At the beginning of the film we already know that something bad has happened. The story is told through the narration of one of the main characters, while he is having flashbacks of what leaded to some tragic events.
Walter Neff is an insurance salesman that falls in love with a married woman called Phyllis Dietrichson. She completely blinded him with promisses and told him that she had an unhappy marriage and she just wanted to be happy with him. Then she made up a plan for them can be together, they just had to make the husband sign some life insurance papers and do a scheme to kill him later.
A story of greed and betrayal about a man who was deceived because he wanted to be loved and happy.
Overall, great story, great direction, great performances and great cinematography, all together turned it into a fantastic film.
Double Indemnity is definitely one of the best film-noir ever!
I enjoyed myself a lot with Double Indemnity. A good balance between crime and mystery. I like the performances too. It’s a little goofy, but I don’t mind it. The love story in these classic movies are always so sudden and intense and I mean, it’s hardly the perfect murder if you close a policy and murder the guy in the exact way that is described in that policy two weeks later… Still, fun movie!
Double Indemnity is a true classic. The script is intelligent, the directing is sharp, and the acting is superb. Truly one of the best that film noir has to offer.
Absolute crackerjack of a film, from the smoldering chemistry of the leads in the first twenty minutes to the tightening noose in the film's denouement. MacMurray has a knack for overusing terms of endearment like "baby" (see also, "buddy boy" in The Apartment) but even anachronisms like those can't detract from a marvelous film. One of my favorites.
A very good film, but much like Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, is held back at times by some unnecessary (and in this instance, monotonous) narration.
My first classic film-noir as part of #classicfilmclub
I really enjoyed this. Great story which is tense throughout as the audience knows something has happened from the opening minute. Every scene played in this film is at such as high standard with emotive performances, as twists unravel through the excellent use of flashbacks from Walter Neff's (Fred MacMurray) point of view.
Would highly recommend this to anyone wishing to start an adventure into film-noir or classic films.
image 4,25 / 5 and 3/5 sound. One of the best black films with great interpreters and Billy Wilder
All the elements of film noir established here may well have been replicated in countless other films, but this is the one that set the standard and what is much more difficult to replicate in all those other film is the cracking script here which never puts a foot wrong and the performances by the three main actors within the film. Every scene played between these three is so good that they tend to overshadow any other element within the film. MacMurray's narration immediately sets the tone and the intrigue here is in the details of exactly what happened. It is his tone of regret in the voiceover that helps to keep the audience on the character's side, despite his actions, but equally builds tension into exactly how things will fall apart. Stanwyck is riveting in the film, the nature of her character becoming ever clearer as the film progresses and she plays her character perfectly. (Wilder's focus on her face during the central murder of the film is inspired). And Robinson lends some welcome warmth and humour to his character that help to bring some balance to the dark and seedy nature of the rest of the film. Great film!
Shout by Neal MahoneyVIP 8BlockedParent2019-09-01T21:34:08Z
A great film noir, interesting characters and a good mystery plot.