Directed by:
Billy WilderCinematography:
John F. SeitzComposer:
Miklós RózsaCast:
Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber, Clarence Muse (more)VOD (3)
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Has dialogue ever been more perfectly hard-boiled? Has a femme fatale ever been as deliciously evil as Barbara Stanwyck? And has 1940s Los Angeles ever looked so seductively sordid? When slick salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) walks into the swank home of dissatisfied housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), he intends to sell her insurance, but he winds up becoming entangled with her in a far more sinister way. (Criterion)
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Reviews (9)
I will not concern myself with how high the film Double Indemnity would rank in the imaginary hierarchy of the best film noirs, but I must say that it is an example of a highly professional genre film where all elements from the screenplay, direction, casting, performances, to the last technical profession, work as they should, and the result is a spectacle that is impressive even today, and considering the time of its creation, it is simply a top-notch film. This is how I imagine a genre film classic. Although the screenplay is essentially very simple, the execution is a delight. Overall impression: 90%.
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This is exactly how I imagine a film noir - except for the lighter tone at the beginning. From the start, you know something went wrong; you just need to figure out how. A more or less innocent beginning quickly changes after meeting the femme fatale, played by Barbara Stanwyck. She is absolutely superb, especially thanks to her voice. The detective character seems unnecessary, but he's not here to investigate; he's here to give the whole thing that metaphorical crown. A great movie.
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A pitch-black, crystalline and almost Hitchcockianly precise noir about a near-perfect crime that defines a defunct genre with everything that made it so special: a deceitful femme fatale who collects men's hearts like scalps of enemies, a likeable hero who foolishly allows himself to be scalped, the elaborate and original murder of a poor husband and the tension patiently thickening until the emotion-filled finale. Wilder plays skilfully with the simple story, and even though it’s clear how everything must end, the viewer eats it all by the spoonful. A must for film-noir fans, for others I can only sincerely recommend it. 90%
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I was always interested in the film noir genre from the war period. I have enjoyed it mostly in the American detective and crime movies from the nineties, which were referencing that time. But when I really started watching something like that, I did not find in it what I’ve always imagined. And most of all, I lacked anything that would resemble the mystique and the atmosphere connected to it.
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All my life I've passed noir films as a slightly inert viewer, but that's just me. But I've always admired Billy Wilder's ability to layer dialogue on top of dialogue, and here I've had a blast again. Too bad about two things, though. Firstly, I would have liked some refreshing visual ideas, in this respect Orson Welles, for example, was unmatched, but here where there's nothing. And then the laboriously invented idea of the murder seemed quite banal and in some places very naive. Barbara Stanwyck, however, was perfectly chosen for the role of the femme fatale. She is seductive, but at the same time, there's something off about her from the first look .... you just see her dark side before she turns out to be a cynical bitch :o)
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Gallery (91)
Photo © Paramount Pictures
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