TCM Comments on Double Indemnity (1944)

THE film noir on Noir Alley.

[@ottawaandy8580]

My favourite movie of all time.

[@clara5924]

I discovered Double Indemnity because I adore Ed G Robinson and have admired his acting since I was in theater school. Since then, I've developed a fondness for noir films.

[@jettrink7510]

This finest movie review I've ever heard.

[@erika7674]

Thank you for your informed and intelligent comments! I watched this film the other night for the first time, when it was one of a triple bill of great American classics on Sony Movie Classics. What a treat, what a great evening's viewing and what a film! I can't believe that I've lived for 69 years on this planet and have only just watched this brilliant movie! And it's still so thoroughly engaging and can easily compete with anything made recently, nearly eighty years on! I just loved the script - that clippy, snippy dialogue! So good!

[@darryljorden9177]

Thank you for nailing the character of Walter Neff. There was no need for someone to lead him on the path to criminality. He was already halfway there.

[@yvonnewellen]

Marvelous music too.

[@track1219]

Good film, right down the line

[@orbison]

LOL I see what you did there!

[@TheSaltydog07]

Jean Heather waits in Walter's car and accepts a ride if he's "Going My Way." That line is from Jean's other film of 1944, "Going My Way," which swept the academy awards, winning 7 of 10. "Double Indemnity" was nominated for 7 and lost to Leo McCarey for Best Picture for "Going My Way."

[@patrick4662]

the music, the performances, the noir staging and lighting, the knife-sharp tit-for-tat dialogue that dominates the film, those supermarket scenes, the ultimate bromance between keyes and neff. This film had so much going for it.

[@stephencarter7266]

There was no "bromance" in this film. One could argue that there was a bromance in a film like 'Gilda', but when I think of an ultimate bromance, I think of 'Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid', not DI.

[@user-mb2us5vq4t]

Excellent film two great actors !!!

[@goopah]

Great delivery of a fantastic summary of what makes this film one of the best of its kind. More of this, please!

[@femmefatalecultclassics]

I screamed when he said Billy Wilder will come back from the grave and hunt everyone envolved😂

[@fuckcensorshipforeal]

Fine review, especially elucidating the motivations of the main actors.

[@rodneykingston6420]

There are still photos of the execution scene. One was featured in The Movie Buff's book back in the 70s. It was completely acknowledged that the scene was going to be in the movie in order to satisfy the censor's requirement that all criminals are punished, so it's not exactly a bold "theory."

[@TheSaltydog07]

I'm glad it didn't make it. Wilder is a genius.

[@75aces97]

Never knew Raymond Chandler was an oil exec before writing. Wasn't the murdered husband in this film an oil exec?

[@Sonincognito]

LOVE this film!

[@stevensica89]

There is a low-rent B feature from 1954 obviously patterned after "Double Indemnity.: "A Life At Stake" with Angela Lansbury [the future Jessica Fletcher and mommy of The Manchurian Candidate] and Keith Andes. And best of all you can find it on KZbin at : A Life at Stake (1954) [Film Noir] [Drama] - KZbin

[@stevensica89]

There is also a 1973 made-for-Tv remake. It stars Richard Crenna, Samatha Egar and Lee J Cobb. It was written by Steven Bocho, who went on to create "Hill Street Blues" and "LA Law."

[@njgrandma3519]

Great review! I just watched the movie for the first time, and was awestruck.

[@kapilsethia9284]

This video itself very well written.

[@apachelogiano612]

It's not the first Film Noir of course, but it was the movie that made the point that something was happening in Hollywood. A new cinematographic style was born. And DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), the best Film Noir of all, is at the same time the fifth essence of Film Noir, and the model from which all subsequent films immersed in the Crime Film borrowed elements. The narrative tools contributed by this film by Wilder allowed to extend back the "Noir period" rediscovering with a new look at classics such as THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941), THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942) and THE GLASS KEY (1942).

[@apachelogiano612]

Mexico? XD dont cry little-pussy... And keep reading to me. Thanks!!!

[@apachelogiano612]

@BENNY HILL BENNY HILL = @EGGBERT INKABOD. You are my true fan. My true hater.

[@apachelogiano612]

@BENNY HILL Poor stupid. You appear arguing without arguments, and insulting gratuitously hidden in your shredded panties, and then you erase what you said, and you change your "name". I already know who you are. IP.

[@apachelogiano612]

@BENNY HILL You are so busted!!!!! HaHaHa!!!! and look at me: STUPID.

[@apachelogiano612]

@BENNY HILL I'm gay? Hahahaha!!! You have a picture of a woman in your profile. Sorry, Pam. And you cant write in lowercase... Sad.

[@transvestosaurus878]

I think people who have favourite films haven't seen enough films, but if someone said 'Double Indemnity', I wouldn't be mad.

[@Kurosawa3]

The Queen B of Film noir.

[@CliffBronson1212]

Great story 👏 😊❤❤❤

[@user-fd1lj2ln7o]

My God this movie still haunts me.

[@Mftjan2000]

Excellent! Thank you.

[@jaykauffman4775]

Based on the Snyder-Gray case known today for the photo of Ruth Snyder in the electric chair

[@MahmoudIsmail1988.]

Great

[@adamzanzie]

If Wilder and Chandler shared that Oscar nomination, then why would Chandler need Wilder to invite him to the ceremony? Wouldn’t they have both been allowed to attend, and invite their own guests?

[@randywhite3947]

He probably forgot

[@davedalton1273]

I long ago lost track of how many times I have watched "Double Indemnity". I saw it for the first time on late night TV and realized instantly that it was great. Barbara Stanwick is the archetypical femme fatale, in a performance for the ages. And McMurray, playing against type, is a revelation. Practically no one could plumb the depths of American greed, lust and depravity like Wilder. I guess it takes an emigrant to penetrate the dark corners of American life.

[@stephencarter7266]

Yeah, I guess native born americans like John Huston and Howard Hawks didn't quite cut the mustard.😒

[@christophergrewe3651]

Great movie review!!!!

[@TheSaltydog07]

Compared to Wilder's and Chandler's brilliant script, Cain's book is downright bizarre. If you don't want to read it, you can get it on audio at KZbin. I'd like to know if anybody agrees with me.

[@LoranHarding]

Just think of what Wilder and Chandler and all the team did with Cain's book! Think of the talent that went into the final cut of the movie. It is my favorite movie. Hollywood could take an unexciting little story and flesh it out and blow it up to this movie!! It's as if something has been worked on us.

[@TheSaltydog07]

👍 agree

[@stephencarter7266]

​@@LoranHardingThe Cain book really wasn't that bad. It's actually pretty good; just different (especially the ending). I do think your praise of the film was a little _CAP_ .

[@LoranHarding]

I am Loran Harding. I have no idea why you involve me here. I know I have posted comments re DI since it is my favorite movie, but nothing about the Cain book. While I am here, ever notice the following? When Walter is in the living room waiting for Phyllis to put something on and come down, he walks toward the camera after feeding the gold fish.. @@stephencarter7266 Notice that they create a shadow there of a wall that does not exist above him, and which he is walking under toward the camera. They probably cut a circular cut in a piece of plywood and moved that as he walked toward the camera. Check it out. DI is a movie masterpiece. The story fits together like a watch. Could be a lot of why I love it so. Also, try to figure out how they did the scene where Walter gets up from the train tracks and brushes himself off. We see the SP train receding in the background, and that was NOT rear screen projection. So, how did they film that. I figured it out long ago. The train was moving at steady speed throughout that scene. How did they shoot it?

[@johnhenryclark911]

That Is Ridiculous Statement , Saying That Barbara Stanwick Was Not "Beautiful!" But , Like This Host Said , That This Comment Came From Some "Teenagers."🙄 So I 🤔 Guess 🤷🏻‍♂️ That You Cannot Take Anything Seriously 😒 From Teenagers , That Do Not Want To Admit , That Any Woman 👠👠 From The 1940's , Was Beautiful! I Think 🤔 That Barbara Stanwick Was Beautiful! 😍 I Want To Tell Those Teenagers , That They Ought To Be Thankful , That Their Great-Grandfathers Found Thier Great-Grandmothers Beautiful ❤️❤️❤️❤️, In The 1940's , Or Else , They Would Not 🚫 Be Alive , Today!🤔😬😱🤯😎🤓🙂☺️ I Am Typing This At 12:40 p.m. , Thursday Afternoon 🌁🛤️🛣️🏙️ , April 25, 2024.

[@bernardthefourth]

Loved it.

[@austinteutsch]

Double Indemnity The Postman Always Rings Twice and Body Heat all have the same theme of lust and murder. I watched Body Heat the other night and backstory of the cops looking for William Hurt's character as the murderer is classic because Kathleen Turner's Maddie is a double crosser. All three are great movies. BTW the best gas chamber scene of all time was in the movie "I Want To Live" IMO. Right up until the pellets hit the water.

[@michaelharrington7656]

A great film I have seen many time,but it is not without flaws. At the first meeting Walter is ludicrously rude and suggestice in his speaking to Phyliss. A seasoned and respectable insurance salesman would never behave like that so soon.

[@keelyleilani1326]

Johnny Eager from 1941 is the first Film Noir.

[@user-mb2us5vq4t]

0:27

[@victormaloney8036]

Before the days ir targeted individuales

[@stephencarter7266]

Nah, there was no damned "love story" between Neff and Keyes. That was a terrible almost "woke" interpretation of this film.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Yes, that is absurd. They were good friends.

[@capacola262743]

the wig was awful.

[@patrick4662]

I've seen that a lot. I'm a millenial and I just watched the film in 2023 for the first time. Its only the 2nd film I've seen with Barbara Standwyck. Honestly I wasn't distracted or anything, it didn't take away from the film for me. But maybe if I grew up in the 40s and knew her face more it would have been more jarring.

[@capacola262743]

no, it didn't take away from the film. it was just a bad wig. @@patrick4662