# "Double Indemnity" (movie and book) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162 "2005-01-17T05:33:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/1 "2005-01-17T05:33:02Z")
The movie–my favorite film noir–is on TCM Tuesday the 18th at 8:00 p.m., catch it if you’ve never seen it. Coincidentally, I hauled out a video of it last week and watched it, and just now finished rereading the 1936 novelette by James M. Cain. It’s one of those cases where the book is as good as, or even better than, the movie, and in this case that’s quite a compliment. Though I’ll admit the _brilliant_ Carol Burnett parody (_Double Calamity_) has somewhat ruined the movie for me. The book is scary as . . . I was going to say “shit,” but shit’s not really all that scary, is it? I am not going to give away the ending (which is considerably different than the movie). But I will note that Phyllis, the Barbara Stanwyck character, is crazier than a shithouse rat. Here’s a little monologue of hers toward the beginning, where she and Walter are first planning to kill her husband: > [@](#): > > " . . . there’s something in me, I don’t know what. Maybe I’m crazy. But there’s something in me that loves Death. I think of myself as Death, sometimes. In a scarlet shroud, floating through the night. I’m so beautiful, then. And sad. And hungry to make the whole world happy, by taking them out where I am, away from all trouble, all unhappiness . . . Walter, this is the awful part. I know this is terrible. I tell myself it’s terrible. But to me, it doesn’t seem terrible. It seems as though I’m doing something–that’s really best for him, if only he knew it." And the ending of the book is one of the most chilling and terrifying bits of writing I have ever come across. So, watch the movie on Tuesday, then rush to the library and get the book!! ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/2 "2005-01-17T05:45:42Z")
Supposedly, later this year it’ll be released on DVD by Criterion, but we’ll see. It’s a shame that Billy Wilder’s second-best film is not yet on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/3 "2005-01-17T05:50:24Z")
You _gotta_ read the book. It’ll scare the pants off you. Or, if you’re pantsless while reading it, it will scare them back onto you. ---
**Author:** ![Southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southpaw)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/4 "2005-01-17T14:34:55Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Supposedly, later this year it’ll be released on DVD by Criterion, but we’ll see. It’s a shame that Billy Wilder’s second-best film is not yet on DVD. FYI **Gobear** it is on [DVD](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305077517/qid=1105972719/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-7060694-1689503?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846). It’s a bare-bones version, but better than nothing. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/5 "2005-01-17T14:43:58Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Supposedly, later this year it’ll be released on DVD by Criterion, but we’ll see. It’s a shame that Billy Wilder’s second-best film is not yet on DVD. I’ll bite… best is ? The Front Page The Fortune Cookie The Apartment Some Like It Hot Witness for the Prosecution The Seven Year Itch Sabrina Stalag 17 Ace in the Hole Sunset Blvd A Foreign Affair (1948) The Emperor Waltz (1948) Death Mills (1945) The Lost Weekend (1945) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/6 "2005-01-17T14:53:02Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Though I’ll admit the _brilliant_ Carol Burnett parody (_Double Calamity_) has somewhat ruined the movie for me. Yeah, she did it to GWTW for me. “It’s just something I saw in the window,” indeed! Fred MacMurray was great in “Double Indemnity,” too, though not as great as he was in the role in which he became My Personal Role Model and Hero For All Time: the father on “My Three Sons.” Man, he was brilliant! Okay, the acting was lousy but to negotiate a contract in which he filmed a season’s worth of reaction shots and generic, “Do you think that was the right thing to do, Robbie?” and “Now you boys run along,” cuts at once while getting top billing and paid more than just about anybody in TV? Fred’s brilliance outshown the sun! ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/7 "2005-01-17T14:57:18Z")
> [@Southpaw](#): > > FYI **Gobear** it is on > > [DVD](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305077517/qid=1105972719/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-7060694-1689503?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846). > > It’s a bare-bones version, but better than nothing. But those are all auction items–there’s no shopping cart link because the disc is OOP and has been for years. > [@](#): > > I’ll bite… best is ? **Ace in The Hole** (AKA **The Big Carnival** ). IMO, it is the darkest, most cutting commentary on human nature ever filmed. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/8 "2005-01-17T14:58:43Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > You _gotta_ read the book. It’ll scare the pants off you. > > Or, if you’re pantsless while reading it, it will scare them back onto you. Then it’s off to to the library for me. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/9 "2005-01-17T16:59:41Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Yeah, she did it to GWTW for me. “It’s just something I saw in the window,” indeed! I remember the _Double Calamity_ scene in the grocery store, with Carol Burnett and Steve Lawrence in dark glasses and trench coats, planning the murder: Steve [whispering]: “We’ll shoot him in the back while he’s playing Chinese Checkers, then push his body out of the Goodyear blimp over the Rose Bowl game. It’ll look like an accident.” Carol: "What? Passing little old lady: “He said, ‘_We’ll shoot him in the back while he’s playing Chinese Checkers, then push his body out of the Goodyear blimp over the Rose Bowl game. It’ll look like an accident_!’” ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/10 "2005-01-17T17:04:31Z")
_Double Indemnity_ is my very favorite piece of film noir, too, **Eve**. I haven’t seen it in a couple of years, so I’ll be sure to tune in tomorrow. It’s funny how Fred MacMurray is so well-remembered for the genial dad he played on _My Three Sons_, yet for me, his finest performances were his villains. These he played in _Double Indemnity_ and as the world’s biggest SOB in _The Apartment_. He also looks a little like my dad, so his career always interested me. In the thread about wealthy and not-so-wealthy celebrities now open in Cafe Society, I was surprised to learn how stinkin’ rich the guy was. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/11 "2005-01-17T19:52:54Z")
> [@pugluvr](#): > > It’s funny how Fred MacMurray is so well-remembered for the genial dad he played on _My Three Sons_, yet for me, his finest performances were his villains. These he played in _Double Indemnity_ and as the world’s biggest SOB in _The Apartment_. Don’t forget the colossal weasel he played in _The Caine Murtiny_. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/12 "2005-01-18T02:05:56Z")
Best fillum noir… DI is pretty high but Fred MacMurray is such a limp noodle. How about Kiss of Death? Richard Widmark alone brings this one close to the top. How about The Big Heat? Gloria Grahame, yum… How about DOA? How about some others, especially you, Eve? ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/13 "2005-01-18T03:03:01Z")
That’s weird. I was looking at the James M. Cain section at the library this week because I just saw both of **The Postman Always Rings Twice** -es last week and I wanted to see if the book was there but all they had was Double Indemnity. I skipped it. Now I’m really curious especially since I often think of myself as death and feel really beautiful. (Not really but I will start.) I will get it next week. I have been reading a book called Film Noir in the bathtub lately. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/14 "2005-01-18T04:24:30Z")
I’ll be watching it, and I just bought the book on eBay (it came with The Postman Always Rings Twice to boot). Off topic, but interesting: Fred Macmurray was the model for Captain Marvel. C.C. Beck chose his face because he thought it would inspire trust in the reader. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/15 "2005-01-18T15:44:54Z")
> [@essvee](#): > > How about some others… For me, _Double Indemnity_ is a solid number 2 on my all-time favorite film noir list. But my favorite is [_Out of the Past_.](http://imdb.com/title/tt0039689/) Robert Mitchum is the ultimate film noir (anti) hero, and he has the best film noir line of all time: Kathie (Jane Greer): “I don’t want to die.” Jeff (Mitchum): “Neither do I, baby, but if I have to, I’m going to die last.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/16 "2005-01-18T16:01:08Z")
> [@essvee](#): > > . . . but Fred MacMurray is such a limp noodle. But that was the point—gimlet-eyed Phyllis found herself a spineless schmoe she could coerce into killing her hubby, then get rid of him, too. _Out of the Past, Blue Dahlia, Gilda, Mildred Pierce, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Kiss of Death_, even _Lady from Shanghai_ (despite Orson Welles’ “They’re always after me Lucky Charms!” accent), good films all. But _Double Indemnity_ is still No. 1 on my Noir List. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/17 "2005-01-18T18:09:33Z")
Eve, if you like James Cain you really oughta check out the novels of Jim Thompson. Dark dark stuff. His novel The Grifters is one that was made into a film you may be familiar with. He also wrote the screenplay for one of Stanley Kubrick’s early films “The Killing”. Sterling Hayden is ice cold. Really worth checking out. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/18 "2005-01-19T16:12:03Z")
Well, did anyone catch it last night? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/19 "2005-01-19T16:37:37Z")
I did. I was home late form the gym, so I missed the first 20 minutes, but I watched it and **The Postman Always Rings Twice** right after as well. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162/20 "2005-01-19T17:00:53Z")
Oh, was that you who left a message on my office phone last night? It was kinda garbled, I couldn’t quite make it out. (Something about “drop him on the train tracks?”) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-indemnity-movie-and-book/285162.md?page=2)