Double Indemnity (1944)
Country: US
Technical: bw 107m
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Synopsis:
An insurance salesman pays a housecall to renew an automobile policy, and is drawn by the wife and his own professional hubris into an ingenious plot of murder that will fool even his friend and colleague the claims assessor, or so he thinks.
Review:
With a screenplay by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, this is an object lesson in how to write dialogue, as well as how to construct a great story arc. The chemistry between the leads is not all it's sold to be; Stanwyck does not so much sizzle as sputter, but MacMurray makes a convincing show of falling for her. You also have to take the leap of faith that this straight-up guy who has not sharpened anything more lethal than a pencil would be capable of a double homicide. Still, like all great classics this improves on successive viewings. Then you can appreciate that the real relationship is between Robinson and MacMurray, what with all that match stuff.
Country: US
Technical: bw 107m
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Synopsis:
An insurance salesman pays a housecall to renew an automobile policy, and is drawn by the wife and his own professional hubris into an ingenious plot of murder that will fool even his friend and colleague the claims assessor, or so he thinks.
Review:
With a screenplay by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, this is an object lesson in how to write dialogue, as well as how to construct a great story arc. The chemistry between the leads is not all it's sold to be; Stanwyck does not so much sizzle as sputter, but MacMurray makes a convincing show of falling for her. You also have to take the leap of faith that this straight-up guy who has not sharpened anything more lethal than a pencil would be capable of a double homicide. Still, like all great classics this improves on successive viewings. Then you can appreciate that the real relationship is between Robinson and MacMurray, what with all that match stuff.
Country: US
Technical: bw 107m
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Synopsis:
An insurance salesman pays a housecall to renew an automobile policy, and is drawn by the wife and his own professional hubris into an ingenious plot of murder that will fool even his friend and colleague the claims assessor, or so he thinks.
Review:
With a screenplay by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, this is an object lesson in how to write dialogue, as well as how to construct a great story arc. The chemistry between the leads is not all it's sold to be; Stanwyck does not so much sizzle as sputter, but MacMurray makes a convincing show of falling for her. You also have to take the leap of faith that this straight-up guy who has not sharpened anything more lethal than a pencil would be capable of a double homicide. Still, like all great classics this improves on successive viewings. Then you can appreciate that the real relationship is between Robinson and MacMurray, what with all that match stuff.