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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)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressBarbara StanwyckNominated
Best CinematographyJohn SeitzNominated
Best DirectorBilly WilderNominated
Best Music - ScoringMiklos RozsaNominated
Best PictureParamountNominated
Best WritingBilly Wilder, Raymond ChandlerNominated
See More Oscar Winners

Double Indemnity 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 delici... 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 ... 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 a... 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 (dr... Read full article

See More Double Indemnity Articles

Double Indemnity Quotes:

Barton Keyes: I picked you for the job, not because I think you're so darn smart, but because I thought you were a shade less dumb than the rest of the outfit. Guess I was wrong. You're not smarter, Walter... you're just a little taller.
Walter Neff: You'll be here too?
Phyllis: I guess so, I usually am.
Walter Neff: Same chair, same perfume, same anklet?
Phyllis: I wonder if I know what you mean.
Walter Neff: I wonder if you wonder.
Walter Neff: Suddenly it came over me that everything would go wrong. It sounds crazy, Keyes, but it's true, so help me. I couldn't hear my own footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man.
Phyllis: I was just fixing some ice tea; would you like a glass?
Walter Neff: Yeah, unless you got a bottle of beer that's not working.
Edward S. Norton: That witness from the train, what was his name?
Barton Keyes: His name was Jackson. Probably still is.
See More Quotes from Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity Facts
Various studios expressed interest in the story when it first appeared in serial form in 1935 but realized it was unfilmable within the strictures of the newly-established Production Code.
We never learn the first name of Mr. Dietrichson.
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?"
Silver dust was mixed with some subtle smoke effects to create the illusion of waning sunlight in Phyllis Dietrichson's house.
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.
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