An Entertaining Documentary About Double Indemnity
The DVD provides a 38-minute documentary titled "Shadows of Suspense" in which a gaggle of talking heads discuss various aspects of the movie Double Indemnity from the publication of the eight-part series by James M. Cain in Liberty magazine through Oscar night. (The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography.) They repeat every story, apocryphal or not, about the film. For example, the one where at the Oscar ceremony Wilder deliberately tripped Leo McCarey as he was walking up to get the Best Director statuette for Going My Way. Or the one where the Paramount studio head said upon seeing Double Indemnity's leading lady wearing her wig, "We hired Barbara Stanwyck, we got George Washington."
The documentary touches on the fact that Wilder shot an alternate ending in which Barton Keyes witnesses Walter Neff's execution in the San Quentin gas chamber. James Ursini says it was cut because test screening audiences wouldn't stand for that happening to the beloved Fred MacMurray.
Worthwhile Audio Commentary by Richard Schickel
The DVD contains an interesting feature-length audio commentary by film historian Richard Schickel. He declares, "I do really believe that Double Indemnity is the first true film noir." He may be right, but The Maltese Falcon, which came out three years earlier, is widely considered to be a film noir. Also, some experts propose the little-known 1940 movie Stranger on the Third Floor as the first film noir. There's plenty of room for argument here since there's no consensus definition of the term "film noir."
Schickel does a good job of putting Double Indemnity into historical context. He points out where the movie differs from Cain's novella, and he has quite a bit to say about Raymond Chandler, who collaborated with Wilder in writing the screenplay. He has high praise for Stanwyck's acting, saying she's always playing "in the moment."
Good Audio Commentary by Screenwriter Lem Dobbs
The DVD supplies a second feature-length audio commentary, this one by screenwriter Lem Dobbs. Dobbs does most of the talking, but he is accompanied by film historian Nick Redman. Dobbs has obviously carefully studied Wilder's oeuvre, but he also knew the great director personally. This apparently came about because Wilder was an avid art collector and Dobbs is the son of noted painter R B Kitaj. Through his father, Dobbs also knows famous artist David Hockney.
Dobbs mentions that Wilder thought Stanwyck's wig was a big mistake. Dobbs also says the screenplay ends with Keyes witnessing Neff's execution and the final sentence reads, "Keyes walks away, a forlorn and lonely man." Dobbs also expresses some strong opinions. He prefers the darker Wilder films, such as Double Indemnity (1944), Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Ace in the Hole (1951). He believes Wilder was slightly ruined by his screenwriting collaboration with I.A.L. Diamond because his films got stagier and more sitcom-like. Among other movies, Diamond worked with Wilder on Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment(1960).
The Made-for-TV Version of Double Indemnity
The DVD set contains a 1973 made-for-television version of Double Indemnity that stars Richard Crenna as Walter Neff, Samantha Eggar as Phyllis Dietrichson and Lee J. Cobb as Barton Keyes. The TV remake retains the plot and much of the dialogue of the big-screen original. But the television movie has the sensibility of a Columbo episode and is, at best, merely serviceable network TV fare. I recommend it only as a curiosity.
DVD Details
Below I have given the details for the Double Indemnity Special Edition DVD set.
Release Date: August 22, 2006
Number of Discs: 2
Feature Film Run Time: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
Full-Screen (1.33:1), Black-and-White
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
English Captions for the Hearing Impaired
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Video Intro by Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne (2 1/2 min.)
Audio Commentary by Film Historian Richard Schickel
Audio Commentary by Screenwriter With Film Historian
Documentary About Double Indemnity (38 min.)
Made-for-TV Version of Double Indemnity (1 hr. 14 min.)
Theatrical Trailer
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