Double Indemnity (1944) was the stylistic innovation, now known as “film noir.” This movie is 79 years old. Directors John Huston and Billy Wilder recognized that the specific use of light and shadow could enhance both the themes and atmospherics of their crime thrillers. Wilder’s cinematographer, John F. Seitz, played with lighting techniques to find the perfect balance to enhance the sense of dread in the movie.
Double Indemnity was nominated for six Oscars but won none. For Billy Wilder, this was his third unsuccessful dance with the golden statuette. Over the course of his career, Wilder became one of Hollywood’s most revered filmmakers with 13 films that received Academy Awards recognition.
Double Indemnity is loosely based on the novel by James M. Cain. Wilder co-wrote the screenplay with author Raymond Chandler, who supplied most of the deliciously pointed, literate dialogue. Today, Double Indemnity is remembered for its insurance dialogues as much as for its style. Double Indemnity, is presented in flashback with the main character narrating.
Walter Neff (Fred McMurray), an insurance salesman at Pacific All Risk Insurance Co, embarks on an affair with Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), who is hatching a plot to kill her husband and reap the benefits of an “accident” policy Walter is trying to convince him to buy. Walter ultimately provides the means to Phyllis’ motive. Husband’s corpse is found on the train tracks, apparently fell off the moving train – the coroner states. Death on a train triggers a “double indemnity” clause in the policy, meaning that it pays double in certain specific cases.
Walter’s boss Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), is not so sure, determined to prove that Dietrichson was never on the train. Learning that they may not only miss the policy payout but also risk a murder investigation, Walter and Phyllis have a violent falling out. This leads to a second homicide and a confession from Walter.
The strength of MacMurray’s performance as the morally bankrupt, easily manipulated Walter resulted in the actor getting a wider variety of parts during the late ‘40s and ‘50s. Barbara Stanwyk was one of Hollywood’s biggest female stars at the time. With her classic performance, she helped to ensure Double Indemnity’s popularity. For Edward G. Robinson, this represented the beginning of a new phase of his career. He stole every scene in which he appeared.
79 years after its release, Double Indemnity has lost much of its potency as a thriller for no fault of its own. Many of its plot points and twists have been copied by countless imitators over the years. The noir style and Chandler’s dialogue allow the film to arrest the attention of viewers even today. Double Indemnity is quintessential film noir. It must be watched by every insurance professional.
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional.
What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
