Similarities Between Double Indemnity And Body Heat

The two films, Double Indemnity (1944) and Body Heat (1981), are both very similar even with the thirty-seven year gap between them. In Double Indemnity, Walter Neff, an experienced salesman for his local insurance company, meets the seductive wife of one of his clients, Phyllis Dietrichson. They have an affair and quickly decide to kill Mrs. Dietrichson’s husband so she can collect the proceeds of the accident insurance policy and be with Walter Neff. Neff comes up with a plan to kill her husband and to also receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. The police believe it was an accidental death, but the insurance analyst and Neff’s best friend, Barton Keyes, believe there is more to the story. After Neff kills Mrs. Dietrichson,

Double Indemnity was literally a black, dark film considering it was filmed in black and white. Even though the black and white made it seem dark in light and shadows, the film was still a dark dramatic movie. Body Heat has color to it, but they also had dark dimmed lighting and shadows illuminated off the wall. Not including just the color of the films, both films were dark and twisted because of the storyline. They are part of the film noir tradition mainly because they have the criminal, violent, and greedy perspectives that make them evil. As we already know, in Double Indemnity, the two lovers agree to killing the husband. The audience thinks the two lovers are wrong and twisted because they kill the husband. What truly makes them evil is when Mrs. Dietrichson plans to kill Neff so she can have all the money (and maybe be with Nino Zachetti), and when Walter Neff decides to kill Mrs. Dietrichson for doing him dirty. In Body Heat, the audience also knows that the two intimate lovers kill the husband as well. The audience becomes shocked when they realize that the fake Matty Tyler Walker kills the real one so she can convince the police she died in the house boat explosion. Luckily, Racine figures out her plan and does not fall into going into the rigged boat house for the

As stated earlier, Double Indemnity was filmed in black and white only. Without color, the movie is more dark and gloomy, making the mood of the movie intense and suspenseful. In body heat, the movie is filmed in color, but the colors are darker and less vibrant. The darker colors help in making the movie have a dark intense mood to make it suspenseful. The color of the movies also help show how much more the characters and their actions are evil and twisted. The color adds so much in making the movie good and entertaining. Too much color in a film noir can make it seem less exciting and give away to what will happen next. With dark colorless scenes, the audience can feel the tension and anxiety and not know what to expect