Case study: Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity was a film directed by Billy Wilder in 1944 and is an American based noir. The film was based of it written half which was made in 1943 and written by James M.Cain. It lasted a totals of 1hr 50 minutes of which the audience is shown many screen effects to add to the main plot of the film.

The film is about a salesman(Walter) who encounters a unique sales opportunity with a clients wife (Phyllis) which leads Walter to aid the femme fatale in her devious plot to rid herself of her husband. With the opportunity to double the pay-out from her husbands death by having him die on public transport the two get underway with their plan. The husbands death is ultimately done by Walter but is perceived as an accident on the husbands part. This leads to the questioning of Walter and Phyllis when the collection for the money comes around due to the brief time the insurance was set up naturally raising suspicion. The two have their last battle with fate leading Phyllis to shoot at Walter but not killing him but Walter to kill Phyllis.

The noir is black and white as it is one of the earlier film noirs created that has been watched by our group and relies heavily on plot and classic film noir features. There are very few locations used in the film keeping the audience draw to plot and character development throughout the film. With having few locations and strong black and white, the film is able to almost show a sub plot of each of the characters b their clear shadows aided with the constant smoking of certain characters. They also use long lasting camera angles to slow scenes down and just draw the audience into conversation. Conversations are long and fast paced which alternates from the long camera shots taken in conjunction to the scene. As any classic noir goes the plot leads or unravels a murder but double indemnity gives an entire narrative almost consistently even during the darker times of the film. There is also a suggestion of abuse between Phyllis and her husband at the time and because of this wants him dead- also because she gets a large sum of money to go with it.