Devastation after devastation struck the American people during the Golden Age of cinema, 1929-1945. An economic cataclysm sent many into an emotional torment. Depravity, anxiety, and despair plagued the country, while the rest of the world feared Germany’s tyrannical domination. This difficult era marks America’s Great Depression as it led into the Second World War. Industries across the United States eroded from waves of debt and budget cuts, until a national effort was made to come together against the axis powers. These societal forces put Hollywood in a unique position to respond to the situation, with escapism being its greatest contribution. Films were “designed to provide a couple hours of mindless relief from the miseries of the decade.” …show more content…
Soldiers were returning from overseas with the realization that war was not like the movies; there was no glamor in agony. From the falsities of optimism came pessimism, and through pessimistic artists came film noir: a trend of cinema that included a “dark, brooding atmosphere” with an “equally somber vision of life” (Rise of Film Noir 60). Characteristically speaking, this was Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder and released on September 7, 1944. Although movie historians agree Maltese Falcon pioneered film noir, Double Indemnity solidified the style during Hollywood’s transition out of the Golden Age (early film noir 15). This film was the unique result of competing desires: America’s for realist perspective, Wilder’s for original content and emotional engagement, the industry’s for moral structure, and the studio’s for reduced set expenditures paired with proven thematic patterns for cinematic …show more content…
Hollywood’s escapism became mockingly obvious over the years. For a few hours, an audience was offered brief relief…until the theater lights flicked on. Reality kicked in for the rest of the week, and the world was experienced for what it really was: flawed, corrupt, and untrustworthy – just like the humans who occupied it. Screenplay writers Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler chose not to paint Earth as a picture of perfection. Instead, they produced Double Indemnity, a film that offered “chilling predatory realism as lust, greed and passion overrode conscience and decency” (Early Film Noir 36). The plotline follows Walter Neff, an insurance salesman who is seduced by the wife of one of his clients, Phyllis Dietrichson. A love affair ensues, followed by the coordinated murder of Mr. Dietrichson in order “to receive the proceeds of an accident insurance policy” and “twice the amount [for Walter] based on a double indemnity clause.” The accomplices frame the crime as a train accident, but Barton Keyes, Walter’s best friend and coworker “suspects that Phyllis has murdered her husband with the help of another man” (IMDb). These characters realistically reflected the amoral environment that was Los Angeles at the time, a place littered with “rundown neighborhoods that have seen better days” (Rise of Film Noir 62). These are the types of people and places Americans