Double Indemnity is a 1944 film noir. It stars Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson. The movie was adapted by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler from the novella Three of a Kind by James M. Cain that first appeared in 1935 in abridged, 8-part serial form in Liberty Magazine. It was directed by Wilder. The story was based on a 1927 crime perpetrated by a married Queens woman and her lover. Ruth (Brown) Snyder persuaded her boyfriend to kill her husband, after having her spouse take out a big insurance policy - with a double-indemnity clause. The murderers were quickly identified and arrested.
Plot Description
The film tells the story of an insurance salesman (MacMurray) who finds himself entwined in a plot to kill a woman''s husband. A tenacious investigator (Robinson) thinks it''s foul play and may suspect his co-worker and the recently widowed femme fatale.
The title of the film is a reference to a frequently-found provision in many life insurance policies in which an amount twice the amount which would normally be paid to the beneficiary becomes payable in the event of the accidental death of the insured. An alternate ending was shot for the film (to appease censors) featuring killer MacMurray going to the gas chamber. This footage is lost but stills of the scene still exist.
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Critics' Opinions
Today, the film is considered a classic. Film critic Roger Ebert in his review of the film praises the director Wilder and cinematographer Seitz: "The photography by John F. Seitz helped develop the noir style of sharp-edged shadows and shots, strange angles and lonely Edward Hopper settings." A review of the film in the New York Times September 7, 1944 gave the film a negative review. Reviewer Bosley Crowther found Edward G. Robinson''s supporting role excellent but also stated "Such folks as delight in murder stories for their academic elegance alone should find this one steadily diverting, despite its monotonous pace and length. Indeed, the fans of James M. Cain''s tough fiction might gloat over it with gleaming joy."
Woody Allen considers this film to be the greatest ever made.
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