Double Indemnity (1944)

Director: Billy Wilder                                   Writer: Billy Wilder & Raymond Chandler
Film Score: Miklós Rózsa                           Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson and Jean Heather

Double Indemnity is not only the best film noir ever produced, it is one of the greatest films of all time. It has so much going for it that it’s difficult to know where to begin. The original novel by James M. Cain is not so much copied as it is used as a springboard for Wilder and Raymond Chandler who took the framework and built a much more cinematic version out of it. Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, though not the first choices by Wilder, turned out to be a perfect combination of smart guy sap in the case of MacMurray and femme fatale in the case of Stanwyck. Add to that Edward G. Robinson in his first supporting role, and the music of the brilliant Miklós Rózsa, and the result is pure cinematic magic, frequently copied but never equaled.

The story is a simple one, insurance man Fred MacMurray comes calling on a client to renew an auto policy but the wife, Barbara Stanwyck, is there instead. When she decides to have an affair with MacMurray the subject of life insurance comes up, with her giving him the idea that if they bumped off the husband not only would he get Stanwyck but a bundle of cash too. MacMurray comes up with a plan and the two carry it out but, as with all crimes, there are mistakes made and clues left that insurance investigator Edward G. Robinson discovers and holds on to. In the middle of all that is Stanwyck’s bratty step-daughter and her lover, a kid that Stanwyck seems interested in seducing as well, and the pressure begins to mount on MacMurray to an extent that seems impossible for anyone to handle.

MacMurray’s character is the lynchpin that holds the film together, and his considerable skills as an actor were exercised on only a few other occasions, most notably in The Caine Mutiny, as they were in this film. When he first hears Stanwyck talk about life insurance and not wanting her husband to know about it, his brow darkens and he knows exactly what she’s doing. When he’s caught in the room with Robinson interviewing the only witness to the crime his fear is palpable, and when he finally realizes he’s been double-crossed by Stanwyck his humiliation is painful to watch. Stanwyck, virtually reprising the role she created in Baby Face, is about as perfect a femme fatale as they come, with her platinum blonde hair and tough exterior she’s more frightening than beautiful. Robinson and his investigation is the real impetus for driving the plot forward and he is great as always.

Matt Zoller Seitz’s essay in The A List is a little light for a film as important as this, but he does highlight some important aspects. The first is the voice-over narration by MacMurray, which emulates the hard-boiled fiction that inspired it by revealing the character’s thoughts and feelings. He also looks at the principal characters as a sort of love triangle, with Stanwyck as the bad girl and Robinson as the virginal good girl. Seitz is very insightful when he discusses these characters as types, and the almost knowing acknowledgement of that by the actors, especially in delivering the incredible dialogue provided them, which elevates the film to another level. Finally, his remark that the sex in the film is almost beside the point rings true as well. Rather than having the girl and also getting the money, MacMurray’s primary motivation seems to be outsmarting Robinson with getting Stanwyck merely as a bonus. It’s a film that crackles with excitement and suspense just as much today as it did when it was released, and it’s one of the many reasons that Double Indemnity has remained an enduring classic.