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| Double Indemnity (Special Edition) |
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List Price: $26.98
Buy New: $18.99
You Save: $7.99 (30%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 94 reviews)
Sales Rank: 902
Category: DVD
Actors: Fred Macmurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber, Miriam Franklin, Oscar Smith, Kernan Cripps, Douglas Spencer, Harold Garrison, Betty Farrington, William O'leary (iii), Floyd Shackelford, Edmund Cobb, Sam Mcdaniel
Director: Billy Wilder
Publisher: Universal Studios
Studio: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Label: Universal Studios
Format: Color, Full Screen, Special Edition, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 107 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
UPC: 025192907821
EAN: 0025192907821
ASIN: B00005JNG5
Release Date: August 22, 2006 (In 27 Days)
Theatrical Release Date: September 6, 1944
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet released
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Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
Director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and writer Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy (notably in the TV series My Three Sons and the movie The Shaggy Dog), is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. --Jenny Brown
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Customer Reviews: Read 89 more reviews...
 More than just a movie star, Barbra Stanwyk July 13, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
is an excellent, professional actress. I like her more with every movie I see & she made a lot. In the hands of director Billy Wilder, this novel by Raymond Chandler is a masterpiece. The moment you see that lovely ankle of Phyllis, (Stanwyk) on the staircase, you know she's trouble. Run Fred run! Save yourself! Fred McMurray is taking a holiday from comedy to play oily insurance salesman, Walter. These are bad people about to plan some bad things. Even Phyllis' husband, the intended victim is a rotten SOB who deserves to die. Of course. It's Noir. They are also very interesting, including Edward G. Robinson as Keyes, the obsessive insurance investigator & colleague of Walter. He never gives up when he feels there is fraud. Walter falls for Phyllis & they plot to kill Phyllis' husband for the insurance. They have to be careful, its a fairly new policy that Walter drew up. It must look like an accident & their plan is a good one though complicated. You are never quite sure if Phyllis loves Walter or is playing him. The plot succeeds, then slowly starts to unravel. It is trite, but if you like Noir you may have already seen this essential. If not, it is still a superior thriller.
Top Notch Film Noir. May 22, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
From the moment Fred McMurray eyes Barbara Stanwyck you know he
is toast. And when he says he'll help her kill her husband you
know you are in for a treat. Billy Wilder directed this superb
example of film noir set in the California. Stanwyck and McMurray
aare great together and Edward G. Robinson is great as Keyes,
the insurance inspector whose "little man" inside tells him how
to spot a phony claim. This had been out of print for some time
and I am delighted that it is coming back in a new edition.
Murder Most Glamorous March 14, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
"Double Indemnity" is Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler's 1944 take on James Cain's classic tale of murder for greed.
Fred MacMurray is Walter Neff, an insurance man who meets Phyllis Diedrichson (Barbara Stanwyck)and immediately falls for her. Phyllis is married but as the ultimate femme fatale, she is looking for a way to ditch her husband and cash in at the same time. Walter quickly becomes Phyllis' puppet in the plot to murder her husband and learns that not only do things not go as originally planned, but that Phyllis is not exactly who she seems to be.
As in Wilder's later masterpiece "Sunset Boulevard", this story is told in flashback, with Walter narrating his fall from grace into an early dictaphone, for insurance investigator, Barton Keyes, played to perfection by Edward G. Robinson.
MacMurray, usually the genial good guy and later best remembered for his television roles, gives Walter just enough edginess to make him both sympathetic and convincing as an insurance salesman who is willing to get shady to make the sale and get the dame. Watching this movie will make you wonder why MacMurray never became a true leading man.
Barbara Stanwyck excels as the sultry Phyllis who, from the moment she enters the frame and you see her ankle bracelet, you know is trouble. Yet, like a bad train wreck, Walter can't tear himself away and neither can the viewer.
"Double Indemnity" (referring to the double indemnity of Mr. Diedrichson's insurance policy) is classic film noir at its best. The writing is crisp and catchy, the dialogue is peppered with great lines and phrases and the acting is stellar. Additionally, the character of Phyllis is unapologetically bad - - and that makes the movie good.
A real feast for the noir fan. Highly recommended.
Closer than that, Walter March 2, 2006
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
The hint throughout this beautifully plotted film is that Keyes is on to Walter's guilt right from the beginning. The early scenes establish that Keyes knows Walter is just a little shaky in the morality area (salesmanship is inherently dishonest), but he is fond of him. This submerged male bonding, coupled with misogyny, is thematic in most film noir. The woman is rotten: she leads the man astray. Walter could have escaped the gas chamber, if only he'd taken the offer put by the confirmed bachelor, Keyes. Being aware that Walter was the mysterious ringer with the foot in plaster, Keyes only has to let events take their natural course, and all will be revealed. The Zachetti subplot is just a smokescreen. At the same time he subtly indicates to Walter that he has it all figured out. That's why he has Walter attend the three meetings, first with the boss, then with Stanwyck, then with the man from the observation platform. When Stanwyck rings Walter to meet her at Jerry's for the second time there is a man shadowing her. He drives up tight behind her and closely watches her go into the market. He then notes that Walter converses with her. However, the direction never makes this explicit, and most of the audience never catches on. It's like Keyes tells Walter: you're not smarter than the rest of them, just a little taller. Walter thinks he outsmarted Keyes, and Keyes just lets him think it, right up to the gas chamber, and beyond. But Keyes feels sad about it, and he's only being kind. Really great writing.
 5 for the film, 2 for the transfer... averages out to a 3 December 31, 2005
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
This is one of the best crime/noir films ever made... would someone PLEASE release it on DVD with a decent transfer (Criterion, are you listening???). The image and sound quality on this aren't much better than on my old VHS copy, and that thing is about worn out.
Top quality film, an American classic that NEEDS proper presentation.
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