Double Indemnity (1944) : Classic Movie Hub (CMH)

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Double Indemnity (1944)
Director(s)	Billy Wilder
Producer(s)	Buddy G. DeSylva (executive uncredited), Joseph Sistrom (uncredited)
Top Genres	Crime, Film Noir, Thriller/Suspense
Top Topics	Book-Based, Infidelity

Featured Cast:

See Full Cast

Fred MacMurray
(as Walter Neff)

Barbara Stanwyck
(as Phyllis Dietrichson)

Edward G. Robinson
(as Barton Keyes)

Double Indemnity Overview:

Double Indemnity (1944) was a Crime - Film Noir Film directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy G. DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom.

The film was based on the serial story of the same name written by James M. Cain published in Liberty Magazine and as a Novel (1936 magazine; 1943 novel).

SYNOPSIS

Perhaps the most famous film noir of all. An insurance salesman (MacMurray) looking for a bigger score than the next whole-life policy and a scheming blond viper with bangs, shades, and an intriguing anklet persuade her husband to sign a policy that pays double to accidental death - an accident they plan to make happen. MacMurray's past tense voice-over adds a rueful, bitterly world-weary tone. The electrifying script was written by Wilder and Chandler, based on the novel by James M. Cain.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Double Indemnity was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1992.

Academy Awards 1944 --- Ceremony Number 17 (source: AMPAS)

Award	Recipient	Result
Best Actress	Barbara Stanwyck	Nominated
Best Cinematography	John Seitz	Nominated
Best Director	Billy Wilder	Nominated
Best Music - Scoring	Miklos Rozsa	Nominated
Best Picture	Paramount	Nominated
Best Writing	Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler	Nominated

BlogHub Articles:

Noirvember Day 29: That Double Indemnity Patter

By shadowsandsatin on Nov 29, 2024 From Shadows and Satin

As we make our way to the conclusion of Double Indemnity week, it?s a pleasure to take this opportunity to salute one of the best things about this gem: the exquisite writing. Whether it was one liners, monologues, or dialogues between characters, Double Indemnity served up some of the most deliciou... Read full article

Noirvember Day 27: Things I’m Thankful – Double Indemnity Edition

By shadowsandsatin on Nov 28, 2024 From Shadows and Satin

It’s my favorite noir and one of my favorite films of all time. So you know there’s lots about Double Indemnity that I’m thankful for. Here are just a few… The opening of the film, which depicts the silhoette of a behatted man on crutches, slowly moving toward us, accompanied... Read full article

Noirvember Day 27: The Double Indemnity Quiz

By shadowsandsatin on Nov 27, 2024 From Shadows and Satin

I love lots of things ? baking sweet treats (like tonight’s apple turnovers), reorganizing cabinets, browsing the stacks at my downtown library . . . And taking classic movie quizzes. I hope you do, too, because I’m serving up a super-sized quiz on this week’s focus film, Double In... Read full article

Noirvember Day 25: Trivia Double Indemnity Tidbits

By shadowsandsatin on Nov 25, 2024 From Shadows and Satin

As we enter the last week of this year?s Noirvember celebration, what better time to dive into some trivia on our focus film? Pull up a chair and snack on some trivial tidbits on Double Indemnity . . . The first name of Phyllis?s hapless husband was never spoken. Billy Wilder was nominated for an Os... Read full article

Noirvember Day 22: I Love Double Indemnity!

By shadowsandsatin on Nov 22, 2024 From Shadows and Satin

It?s Friday, y?all ? and you know what that means! It?s time to ring up the ol? curtain on the fourth and final noir that I?ll be spotlighting during this month. And if you know me at all, you?ve known that one of my focus films this month would have to be my all-time favorite noir (drum roll, pleas... Read full article

See all Double Indemnity articles

Quotes from

Phyllis: We're both rotten.
Walter Neff: Only you're a little more rotten.

Phyllis: Mr. Neff, why don't you drop by tomorrow evening about eight-thirty. He'll be in then.
Walter Neff: Who?
Phyllis: My husband. You were anxious to talk to him weren't you?
Walter Neff: Yeah, I was, but I'm sort of getting over the idea, if you know what I mean.
Phyllis: There's a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour.
Walter Neff: How fast was I going, officer?
Phyllis: I'd say around ninety.
Walter Neff: Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket.
Phyllis: Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.
Walter Neff: Suppose it doesn't take.
Phyllis: Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles.
Walter Neff: Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder.
Phyllis: Suppose you try putting it on my husband's shoulder.
Walter Neff: That tears it.

Walter Neff: I get the general idea. She was a tramp from a long line of tramps.

Facts about

The part of Walter Neff was originally offered to George Raft. He insisted that he would only take on the role if his character turned out to be an FBI agent at the end, entrapping Barbara Stanwyck's character. As this ran completely counter to James M. Cain's original novel, he naturally didn't get the part.

In the first scene in which Walter first kisses Phyllis, we see a wedding ring on Walter's hand. Fred MacMurray was married and the ring was not noticed until post-production.

Raymond Chandler hated the experience of writing the script with Billy Wilder so much that he actually walked out and would not return unless a list of demands was met. The studio acceded to his demands and he returned to finish the script with Wilder, even though the two detested each other.

Featured Cast: See Full Cast

Fred MacMurray(as Walter Neff)

Barbara Stanwyck(as Phyllis Dietrichson)

Edward G. Robinson(as Barton Keyes)