I had high hopes for Double Indemnity and then when the opening scene
was presented to me, my hopes were deflated. That might have been good.
Giving the ending away at the beginning of the film was my first and
biggest problem with Sunset Blvd. Double Indemnity opened just the same
way, but it turned out that the events that led to up to the ultimate
finale was much more entertaining. I felt the characters were able to do
enough with the characters to keep me interested.
For those not familiar with definition of the term "Double Indemnity", it was used in the life insurance business when the insured would die under specific and very rare circumstances. When the insured perished in one of the specified acts, the insurance company was forced to pay out double. You can imagine how much the insurance companies hated to see these claims come across their desks. In the insurance world, the job of the claims adjuster is to look at the claim and all the facts presented and decide if the company will be paying out to the insured or will be denied and most likely go to court. That is where Double Indemnity begins, with insurance salesman, Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), confessing his crimes to the company's claims adjuster, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), via a recorded memo. This sets up a series of flashbacks paired occasionally with Neff's voice over. The first flashback begins with Neff stopping by a house. The owner of the house a Mr. Dietrichson; his auto insurance has lapsed and Neff wants to stop by and see if he will renew with him. This is where Mr. Dietrichson's wife, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) enters the picture. Neff is instantly taken with Mrs. Dietrichson and their first encounter is rather something to watch. Neff wastes no time in his advances and Phyllis keeps him at a close distance. It isn't long after this encounter that the plot truly begins to unfold and the characters take full shape. We are also introduced to Lola, Mr. Dietrichson's daughter from his previous marriage. Lola has her reasons for hating Phyllis and those reasons of course play a role in all of this. Friendships are tested and love falls and breaks as these people are poisoned by their decisions. Walter's plan is extremely slick and well crafted and fun to watch unfold, but the real scene I enjoyed was the single scene with Richard Gaines. Watching Robinson and Gaines interact was great in my opinion. There is a lot to love here. The tension was nearly nonstop and the script is great. Neff has a great line towards the beginning about "Philadelphia with two F's", which I really love. Almost all of Neff's dialogue is perfect. I enjoyed every time Edward G. Robinson was on-screen. I wanted to mention Lola played by Jean Heather who really turns in a good performance here. She makes the most of the few scenes she is in.
It's obvious why Double Indemnity is a classic. It demands your attention and does almost everything right. This is nothing but great dialogue and great characters for 107 minutes. This what I miss about Hollywood, but that doesn't mean you can't revisit when Hollywood was making pure gold and Double Indemnity is just that.
For those not familiar with definition of the term "Double Indemnity", it was used in the life insurance business when the insured would die under specific and very rare circumstances. When the insured perished in one of the specified acts, the insurance company was forced to pay out double. You can imagine how much the insurance companies hated to see these claims come across their desks. In the insurance world, the job of the claims adjuster is to look at the claim and all the facts presented and decide if the company will be paying out to the insured or will be denied and most likely go to court. That is where Double Indemnity begins, with insurance salesman, Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), confessing his crimes to the company's claims adjuster, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), via a recorded memo. This sets up a series of flashbacks paired occasionally with Neff's voice over. The first flashback begins with Neff stopping by a house. The owner of the house a Mr. Dietrichson; his auto insurance has lapsed and Neff wants to stop by and see if he will renew with him. This is where Mr. Dietrichson's wife, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) enters the picture. Neff is instantly taken with Mrs. Dietrichson and their first encounter is rather something to watch. Neff wastes no time in his advances and Phyllis keeps him at a close distance. It isn't long after this encounter that the plot truly begins to unfold and the characters take full shape. We are also introduced to Lola, Mr. Dietrichson's daughter from his previous marriage. Lola has her reasons for hating Phyllis and those reasons of course play a role in all of this. Friendships are tested and love falls and breaks as these people are poisoned by their decisions. Walter's plan is extremely slick and well crafted and fun to watch unfold, but the real scene I enjoyed was the single scene with Richard Gaines. Watching Robinson and Gaines interact was great in my opinion. There is a lot to love here. The tension was nearly nonstop and the script is great. Neff has a great line towards the beginning about "Philadelphia with two F's", which I really love. Almost all of Neff's dialogue is perfect. I enjoyed every time Edward G. Robinson was on-screen. I wanted to mention Lola played by Jean Heather who really turns in a good performance here. She makes the most of the few scenes she is in.
It's obvious why Double Indemnity is a classic. It demands your attention and does almost everything right. This is nothing but great dialogue and great characters for 107 minutes. This what I miss about Hollywood, but that doesn't mean you can't revisit when Hollywood was making pure gold and Double Indemnity is just that.
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