#1126: WILDER, Billy: Double Indemnity (1944)
WILDER, Billy (United States)
Double Indemnity [1944]
Director/Writers
Double Indemnity [1944]
Spine #1126
Blu-ray
Has dialogue ever been more perfectly hard-boiled? Has a femme fatale ever been as deliciously evil as Barbara Stanwyck? And has 1940s Los Angeles ever looked so seductively sordid? Working with cowriter Raymond Chandler, director Billy Wilder launched himself onto the Hollywood A-list with this paragon of film-noir fatalism from James M. Cain’s pulp novel. When slick salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) walks into the swank home of dissatisfied housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck), he intends to sell her insurance, but he winds up becoming entangled with her in a far more sinister way. Featuring scene-stealing supporting work from Edward G. Robinson and the chiaroscuro of cinematographer John F. Seitz, Double Indemnity is one of the most wickedly perverse stories ever told and the cynical standard by which all noir must be measured.
108 minutes
Black and White
Black and White
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2022
From the novel by James M. Cain.
Screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler.
Wilder was 38 when he directed Double Indemnity.
Screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler.
Wilder was 38 when he directed Double Indemnity.
The Film
a
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Angelica Jade Bastién.
Commentary
Featuring film critic Richard Schickel.
Interview
With film scholar Noah Isenberg, editor of Billy Wilder on Assignment.
Conversation
Between film historians Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith.
1992 film
By Volker Schlöndorff and Gisela Grischow: Billy, How Did You Do It? featuring interviews with director Wilder.
Shadows of Suspense
A 2006 documentary on the making of Double Indemnity.
Radio adapations
From 1945 and 1950.
Trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Angelica Jade Bastién.
Commentary
Featuring film critic Richard Schickel.
Interview
With film scholar Noah Isenberg, editor of Billy Wilder on Assignment.
Conversation
Between film historians Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith.
1992 film
By Volker Schlöndorff and Gisela Grischow: Billy, How Did You Do It? featuring interviews with director Wilder.
Shadows of Suspense
A 2006 documentary on the making of Double Indemnity.
Radio adapations
From 1945 and 1950.
Trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
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