Double Indemnity (1944)
97%RT Audience Score: 95%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 7 Oscars
2 wins & 9 nominations total
A dark, tautly constructed adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel — penned by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler — Double Indemnity continues to set the standard for the best in Hollywood film noir.
If you’re in the mood for a movie that’s as dark and twisted as your ex’s sense of humor, then Double Indemnity is the flick for you. This adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel is so tautly constructed, you’ll feel like you’re on the edge of your seat the whole time. And with Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler penning the script, you know you’re in for a real treat. This movie is the gold standard for film noir, and it’s easy to see why. So grab some popcorn, turn off the lights, and get ready for a wild ride. Just don’t blame us if you start seeing shadows in every corner of your room afterwards.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
6301 Quebec Drive, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Passed
Year of Release
1944
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 46m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 6, 1944 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 29, 2006
Genre(s)
Crime/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $14,190
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $284,736
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,866
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 31,051
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Barbara Stanwyck – Phyllis Dietrichson
Edward G. Robinson – Barton Keyes
Porter Hall – Mr. Jackson
Fortunio Bonanova – Sam Garlopis
Jean Heather – Lola Dietrichson
Director(s)
Billy Wilder
Writer(s)
James M. Cain, Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler
Producer(s)
Joseph Sistrom
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 7 Oscars
2 wins & 9 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (101) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (98) | Rotten (3)
Double Indemnity is a ruthless and poignant cornucopia of the details that command our lives.
May 26, 2022
Chuck Bowen
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Barbara Stanwyck Is consistently tough throughout and gives an excellent performance.
February 17, 2022
Mary Hunt
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A powerful, ruthless and almost cruelly exciting picture in which Fred MacMurray and Bareara Stanwyck do the finest acting of their respective careers.
November 19, 2020
Marjory Adams
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Barbara Stanwyck has given many interesting portrayals of femininity on the screen, but she has never presented as subtle and indelible a characterization as the one of Phyllis Dietrichson in “Double Indemnity.”
November 18, 2020 | Rating: 4/4
Kate Cameron
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Brilliantly and toughly directed by Billy Wilder.
November 18, 2020
Mildred Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
To director Billy Wilder goes the credit for the suspense of the picture Its excitement stays at high pitch and its tension keeps a spectator at seats edge throughout.
November 18, 2020
Ida Belle Hicks
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
TOP CRITIC
The murder isn’t the result of a battle between good and evil, but rather a natural response to a system that had no place for either Phyllis or Neff, both pawns in someone else’s game. Capitalism is the true villain of Double Indemnity.
June 27, 2022
Ian Thomas Malone
Ian Thomas Malone
It made Stanwyck the queen bee of film noir and Phyllis Dietrichson is her definitive incarnation: a platinum blonde with a heart of brass and a tarnished soul.
June 25, 2022
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand
Billy Wilder’s first great movie. It’s quite unlike anything else the director ever made, a hard, smooth, crime film full of cynicism and lust and constantly alive and tingling.
June 11, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
There’s so much to admire here and so much technical craft on display.
May 26, 2022
Rob Aldam
Backseat Mafia
It does not engage the emotions, mercifully. Rather it invites the laying of odds as to whether the guilty parties will “get away with it.”
February 17, 2022
T.C. Kemp
Birmingham Post
An ingenious, cleverly written and well acted melodrama, which teems with suspense and thrills.
February 17, 2022
Reg Whitley
Daily Mirror (UK)…
Plot
In 1938, Walter Neff, an experienced salesman of the Pacific All Risk Insurance Co., meets the seductive wife of one of his clients, Phyllis Dietrichson, and they have an affair. Phyllis proposes to kill her husband to receive the proceeds of an accident insurance policy and Walter devises a scheme to receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. When Mr. Dietrichson is found dead on a train track, the police accept the determination of accidental death. However, the insurance analyst and Walter’s best friend Barton Keyes does not buy the story and suspects that Phyllis has murdered her husband with the help of another man.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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