Review of Double Indemnity (1973) by Ben R — 11 Aug 2009

What a classic this is! The great Billy Wilder's masterful noir (or pre-noir) pits a weak willed, morally compromised insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) into a steamy affair with an oilman's wife (a charged Barbara Stanwyk), who in turn conspire to kill her husband and claim his insurance.

The film is infused with gritty, sharp, edgy black and white shadows, much like the shadows of deception, mistrust and evil the characters move in and out of. The world created in this film is a hardboiled one, with some truly crackling dialogue by the legendary Raymond Chandler ("I wanted to see her again, close, without that silly staircase between us.

"). The standout performance is from one of Hollywood's finest character actors, Edward G. Robinson, playing the gruff, cynical, straight-as-an-arrow claims investigator Barton Keyes, wonderfully navigating his character between what he knows to be his gut feeling and his quest to prove it.

In the end, it really is the brilliant craft of this great movie that stays with you, with each character moving between their own lies, deceptions and flaws as the narrative deftly moves in perfect pace and unison.

Although not as hardnosed as its source novel (which in turn is a masterpiece of crime writing), this is Hollywood filmmaking at is very best.