Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity (1944)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, based on the novel by James M. Cain

Runtime: 1 hr, 47 min

Film noir is one of those genres (or styles, depending on who you ask) which is resolutely ingrained in the popular consciousness.  Everyone knows the tropes of the genre: the hard-boiled investigator, the femme fatale, the German Expressionist-inspired lighting, the use of voice-over narration and flashback.  Yet, honestly, I could count the number of films noir that I had seen on one hand.  So, in keeping with the blog’s recurring theme of filling in my film knowledge gaps, I decided it was time to finally tackle the granddaddy of the genre, Double Indemnity.

The film, as the title suggests, centers on the insurance industry.  Fred MacMurray plays Walter Neff, a salesman for the Pacific All Risk Insurance Co.  At the start of the film, we see him confessing his a crime to a Dictaphone, which is revealed in flashback.  He stops by the Dietrichson house one day to attend to their automobile insurance policy.  However, he immediately falls for the smoky wife, Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck), who is clearly unhappy with her marriage.  Despite initial reservations, Walter hatches a plan with Phyllis to kill her husband (Tom Powers).

“Calculating” is a good word to describe this movie.  This applies to both the film’s murder plot and its impeccable cast of characters.  The scheme Walter comes up with, and the execution thereof, is nothing short of brilliant.  On the night they put the murder plot into action, he leaves an airtight paper-trail to establish an alibi and handles obstacles deftly.  In addition, it is clear that Walter knows the ins and outs of the insurance industry.  This is the reason he convinces Phyllis that the staged accident should occur on a train, to collect on the double indemnity clause.

Walter is calculating in the sense of a tactician, but Phyllis’ calculations are in the forms of emotions.  Stanwyck’s tone of voice and facial expressions make it appropriately difficult to read her character.  There is lingering doubt throughout the film whether she legitimately loves Walter or if she is simply using him to achieve another end.  At times she is eager and passionate, while at others she maintains a cold, ice-water-veined distance.  It’s telling, perhaps, that she is most lively when revealing that her husband has just broken his leg and needs to take the train to Palo Alto.

Ultimately, however, it’s the broken leg that causes the scheme to unravel.  A co-worker of Walter’s, a claims adjuster named Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), starts to suspect that the Dietrichson case is not as cut and dry as the police seem to think.  At first, he’s tripped up by the fact that the husband, having accident insurance, never filed a claim after breaking his legs.  But the “little man” inside him—a gut feeling established early in the film—keeps nagging him until he suspects that the husband was killed by a duo: Phyllis and an unknown accomplice.

Keyes is easily the highlight of the film.  For one thing, he provides spectacular comic relief to the proceedings, something I’ve not seen much of in film noir.  His references to the little man and his ability to rattle off arcane suicide statistics lighten the tone at critical points.  For another, it’s not easy to tell just how much Keyes knows about the case, that is, whether or not he suspects Walter.  Because of his portrayal, I felt conflicted as to whether I was rooting for Walter to make a clean escape or for Keyes to get to the bottom of the Dietrichson case.

There is a subplot to Double Indemnity which, while integral to the resolution, is not given enough screen time to properly develop.  The husband has a teenage daughter from his first marriage, named Lola (Jean Heather).  Not only does she have a boyfriend her father doesn’t like (Byron Barr), but she also has some dirt on Phyllis which threatens to blow the scheme up all at once.  That Walter seems attracted to Lola presents further complications, but it’s a shame that neither Lola nor her boyfriend appear enough to feel any more than deadweight to the murder plot.

Of course, one cannot talk about a film noir without mentioning the stylistic elements.  The opening credits have a perfect backdrop: a silhouetted man on crutches slowly walking toward the camera lens, foreshadowing the events of the movie about to unfold.  The final confrontation between the leads in film in as close to pitch black as one can get, and Double Indemnity is known for its pioneering use of “venetian blind” lighting.  Overall, the film is as suspenseful to look at as it is to watch (if that makes any sense).

As I said, I’ve only seen a grand total of films noir, two of which (Mildred Pierce and D.O.A.) I’ve reviewed on this site.  As such, I can’t really speak to how well Double Indemnity stands up in the genre, but what I can say is that I don’t think I’ve seen one quite so suspenseful.  Combining the pure mystery-sleuth fun of D.O.A. with the emotional trauma of Mildred Pierce, Double Indemnity is a must see picture which, if you are anything like me, will have you on the edge of the couch, wondering when exactly Keyes will see what’s right in front of him.