DOUBLE INDEMNITY

Review: An insurance man is corrupted into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator’s suspicions.
Director: Billy Wilder
Actors: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson
Year: 1944
Genre: Crime and Drama
Conclusion: 4/5
A classic black and white film. This is based on a short story by James M Cain. Cracking screenplay co-written by Raymond Chandler although both he and Billy Wilder did not get on while writing the script. Brilliant musical score. Nearly 20 years later Billy Wilder and Fred MacMurray team up again for The Apartment (1960). Other classic films that the director has worked on are films such as Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Some Like It Hot (1959). Double Indemnity was his third film as a director. All the way through this Barbara Stanwyck wears a blonde wig. Her house that they use still stands today, the address is 6301 Quebec Drive. Gregory Peck was up for the leading role but obviously declined. The themes that occur in this are killing, sexuality and greed. There is also the old familiar one which is that there is no such thing as a perfect crime and also that crime does not pay. One film critic wrote “This classic thriller from director Billy Wilder is one of the best-loved examples of film noir ever made”.