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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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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)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 5, 1945 with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck reprising their film roles.

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Goofs

Walter Neff is unmarried, yet he wears a wedding ring throughout the movie.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Referenced in Jonathan Creek: Satan's Chimney (2001)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Noir at its very best

The best film adaptation of a James M. Cain novel ever made (neither version of "The Postman Always Rings Twice" even comes close). The script, by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, is flawless. Wilder's direction is masterful. The cast is phenomenal, with Fred McMurray as a smart-talking but naive chump, Edward G. Robinson as a shrewd and relentless insurance investigator, and Barbara Stanwyck (her very best performance ever, IMO) as a scheming wife who wants her inconvenient husband out of the way.

The smartly-written dialogue still snaps and crackles and the suspense has lost none of its edge in the 70-plus years since the film was made. This is as fine a thriller as you'll ever see and a film that truly deserves being called a classic.

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