"Murder is never perfect. It always comes apart sooner or later."
Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944) isn't the first film noir, but it's probably the most influential. Murder takes a backseat to class storytelling in this highly entertaining classic.Insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) meets Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) on a routine visit. Unhappily married to a stuffy businessman (Tom Powers), Phyllis talks Walter into killing her husband and collecting the insurance money. Walter falls for Phyllis and the murder goes off without a hitch. Until Walter's colleague, claims investigator Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), realizes the story doesn't stand up. And the more Walter learns about Phyllis, the less appealing she becomes.
Working from James M. Cain's novel, Double Indemnity offers wonderful craftsmanship. Wilder and Raymond Chandler outfit their script with cynical narration ("Murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle") and endlessly quotable dialog. Both became noir staples, along with its intricate plotting, shadowy photography, dangerous dame and flashback structure. If films like The Maltese Falcon pioneered noir, Indemnity codified it.
Indemnity offers a master course in storytelling. Walter and Phyllis's chance meeting builds from shop talk to murder; Phyllis portrays herself as a smothered victim; stepdaughter Lola (Jean Heather) injects crucial backstory to undermine Walter's trust. The murder is perfectly staged while leaving enough loose ends to unnerve Keyes, whose introduction shows him exposing a fraud. Certainly he makes insurance work seem heroic!
The excitement Indemnity offers isn't in the murder (accomplished early and with little fanfare) but watching the plot fall apart. Walter's scenes with Lola reestablish his moral footing while presenting clues: why is Lola's boyfriend Nino (Byron Barr) meeting Phyllis? He uses Keyes' friendship to deflect suspicion but realizes he's a fool. Phyllis is a monster but it's Walter who executes the cold-blooded climax. Despite his protests, he's no less rotten than Phyllis.
Fred MacMurray sheds a career's worth of nice guy roles for a tough, tortured performance. Barbara Stanwyck similarly reinvents herself as a slinky sociopath. Less sultry than your average femme fatale, Stanwyck's cool, calculating intelligence makes her a credible monster. Edward G. Robinson's doggedness gives Indemnity its moral center. Jean Heather and Byron Barr offer engaging supporting turns.
Double Indemnity shows Billy Wilder at his best, spinning a near-flawless thriller. Often imitated but never bettered, it remains a top drawer attraction.