Compelling Crime Drama and Praiseworthy Extras
Directed by Billy Wilder and starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson, Double Indemnity (1944) is a great classic Hollywood movie and a seminal film noir. It's available on DVD as part of the Universal Legacy Series in a two-disc set that includes excellent bonus materials.Murder and Betrayal
The film's story is told by insurance salesman Walter Neff (MacMurray) as he records an interoffice memo on a Dictaphone. In the memo, Neff explains to his friend and coworker, claims manager Barton Keyes (Robinson), how one of their company's policyholders died. Neff dictates, "Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and for a woman. I didn't get the money, and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?"A Memorable Femme Fatale
It all began for Neff when he gazed upon the shapely legs of seductive Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) as she descended a staircase. She was wearing an anklet, and he was smitten. Soon Neff and Phyllis work out a scheme to murder her husband and collect on his insurance policy. As Neff recalls visiting the pleasant neighborhood where the Dietrichsons lived, he dictates, "It was a hot afternoon, and I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"Sacred and Profane Love
Neff and Keyes are insurance company coworkers who are good friends, and Keyes offers Neff a position as his assistant. But Neff declines because he is besotted with the exciting Phyllis, and he is committed to a plan to "crook" the system that Keyes has devoted 26 years of his life to protecting. However, when the relationship with Phyllis ends in disaster, Neff chooses to delay fleeing until after he's left a message for Keyes revealing the details of the fraudulent Dietrichson claim. The last line in the movie has Neff telling Keyes, "I love you, too."
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