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:
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 |
Double Indemnity BlogHub Articles:
Noirvember Day 29: That Double Indemnity Patter
By shadowsandsatin on Nov 29, 2024 From Shadows and SatinAs 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 SatinIt’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 SatinI 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 SatinAs 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 SatinIt?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
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Quotes from Double Indemnity
Walter Neff: Yeah. Two "F"s, like in Philadelphia, if you know the story.
Phyllis: What story?
Walter Neff: The Philadelphia Story.
Barton Keyes: Now look, Walter. A guy takes out an accident policy that's worth $100,000 if he's killed on the train. Then, two weeks later, he *is* killed on the train. And, not from the train accident, mind you, but falling off some silly observation car. You know what the mathematical probability of that is? One out of, oh, I don't know how many billions. And after that, the broken leg. No, it just, it just can't be the way it looks. Something has been worked on us!
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.
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Facts about Double Indemnity
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.
"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.
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