Double Indemnity

"I killed him for money - and a woman - and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. "

An insurance rep (Fred MacMurray) lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme with the wife of an oilman (Barbara Stanwyck) that arouses an insurance investigator's (Edward G. Robinson) suspicions. Directed by Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17), as with all scheme movies the plan doesn't work as well as it looked on paper, and characters are forced to continue to cover their tracks until the truth can be revealed.

The film is pure noir: mystery, guns, light and dark shadows, femme fatales, and a morally ambiguous lead character. The script took 8 years before it was finally deemed suitable for audiences. Even as it is, the film includes things that would have been considered borderline at the time: The secret romance, a wife killing her husband, the homosexual subtexts.

The film fits together nicely, Keyes' reasoning is believable enough for his belief in that it wasn't an "accident". The way Neff places paper in the alarm and in the phone, to see if anyone walked in or called him while he was out committing the crime is genius. Even the Insurance Agent manager's belief in suicide is plausible, until Keyes gives an even better reasoning for why it isn't plausible.

A couple of things I found odd... Why did Neff go to Keyes' office and record everything, if his plan was to make a run for it anyways? Anyone else notice a wedding ring on Neff's left hand? Pretty sure he wasn't married....

Also how did Neff light the matches with his bare hands...

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8 out of 10 stars