Double Indemnity (1944)

An insurance representative lets himself be talked by a seductive housewife into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses the suspicion of an insurance investigator.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder (screenplay), Raymond Chandler (screenplay)

Stars:

Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson

Top Rated Movies #119 | Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Fred MacMurray	...	Walter Neff
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Phyllis Dietrichson
Edward G. Robinson	...	Barton Keyes
Porter Hall	...	Mr. Jackson
Jean Heather	...	Lola Dietrichson
Tom Powers	...	Mr. Dietrichson
Byron Barr	...	Nino Zachetti
Richard Gaines	...	Mr. Norton
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Sam Gorlopis
John Philliber	...	Joe Pete

Storyline

In 1938, Walter Neff, an experienced salesman of the Pacific All Risk Insurance Co., meets the seductive wife of one of his clients, Phyllis Dietrichson, and they have an affair. Phyllis proposes to kill her husband to receive the proceeds of an accident insurance policy and Walter devises a scheme to receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. When Mr. Dietrichson is found dead on a train track, the police accept the determination of accidental death. However, the insurance analyst and Walter's best friend Barton Keyes does not buy the story and suspects that Phyllis has murdered her husband with the help of another man.

---

Plot Keywords:

insurance investigation | murder disguised as accident | insurance | insurance policy | insurance salesman | 

---

Taglines:

IT'S MURDER...."THEY ARE NOT GOING TO HANG YOU, BABY! - BUT YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT...AND I'M GOING TO HELP YOU." (print ad - Lubbock Morning Avalanche - Tower Theatre - Lubbock, Texas - November 1, 1944 - all caps)

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is in the Official Top 250 Narrative Feature Films on Letterboxd.

---

Goofs

The door to Neff's apartment opens away from, rather than toward, the apartment. This was a violation of the Los Angeles Fire Code. (Billy Wilder knew this, but could not change the door because of the crucial scene where Phyllis is hiding behind the door in the hallway.)

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Building attendant: Well, hello there, Mr. Neff.

---

Crazy Credits

Opening credits are shown over a silhouette of a man on crutches, walking toward the camera.

---

Connections

Referenced in Secret défense (1998)

---

Soundtracks

Tangerine
(1941) (uncredited)
Music by Victor Schertzinger
Played on a radio

User Reviews

It fits together like a watch

I've now seen this movie 14 times in 25 years, at all times of the year, in all moods, sober or not etc - but always at night. I recorded my copy off TV in 1987 so I can only imagine what a remaster would do for it. With an atmosphere thick enough to cut with a knife it never fails to engross and enchant me, and although it's been dated for 40 years or more still seems relevant and watchable today. TV, answer phones, recordable CD/DVD, memory sticks and the internet have all come between us and yet I can still watch Fred MacMurray speaking into a Dictaphone without a qualm. Who wears a hat in California nowadays? Who buys beer whilst driving! Lift attendants have gone but I can still believe in Charlie working and laughing away in the garage past 11 at night.

Woman and man agree to murder woman's husband but on the way to the cemetery they face grilling by insurance company. I think everything has been said before on the IMDb - by those who think it's one of the best films ever made! To those who simply think the main problem is that it's dated I wish you could see the TV commercials that dug into DI back in '87 - what a hoot - and compare. I've just noticed the print TCM UK is showing in 2005 is lip-synced out, very wobbly Rosza music track, fading and ageing fast - worse than my 1987 video tape (maybe logically). They're supposed to be encouraging people to enjoy the classics but they won't do that with such inferior screening copies. Dear TCM UK, this is an impressive iconic film - it deserves a billion dollar remaster authorised by the Library of Congress, not repeatedly trotting out unimpressive cheap worn dupes to fill those 2 hour slots.

Everything about DI from the acting, production, direction, and music is superbly dignified and is as "close to perfection" as human beings are probably allowed to get with this form of Art - especially with the more limited technology at their disposal in '44. When most films from now are long forgotten and dated DI will still be getting re-runs on TV and art-house cinemas - God and remasters willing - that is the fact of it.

Fortunia Bonanova certainly was fortunate to have appeared in bit parts in 2 of the best films ever made - Citizen Kane the other.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [UK]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 July 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Double Indemnity

Filming Locations:

Bryson Apartments, 2701 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$927,262 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,886

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 90 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1