Double Indemnity

Another murder noir where the woman’s a bitch! Thankfully, this movie is truly excellent, unlike The Postman Always Rings Twice.
It deals with insurance salesman Walter Neff, played brilliantly by underrated actor Fred MacMurray, who gets involved with ultra-bitch Phyllis Dietrichson, played by Barbara Stanwyck, who convinces Walter to take out a huge insurance with a double indemnity clause so they can kill her husband and live ‘happily ever after’. The murder occurs, and as Walter discovers that her lovely Phyllis isn’t as in love with him as he thought, things go haywire pretty quickly. The photography John Seitz and direction by Billy Wilder are pretty damn flawless, keeping the suspense and reflecting the grittiness of the story full-time. It laid the foundation of what would come in the future, in the genre of film noir. The acting is great too, with MacMurray and tough-guy extraordinaire Edward G. Robinson kicking ass in both their roles as insurance workers. But it’s Barbara Stanwyck who steals the show, playing one of the meanest, seductive cunts I’ve ever seen on the screen. Seriously, every time she was on, I wanted to slap her. This movie is not to be missed, and is one of the best crime stories ever.

On a side note, did you know the film was based on a real life case involving a bitch named Ruth Snyder? Here’s the last picture she ever took.