Photo by The Quintessential Film Noir: Double Indemnity Still Brings Genre Conventions Together Perfectly
In many ways, the story of early/mid-20th-century America can be told through the prism of the films that comprised the golden age of Hollywood. As America came of age and found its feet as a global superpower, its national growing pains and neuroses were reflected back to us through the lens of this new art form.
The Western represented the frontier spirit and the uncomplicated values of rugged individualism. The musical reflected the unabashed enthusiasm and optimistic spirit of a young country finding its voice. Seen through this prism, film noir gives us a more mature and cynical perspective of the underbelly of the American dream.
The dark and moody palette of film noir
Double Indemnity is, for many, the quintessential noir. Celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, it possesses so many of the staples that define the genre: the blonde femme fatale, the moody voice-over of the grizzled protagonist sucked into a life of crime, and of course, the double crosses and that wonderful rat-tat dialogue.
The film follows the fortunes of Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), an insurance agent bored with his work, who becomes entangled with the trophy wife of a client. Together, they hatch a plan to commit the perfect crime. They will use his detailed knowledge of the insurance industry to construct the murder of her husband, claim the insurance, and run off into the sunset together. However, things do not go exactly according to plan.
“I didn’t get the money, and I didn’t get the girl. Pretty, isn’t it?” - Walter Neff
Double Indemnity is that rare example of a film that is undeniably a ‘genre movie’ in that it strictly adheres to the conventions of the genre to which it belongs. It may, in fact, have the honor of codifying many of those conventions. However, unlike most ‘genre movies,’ it is a stone-cold classic and stands up today.
Every element that we associate with film noir is present but perfectly calibrated for maximum effect. It is a film with a dark and moody palette, a score that builds suspense effectively throughout the drama, a tight, near-perfect script, and most of all, some of the most electrifying performances committed to screen.
Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, the glamorous and entirely untrustworthy wife
Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, the glamorous and entirely untrustworthy wife, is pitch-perfect as a femme fatale. It is a role that requires the actor to embody the conflicting qualities of vulnerable innocence and craven cynicism, and very few have ever done it better. For the film to work, the audience has to believe that a man could fall in love and be prepared to throw his life away for her in an instant. Her performance, arguably more than MacMurray’s or Edward G. Robinson’s, anchors the film.
MacMurray brings a world-weary shrug to his role as Neff, a man who considers himself someone who knows a thing or two about a thing or two, whose world quickly unravels when he discovers that he might have overestimated his capabilities. Throughout the film, he is chased by his friend and colleague Barton Keyes, played with customary panache by Edward G. Robinson, the archetypal character actor chomping on a cigar throughout.
The joy to be found in Double Indemnity comes not from the plot, which is predictable to anyone that has seen any film noir, but in the trappings and genre elements that hang it all together. In spite of the familiarity of its conventions, this is a movie that is still worth watching in 2024.
A classic film noir poster
