From the first time he sees that ankle bracelet, Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is a doomed man. As Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) descends her California home's spiral staircase, we are as enraptured as Neff. And it takes little time to figure out that being enraptured by this femme fatale is a very dangerous position to find oneself in. Is it accidental that the bracelet is worn around her ankle, as opposed to the more traditional wrist? Is it accidental that the sunlight streaming through the windows cast shadows not unlike bars across the living room? I suspect it's about as accidental as Mr. Dietrichson (Tom Powers) eventually ending up dead along the railroad tracks. We must remember that Billy Wilder is doing more than evoking noir here, he's inventing it. And how brave he is! Beginning the film by all but divulging the ending is hardly the route most directors choose to go when directing a thriller. But as he's well aware, the audience doesn't care half as much about where they end up as they do about the thrill of the ride it takes to get them there.
The structure of the film is familiar to anyone who has seen "Body Heat," or any other knockoff. "Double Indemnity" is the original however, and it's intricate plot revels in its complexities nearly as much as Walter and Phyllis do in their convoluted plot to dispose of an unwanted husband. The audience learns only a minimum about the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Dietrichson, but we easily surmise that their union was not out of love. If the marriage was one of convenience, than the murder certainly is. It seems unlikely Phyllis is after the freedom to continue her heady tryst with Walter, and even the money provided by the double indemnity clause of Mr. Dietrichson's life insurance policy seems more like a bonus than a motivation. In other words, Phyllis just wants her husband dead. And Neff obliges.
Several times while watching "Double Indemnity," I felt my pulse physically quicken. These scenes were most notably the ones in which it looked as though Walter and Phyllis' trolley car had finally reached the end of its line, and discovery of their crime was inevitable. The scene where Phyllis is forced to hide behind a door, knowing that incrimination awaits if the person on the other side sees her, is unrelenting in its suspense. After all, we want this reprehensible act to go off without a hitch every bit as much as they do. That is the sign of a good film. It also stands to reason, seeing as how we were there when the elaborate scheme was being plotted. That makes us accessories. And if they get caught, God help us, so do we.
The structure of the film is familiar to anyone who has seen "Body Heat," or any other knockoff. "Double Indemnity" is the original however, and it's intricate plot revels in its complexities nearly as much as Walter and Phyllis do in their convoluted plot to dispose of an unwanted husband. The audience learns only a minimum about the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Dietrichson, but we easily surmise that their union was not out of love. If the marriage was one of convenience, than the murder certainly is. It seems unlikely Phyllis is after the freedom to continue her heady tryst with Walter, and even the money provided by the double indemnity clause of Mr. Dietrichson's life insurance policy seems more like a bonus than a motivation. In other words, Phyllis just wants her husband dead. And Neff obliges.
Several times while watching "Double Indemnity," I felt my pulse physically quicken. These scenes were most notably the ones in which it looked as though Walter and Phyllis' trolley car had finally reached the end of its line, and discovery of their crime was inevitable. The scene where Phyllis is forced to hide behind a door, knowing that incrimination awaits if the person on the other side sees her, is unrelenting in its suspense. After all, we want this reprehensible act to go off without a hitch every bit as much as they do. That is the sign of a good film. It also stands to reason, seeing as how we were there when the elaborate scheme was being plotted. That makes us accessories. And if they get caught, God help us, so do we.