CONNECTION TO PREVIOUS ENTRY: None! This is the first film! Let’s hope it connects to the last.
SOURCE: Personal Collection–Criterion Collection 4k Blu Ray
STARRING: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson
CO-STARS: Jean Heather, Porter Hall, Richard Gaines, Byron Barr
DIRECTOR: Billy Wilder
COMPOSER: Miklos Rozsa
STUDIO: Paramount
SUMMARY: Walter Neff (MacMurray), an insurance salesman is seduced by Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) into murdering her husband (Barr). Neff cooks up a scheme that will allow Phyllis to take advantage of her husband’s insurance policy’s “Double Indemnity” clause that yields a larger payout should the insured die in an unusual manner. After the murder, the circumstances surrounding Mr. Dietrichson’s unusual death arouse the suspicions of Walter’s boss, insurance investigator, Barton Keyes (Robinson).
FAVORITE PART(S):
1) The murder of Phyllis Dietrichson’s husband, by Walter, in the car. Stanwyck’s face is absolutely brilliant as she shows Phyllis’ true nature.
2) Walter and Phyllis trying to be incognito in the grocery store. Walter is 6’3 and towers over the shelves and Phyllis has that bad blonde wig and big sunglasses–everyone is noticing them the second they walk in.
3) “Medford Man” Jackson (Hall). As a native Oregonian, listening to Jackson rattle off a bunch of Oregon cities (Klamath Falls, Corvallis, Medford) is fun. I also like his emphasis on being a “Medford Man.” As someone who has been to Medford a few times, Jackson’s pride re: being from Medford is hilarious. I also appreciate that the Medford Man didn’t call Oregon, “Or-eh-gone.” For the record, it’s pronounced “Ore-uh-gun.”
4) I also love the camaraderie between Neff and Keyes. I love that they use their fingernails to light matches for each others cigarettes/cigars. The scene where Keyes uses his nail to light a match for Neff’s cigarette is very poignant.
5) All of Fred MacMurray’s dialogue. Normally a character calling a woman “baby” is annoying; but for whatever reason, I like it coming from MacMurray in a film noir setting.
BEST QUOTE(S):
WALTER: Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money–and a woman–and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty isn’t it?
PHYLLIS: There’s a speed limit in this town, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour.
WALTER: How fast was I going officer?
PHYLLIS: I’d say about ninety.
WALTER: Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket.
PHYLLIS: Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.
WALTER: Suppose it didn’t take.
PHYLLIS: Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles.
WALTER: Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder.
PHYLLIS: Suppose you try putting it on my husband’s shoulder.
WALTER: That tears it.
WALTER: How could I have known that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?
EDWARD S. NORTON: That witness from the train, what was his name?
BARTON: His name was Jackson–probably still is.
BARTON: Have you made up your mind?
MEDFORD MAN: Mr. Keyes, I’m a Medford Man. Medford, Oregon. Up in Medford, we take our time making up our minds.
BARTON: Well we’re not in Medford now, we’re in a hurry.
(A few minutes later after Jackson says that Mr. Dietrichson was not on the train)
KEYES: Will you swear to this?
MEDFORD MAN: I’m a Medford Man. Medford, Oregon. And if I say it, I mean it, and if I mean it, of course I’ll swear it.