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Billy Wilder’s classic “Double Indemnity” created many
of the elements of the film noir movement. While Wilder
didn’t create the genre he contributed more to it in this
single film than just about any other director of the time.
A film about infidelity, sex, money and murder it helped
establish many of the iconic characters and motifs of the
movement. More importantly Wilder created a brilliant hard
bitten film that managed to skirt the restrictions of the
censors. Based on the novel by James M. Cain and with a
screenplay written Raymond Chandler with Wilder (the two
did not get along at all during their collaboration but
then Chandler rarely collaborated well with others), the
film featuring a pair of hard boiled stunning performances
by Fred MacM urray (as far removed from “My Three Son’s”
as you can imagine) and Barbara Stanwick (the perfect femme
fatale and quite different from the matriarch of “The Big
Valley”). ***
Wilder’s tight direction and the screenplay by Wilder
and Chandler improves on Cain’s hard bitten pulp novel expanding
on the depth of the characters and adding a humanity that’s
otherwise missing from the story. MacMurray and Robinson
work extremely well together in their scenes together as
co-workers. There’s a warmth and humor that as at the core
of their relationship something decent that’s missing from
the other relationships in the film particularly the one
between Phyllis and Walter. ***
Insurance man Walter Neff (MacMurray) falls for Phyllis
Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwick) the moment he sees her ankle
bracelet tangling in front of him; it’s the lure that pulls
him into a tangled pair of nylons involving sex and the
murder of Dietrichson’s husband for money. Initially an
insurance investigator Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson)
doesn’t suspect anything about the murder but the plan begins
to and Keyes becomes suspicious just as their unravels when
Neff suspects he’s just the latest fall guy in Phyllis’
life. ---
Image & Sound:
“Double Indemnity” looks marvelous in this two disc
set from Universal. They’ve done a spectacular job restoring
and presenting this classic thriller. The blacks are rock
solid throughout. There are few scratches to mar the picture
and the sound is solid throughout bringing nice depth to
Mikos Rozsa’s crashing score. ---
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