Double Indemnity was a famous American film noir made in 1944. The title of the film “Double Indemnity” means a clause found in certain life insurance policies which can double the money given if death is seen to be accidental.
Directed by Billy Wilder the film portrays the story of an insurance salesman who on a routine calls meets a woman Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) who hatches a plan to take out insurance on her husband then kill him and claim the insurance.
At first the salesman Walter Neff played by Fred MacMurray wants nothing to do with the murderous scheme but eventually he agrees and together they go on to kill the Phyllis’s husband making it look like an accident in the process so the double indemnity can be claimed. Neff then finds out that Phyllis has been having an affair with the daughter of her husband’s boyfriend and that her husband’s previous lover had died in mysterious circumstances while Phyllis was a nurse at the hospital she was treated. Neff confronts Phyllis and plans to kill her but Phyllis then shoots him before he gets the chance to. In a sudden turn of events Phyllis declares that she loves Neff and hugs him but as she pulls out of the hug her face frowns. Neff exclaims “Goodbye, baby” and shoots her twice killing her. Then after confronting Nino (Phyllis’s lover) in outside where he shoots her, Neff tells Nino to not go in the room but go to his girlfriend instead, Neff then precedes injured back to his office.
At his office Neff picks up his Dictaphone (which goes back to when Neff starting telling the story) and confesses what he has done but an investigator (Keyes) hears enough of the confession to know what Neff has done. Lastly Neff explains to Keyes who is something of a friend of Neff that he will flee to Mexico rather than face a death sentence for the deaths however before he can reach the leave the behind he falls at a nearby door. Wounded from the shot wound inflicted previously by Phyllis he lays on the floor, pulls out a cigarette while in discomfort which the investigator lights for him, Neff has a few smokes of the cigarette at which point the credits play out.
Double Indemnity is regarded as one of the most successful film noir of all time. It was ranked at thirty eight in the top twentieth century American films by the American Film Institute. This shows how popular the low budget film became following its release despite only having a budget of marginally less than a million.
The film has many typical traits of noirs including a non linear narrative as Neff tells his story at the start through the Dictaphone which is continued at the end as the investigator comes in.
Barbara Stanwyck who played the lead lady was a classic example of a femme fatale, she killed her husband and appeared to have killed before, and this ruthless mentality was shown at first near the end when she shoots Neff. Also she was portrayed as being the dominant character in the film as she planned the original killing of her husband and used her looks to get what she wanted by misleading Neff.
Neff was also the typical hero in noirs. He was a man dragged into murder by the devious Phyllis and brought into a life of crime after previously being a regular insurance salesman.
Just as in many noirs there is no happy end for the couple in Double Indemnity as the one of them is killed by the other. This is a trend which is in many noirs in which the moral seems to be a life a crime leads down dark paths which the characters do not get out of.
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