Walk of a Dead Man

#29—Double Indemnity

I have moved eight spots from the last film (Chinatown) from my favorite genre, film noir. I am not sure what it is about this genre that I adore so much. Maybe it is the 30s detectives and the ‘dames’ that get them into trouble or maybe it is the pure mystery of the genre. Whatever it is I can’t get enough of these types of movies and I am so excited to be writing another review of one. Number 29 on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 films list is one of the more prototypical film noirs to have ever been produced and some say the quintessential film in this genre; Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity.

Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray The Absent-Minded Professor) is a successful insurance salesman that just so happens to knock on the wrong door one afternoon. Trying to get an already existing client to resign his auto insurance policy, Neff is introduced to the client’s young wife, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck The Two Mrs. Carrolls). Neff, who is seduced by Mrs. Dietrichson’s beauty immediately, is soon drawn into a plot to murder Mr. Dietrichson and collect insurance money from a policy he doesn’t know exists. However, the pressure of the evil plot starts to become too heavy for Neff to carry and he must now figure out how to get out of the plan before he is Mrs. Dietrichson’s next target.

As I have said above, I love this genre and with Double Indemnity I wasn’t disappointed. I used to think of Billy Wilder as a comic director, but I beginning to see him more as a film noir director that just so happens to make good comedies. This thought began when I watched #16 on AFI’s list (Wilder’s Sunset Blvd.) and it has just grown with this film.  Wilder sets up a formula with this film that is still being used today, the femme fatale, telling the story in flashback form, and the use of shadows.  

Sometimes I like to laugh to myself about some of these performances on this list. I have seen the Disney films and My Three Sons that featured Fred MacMurray and those roles are what I remember him for. The mild mannered dad and the kooky scientist that invented Flubber should have never found himself in a sexual scandal like the one in Double Indemnity. However, during the 50s people probably thought the opposite. MacMurray portrays that cocky salesman who quickly grows a conscience very well. He does a wonderful job slowly showing the doubt he has about this plan, where that cockiness turns suddenly into self-hesitation. Unlike her co-star, I have never really seen any film starring Stanwyck. Though I have to say I was quite impressed by her portrayal of a sociopathic killer. Throughout the film she protrudes a darker side than what she communicates.

Wilder is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors of all time. Like Spielberg of today, Wilder is able to jump genres with such ease that he is a chameleon filmmaker.  Even though these film noirs were early on in his career, Wilder seamlessly turned to comedies and was still a force to be reckoned with producing films like The Seven Year Itch and #22 on AFI’s list, Some Like It Hot.  With Double Indemnity, Wilder sets up the blue print for other films in this genre. The sexual inspiration and the use of shadows on the immoral figures of the story are the main elements of this film that are used throughout the genre. There are really no words that can describe the greatness that is Billy Wilder.

For fans of the film noir genre, Double indemnity is a must see. The film is one of the pioneers of the genre and to miss it is a disgrace. For those of you that just like a good story, the film also provides that. I would suggest this film to anyone and everyone. Well, maybe not to those of you that would like to still think of Fred MacMurray as his Steve Douglas (My Three Sons) TV personality.

The Verdict: Should Have Been Higher.