Double Indemnity
Short description
Double Indemnity follows Walter Neff, an insurance salesman who calls on a client about renewing a policy on his car and instead becomes involved with the man's wife, Phyllis Dietrichson. The attraction between them leads to an affair and then to a plan: take out a life insurance policy on her husband and kill him in a way that would trigger a double payment. Neff's colleague Barton Keyes, a claims investigator with a sharp instinct for fraud, begins to suspect that something about the case does not add up, putting pressure on the scheme the two lovers have built.
The film was released in 1944 and runs 107 minutes. It was directed by Billy Wilder, the second of the twenty-two films he directed in chronological order, following Five Graves to Cairo and preceding The Lost Weekend, and Wilder wrote the screenplay with Raymond Chandler. Joseph Sistrom produced it for Paramount. Fred MacMurray plays Neff, Barbara Stanwyck plays Phyllis, and Edward G. Robinson plays Keyes, with Porter Hall, Jean Heather and Tom Powers among a credited cast of thirty-two. The film is rated 8.3 out of 10 on IMDb from around 181,000 votes and 8.1 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 2,100 votes, while a film critics' rating stands at 9.4 out of 10 from 110 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Production period: September 27 – November 24, 1943.
- The protagonist was originally named Walter Ness in the script. However, Wilder learned in time that a real insurance agent named Walter Ness lived in Beverly Hills. To avoid accusations of libel, the character's name was changed to Walter Neff.
- Wilder wrote the screenplay together with the famous detective author Raymond Chandler. They had a hard time getting along with each other, often argued, and once Chandler slammed the door and left, stating that he would only return when his demands were met. His demands were met, and he returned.
- The film is based on the novel of the same name by James M. Cain. Cain’s work is based on a real crime from 1927 that shook all of America.
- In 1992, the Library of Congress included "Double Indemnity" in the National Film Registry.
- The first script drafts appeared in 1935, but were blocked by censors of the Hays Code, who deemed the story immoral.
- One shot captures screenwriter Raymond Chandler, who accidentally wandered into the camera's frame.
- After the murder, Walter and Phyllis struggle to start the car for a long time. Wilder added this scene after his own car failed to start all day.
- In one scene, Neff and Keyes walk into the foyer and continue their conversation in the hallway. Neff holds open a door slightly ajar, behind which Phyllis is hiding at that moment. However, according to all fire safety regulations, in such a building, the door cannot open outwards – only inwards.
- Initially, Billy Wilder planned to end the film with a scene where Keyes watches Neff being sent to the gas chamber.
- Another potential finale could have been a scene where Case desperately watches as Neff is arrested by the police. However, Wilder decided that Case's desperation could only be explained if Neff died in his arms.
- In the scene where Neff kisses Phyllis, a wedding ring can be noticed on his finger. The fact is that MacMurray was married and had long been accustomed to not paying attention to the ring.
- Billy Wilder had very little time to find an actor for the lead role. But one after another, many Hollywood actors (such as George Raft) refused him. Only Fred MacMurray agreed – partly because he had long wanted to shed the tiresome image of a comedic performer.
- Of all the actors Wilder approached, only Dick Powell wanted to play the role of Walter. But he was under contract with another company, which refused to release him. An enraged Powell broke his contract, but it was too late – the role had already gone to MacMurray.
- For the role of Phyllis, the director wanted only Barbara Stanwyck. However, she seriously doubted whether she should play such a ruthless vixen. Then Wilder asked her: “Are you a mouse or an actress?”
- Billy Wilder made Barbara Stanwyck wear a white wig throughout the film. Later, he decided that the wig looked bad, unnatural, but it was too late to redo anything. And in interviews, Wilder stated that he deliberately made the wig look bad on Stanwyck. Producer Buddy J. DeSilva, alluding to the wig, quipped: “We hired Barbara Stanwyck and got George Washington.”
- Wilder invited Chandler as a co-author, as he was impressed by his novel 'The Big Sleep'. He was disappointed to find that Chandler was withdrawn, perpetually drunk, smoked like a locomotive, incapable of coming up with snappy dialogue and, moreover, as Wilder claimed, constantly tried to inject his sexual frustration into the script. This was Chandler's first attempt to work for the cinema.
- Mr. Dietrichson, Phyllis's husband, works in an oil company. This was Chandler's invention, as he himself worked as an 'oilman' for a while.
- George Raft was willing to play the role of Neff only on one condition – if it turned out in the finale that his character was an FBI agent trapping Phyllis Dietrichson. The demand was absurd; Wilder had to abandon Raft's candidacy.
- In the third episode of the fifth season of the series 'House of Cards', the main characters, Francis and Claire Underwood, watch this film on election day.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
