On every level -- writing, direction, acting -- Double Indemnity
(1944) is a triumph and stands as one of the greatest achievements in
Billy Wilder's career. Adapted from the James M. Cain novel by director
Wilder and novelist Raymond Chandler, it tells the story of an insurance
salesman, played by Fred MacMurray, who is lured into a
murder-for-insurance plot by Barbara Stanwyck, in an archetypal femme
fatale role. From its grim story to its dark, atmospheric lighting,
Double Indemnity is a definitive example of World War II-era film
noir. Wilder's approach is everywhere evident: in the brutal cynicism
the film displays, the moral complexity, and in the empathy we feel for
the killers. The film received almost unanimous critical success,
garnering seven Academy Award nominations. More than fifty years later,
most critics agree that this classic is one of the best films of all
time. The collaboration between Wilder and Raymond Chandler produced a
masterful script and some of the most memorable dialogue ever spoken in
a movie.
This facsimile edition of Double Indemnity contains Wilder and
Chandler's original -- and quite different -- ending, published here for
the first time. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction contextualizes the
screenplay, providing hilarious anecdotes about the turbulent
collaboration, as well as background information about Wilder and the
film's casting and production.
