyline starts as a flash-back, our protagonist, Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), suffering from a bullet wound in his shoulder, has stated that he neither got the money nor the woman after executed a ruthless murder, then the film jumps to the overture to delve into the details of Walter's fated encounter with Phyllis Dietrichson (a gracefully confident Barbara Stanwyck to portray a standard femme-fatale character), as an insurance rep, Walter is smitten with her and assists her to murder her wealthy husband so as to get the so-called "double indemnity" insurance compensation.
It's quite unimaginable that Robinson had been snubbed for a supporting acting nomination while the film has acquired 7, including BEST PICTURE, DIRECTOR and LEADING ACTRESS (without win though); while MacMurray, had been eluded by the Academy throughout his wholesome career, potentially had delivered his best work in depicting an ambiguous figure with all he had; Stanwyck's role is a tad feeble due to her not-too-copious presence but she is just marvelous to watch with each gesture and expression entangled with her own breed of complexity, but the final convolution of her heartlessness-turns-soft tactic is a self-conscious compromise, woman falls prey of a man's world is just an illusionary chimera, which has been haunting us until this moment and will thrive on and on..
What I will say about the plot, just so you have an idea if you don't already know, is that insurance salesman Neff (Fred MacMurray) and his client Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck) have a criminal plot to carry out, and claims man Keyes (Edward G.
The noir hero is never good, just kidding himself, living in ignorance of his dark side until events demonstrate it to him.'  That character in `Double Indemnity' is Neff, a man who thinks he's carrying out Phyllis' plan because of his love for the woman, but indeed is not.
But like I was saying, this story's about an insurance scam, a dirty deal that all starts when Mr. Walter Neff (MacMurray), a salesman with a head a couple of sizes too big for his hat, makes a house call and runs into a dame, and not just any dame; her name is Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck), a woman with the kind of beauty that stops traffic, turns heads and makes monkeys out of guys like Neff, guys that think they got it knocked when all the time they're standing in quicksand and don't even know it till they're in up to their ears and gasping for that last breath.
Fred MacMurray's performance, as the insurance man besotted with Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G Robinson's as his boss help make this film memorable.
Robinson) does not buy the version and suspects that Phyllis has murdered her husband with the help of another man.In my opinion, Billy Wilder was the greatest director of Hollywood ever, directing many masterpieces including "Double Indemnity" among them.
For now and the future, "Double Indemnity" remains one of the best film-noirs I have ever seen, probably alongside the likes of "Sunset Boulevard" and "The Third Man" (both of which are movies I can only urge you to check out if you haven't seen them already)..
Although I did not read the novel, I imagine it translated almost to perfection on the screen.I've seen this a number of times and it seems I enjoy it even more so each time.This must be MacMurry's best role.Stanwyck is excellent.Billy Wilder's direction is superb.This is indeed a classic and I'm happy to see that it hasn't been destroyed by some idiot(s) with their "sicko" process of turning great black and white films into color.Near perfect.
Double Indemnity's passionately, devious script, along with its excellent pace, and extraordinary dialogue, not only gives you a real sense of the lingo for that time, but it also shows Billy Wilder's early directorial talent, not to mention you'll forget your watching a movie in a 1:37:1 screen ration format, its that good.
Walter Neff, an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) and Phyllis Dietrichson, an unhappy wife (Barbara Stanwyck) set up a (near) perfect insurance scam in this genre classic.
The movie is about Walter Neff, an insurance salesman played by Fred MacMurray, who is manipulated by Phillis Dietrichson, a married woman played by Barbara Stanwyck, in to attempting to kill her husband.
Film noir classic, directed by Billy Wilder, about an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) who falls for a married woman (Barbara Stanwyck).
Barbara Stanwyck is unhappily married but not helpless in this hypnotic Billy Wilder film classic, "Double Indemnity," based on the James Cain novel.
Many people will invest a lot of time in Billy Wilder's stylized technique of movie-making and his attention of each minute detail and the incredible dialogue and script, co-written by Raymand Chandler, and perhaps Fred MacMurray's best performance on screen, but while all this is true and all these factors come together to make a perfect film.
About the only reason I don't score it a 10 (and it sure came very close) was that, for Film Noir, there wasn't a whole lot of action or even suspense in the movie--considering you KNOW that MacMurray is making a confession so he isn't going to get away with the murder plot.
If you want to know why Robinson was a screen legend just see him in this film.MacMurray's character is interesting because you wonder why a likable guy like him would ever get involved with a spider like Stanwyck.Stanwyck plays the conniving wife for everything she's got.Double Indemnity is a classic of film noir and is ranked #38 on the American Film Institute's top 100 movie list.
The movie is widely regarded as a great American classic because of its film noir atmosphere and sharp dialogue, but I don't think it holds up so well.It makes a big deal on solving a murder case plotted by Stanwyck and MacMurray.
The use of flashbacks to tell the story sort of gives away the direction the plot is taking.Good work by Fred MacMurray as Neff, Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis and Edward G Robinson as Keyes.
It is a muse for a lot of films that have been made since this 1944 masterpiece.The story is about an insurance representative, Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who falls in love with a woman, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck).
So as the movie progresses, the audience again starts to feel empathy, this time for how Robinson might react when he finds out his best salesman is a murderer."Double Indemnity" has all the makings of a great film.