"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on
October 30, 1950 with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray reprising their film roles.
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 16, 1950 with Barbara Stanwyck again reprising her film role.
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 5, 1945 with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck reprising their film roles.
Barbara Stanwyck was the first choice to play Phyllis, but she was unnerved when seeing the role was of a ruthless killer. When she expressed her concern to Billy Wilder, he asked her, "Are you a mouse or an actress?"
Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did not get along well while writing this film's script, a process that was apparently filled with arguments. Wilder claimed that he flaunted his womanizing ability at the time to torment the sexually-repressed Chandler.
Billy Wilder had a tough time getting a leading man for this film; many actors, including George Raft turned the project down. He had to persuade Fred MacMurray to accept the part.
Alan Ladd was one of the top actors who was up for the leading role of Walter Neff but evidently turned down the role.
Dick Powell wanted the role of Walter Neff, but he was under contract to another studio and they wouldn't allow it. He was enraged and tore up his contract. The role went to Fred MacMurray.
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.
Raymond Chandler: About 16 minutes into this movie, Chandler is sitting outside an office as Fred MacMurray walks past. Chandler glances up at MacMurray from a paperback he is reading, a great clue of his identity.
A different ending was shot, with Neff being caught by the police and executed while Keyes looks on in despair. Billy Wilder decided it would be poignant and fitting for both characters if instead Neff were to die in his office with Keyes by his side as he expressed his regret.
Author James M. Cain later admitted that if he had come up with some of the solutions to the plot that screenwriters Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did, he would have employed them in his original novel.
Director Billy Wilder originally filmed an ending where Keyes watches Walter Neff go to the gas chamber. It was seen only by preview audiences and was cut before the general release. The scenes contained the following actors (with their character names): George Anderson (Warden), Al Bridge (Execution Chamber Guard), Edward Hearn (Warden's Secretary), Boyd Irwin (First Doctor), George Melford (Second Doctor), William O'Leary (Chaplain) and Lee Shumway (Door Guard).
In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #29 Greatest Movie of All Time.
In the early 1970s Paramount had plans to remake Double Indemnity with Robert Redford in the Fred MacMurray role. The project never got off the ground.
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.
In the scene where Phyllis is listening at Neff's door as he talks with Keyes, Keyes exits into the hallway and Phyllis hides behind the door. The door opens into the hallway which isn't allowed by building codes even back then, but it does give Phyllis something to hide behind and increases the tension.
On viewing the film's rushes, production head Buddy G. DeSylva remarked of Barbara Stanwyck's blonde wig, "We hired Barbara Stanwyck, and here we get George Washington"!
One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.
Silver dust was mixed with some subtle smoke effects to create the illusion of waning sunlight in Phyllis Dietrichson's house.