Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather

Director: Billy Wilder

Summary: The story of DOUBLE INDEMNITY is told by the dying Walter Neff, beginning with his first meeting with the seductive Phyllis Dietrichson during a routine renewal of her husband's car insurance. After some flirtation she arranges a meeting without her husband, where she asks about an accident policy to be bought without her husband's knowledge. Although repulsed by the implications of her suggestions, his obsession with Phyllis leads Neff to contemplate the possibility of finding a way to kill her husband while making his death look like an accident. After she comes to his apartment, the insurance salesman finally agrees to become involved in the murder, and the two of them begin methodically working out the details.

Wilder's classic noir, a familiar brew of lust, larceny, and lethal intentions, stars Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck as a hot-blooded couple. Framed in flashback, the story is told by the dying Walter Neff (MacMurray), beginning with his first meeting with the seductive Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) during a routine renewal of her husband's car insurance. After some flirtation she arranges a meeting without her husband, where she asks about an accident policy to be bought without her husband's knowledge. Although repulsed by the implications of her suggestions, his obsession with Phyllis leads Neff to contemplate the possibility of finding a way to kill her husband while making his death look like an accident. After she comes to his apartment, the insurance salesman finally agrees to become involved in the murder, and the two of them begin methodically working out the details. After the they dispose of Dietrichson, Neff learns more than he wanted about Phyllis' unsavoury past, but realises he's now too involved to extricate himself. He's also concerned about his a boss (Barton Keyes) Edward G. Robinson, an omniscient insurance investigator who has taken over the case. A brilliant noir, among the best of the genre, with a byzantine yet utterly plausible plot, stylised hard-boiled dialogue by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, and three terrific performances by Stanwyck MacMurray and Robinson.

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Director Billy Wilder and writer Raymond Chandler adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy, is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. --Jenny Brown, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	4:3 Full Frame
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Collectors Booklet
Release Date:	July 11, 2005
Runtime:	104 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	8232965
Keywords:	Double, General, Drama, Indemnity
Genre:	Drama