Cropped screenshot of Fred MacMurray from the trailer for the film Double Indemnity (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Film noirs are works of art. Everyone knows about “Double Indemnity,” directed by Billy Wilder in 1944. It is a terrific film by all accounts. Shot in black and white and featuring shadows, cigarette smoke, men wearing fedoras, and a femme fatale, this is a story of greed and lust in Los Angeles.

Fred MacMurray plays Walter Neff, an insurance investigator who walks into his office late one night bleeding from a gunshot wound. He sits at his desk, turns on a tape recorder, and explains how he came to be in this condition. It started when he went to renew coverage for the car of a wealthy oil man, Mr. Dietrichson (Tom Powers), but instead, he talks to the man’s wife, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), who is standing at the top of the staircase wearing a towel. At first, they talk about insurance, then how nice it is to see each other again. When Walter returns one afternoon, Phyllis casually talks about how dangerous her husband’s job is and whether it would be possible to provide him life insurance without him knowing about it. Walter sees where she is going with this and quickly walks out.

However, by early evening, Walter is pondering if it would be possible to provide a wealthy man life insurance, kill him, make it look like an accident, and then run off with his money and his wife. He makes it sound like beating a casino. Over the years, he has seen hundreds of scam cases where people thought they could trick his agency and collect what they didn’t deserve. Since he knows how the agency works, he should be able to know how to trick the people who work there, right? Just as he is discussing these thoughts, Phyllis knocks at his door, to tell him how much she hates her husband and how much she wants him. By the time she leaves, they are plotting to commit murder. They are both doomed.

The double indemnity in question refers to an accident that occurs in an unlikely setting, making the insurance settlement double the agreed sum. If Mr. Dietrichson were to die by falling off a moving train, the wife would receive $100,000 instead of $50,000. Of course, the insurance carrier would investigate to be 100% sure that they should pay; hence, the plan must be foolproof. Walter makes sure that he has an alibi, has Mr. Dietrichson sign a life policy by telling him it’s a form for his car, travels on foot so that nobody will recognize him on the bus, and only meets Phyllis at a grocery store. Everything is perfect, but it is bound to fail.

When you watch a murder investigation unfold from the perspective of the detective, you marvel at the investigator’s skills and powers of observation. If you are watching from the perspective of the criminal, it’s like watching a building slowly collapsing. Small details that Walter couldn’t have foreseen, like a witness on the train, start to make him sweat. Phyllis turns out to be more cunning than he had initially imagined, and unfortunately for him, his best friend and boss Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is possibly the best investigator in the company.

Walter and Barton are quite close. Barton is always smoking cigars but never seems to have any matches or a lighter on him. Fortunately, Walter is always there to light a match with his fingers. Barton often talks about a little man in his stomach telling him when a case reeks of fraud, and that little man gradually gets louder and louder when the Dietrichson case lands on his desk. Yet Walter bears no ill will toward Barton for ruining his plan; in fact, he admires him and is unsure if Barton is suspicious of him or simply checking all angles. A great scene of tension occurs when Barton is searching Walter’s apartment, and Phyllis is due to drop by any minute to discuss their plan.

This film may be old, but it deserves to be a classic because it asks a classic film question: can anyone commit the perfect murder? The payoff is money and a woman, but Walter seems to be tempted just to see if he can get away with it. Sometimes it’s not about the prize, but about the journey. Double Indemnity’s moral is that with murder, there is no prize with murder, only punishment.

Manuel Marino

Manuel Marino is a seasoned Senior Producer, Music Composer, and Artist with over a decade of experience. He specializes in branded entertainment across various mediums, including video games, films, and advertising campaigns. With 20+ years as a game music composer, Manuel has worked on numerous platforms, creating diverse orchestral soundtracks. HIRE ME