Double Indemnity (1944)

The penultimate film noir, other than perhaps The Maltese Falcon (1941). Fred MacMurray plays Walter Neff, an insurance salesman seduced by Barbara Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson (AFI's #8 villain) into killing her husband (Tom Powers). Edward G. Robinson is the claims manager, Barton Keyes, who is assigned to investigate. Noted character actor Porter Hall also appears, as a kind of witness to the "act". Richard Gaines plays an insurance company executive, whom Robinson 'dresses down' in one of the movie's many taut scenes. The story is told in flashback, by MacMurray's character, who gets to watch Robinson's work the case (not unlike the way Peter Falk later played TV's Columbo). The film received Academy Award nominations in several categories, but failed to win a single Oscar: Best Picture, Best Actress for Stanwyck, Best Director for Billy Wilder, Screenplay by Raymond Chandler and Wilder, its John Seitz B&W Cinematography, its Miklós Rózsa Score, and Sound by Loren Ryder. #38 on AFI’s 100 Greatest Movies list. #24 on AFI’s Most Heart-Pounding Movies list. #84 on AFI’s 100 Greatest Love Stories list. Added to the National Film Registry in 1992.

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