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Double Indemnity Movie Analysis

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Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity is a 1944 film noir directed by Billy Wilder starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. The film starts out by a successful insurance salesman returning to his office with a gunshot wound on his shoulder dictating a confession for his friend Barton Keyes, this starts the story off in flashback form. The flashback begins with Neff meeting Phyllis Dietrichson during a routine house call for her husband’s automobile insurance renewal, during this time Phyllis asks him how she could take out an accident policy on her husband’s life without him knowing. Neff realizes that she is planning on a murder and wants to have nothing to do with it. Eventually, when Phyllis shows up at his door he falls for it and decides …show more content…

Cain, which was inspired by a 1927 murder in Queens, New York whose trail Cain witnessed. In this crime, Ruth Snyder and persuaded her boyfriend Judd Gray to kill her husband Albert after having him take out a big insurance policy with a double indemnity clause. The murderers were quickly identified and convicted. Cain was pleased at how the film turned …show more content…

Phyllis, the femme fatale, was the literal downfall of Walter Neff caused by his emotions towards her. As critics have remarked, Phyllis was the perfect femme fatale because she was like a robot; emotionless and targeted towards her goal. She did not care who she had to use to gain what she wanted, and in this case, it was money. To contrast the static character of Phyllis, Neff is dynamic, emotional, and swayed easily. Just as how he was influenced by Phyllis to murder her husband, he was also moved by Lola and her remarks on Phyllis and what she had done. In the ending, however, there was a moment where they switched characteristics and acted how the other person would which was interesting. When Neff tells Phyllis to shoot him, she becomes emotional and tells him that this is the first time she has loved him and Neff simply shoots her and leaves her dead. This was an interesting transition and flip of personalities. The film in general was intricate and made the audience sympathize with Neff who tells the

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