# Question about "Double Indemnity" (the movie) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 4, 2022, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911 "2022-09-04T01:27:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/1 "2022-09-04T01:27:41Z")
I’m watching the movie right now on TCM. It’s one of my all-time favorites. The following exchange takes place near the beginning of the film, when Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck first meet: **Phyllis:** Neff is the name, isn’t it? **Walter Neff:** Yeah. Two "F"s, like in Philadelphia, if you know the story. **Phyllis:** What story? **Walter Neff:** The Philadelphia Story. Am I missing something here? Was there some reason for mentioning _ **The Philadelphia Story** _? Was this an allusion or an inside joke of some sort? It seems unlikely, since I see no connection between the two movies. Moreover, while _ **Double Indemnity** _ was filmed in 1944, it’s set in 1938. The play _ **The Philadelphia Story** _ debuted on Broadway in 1939, and the movie adaptation was released in 1940. Sounds like a major goof to me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/2 "2022-09-04T01:32:28Z")
Maybe he was referring to this: > **[Filadelfia, Calabria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filadelfia,_Calabria)** > > Filadelfia (Greek: Philadelphia) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Catanzaro and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Vibo Valentia. The city was built in 1783 by the people of Castelmonardo, on land that was 6 kilometres (4 mi) from their city that was destroyed by an earthquake. It was named after the city of Philadelphia in the United States. As of 31 December 2013, it had a popula Th... ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/3 "2022-09-04T02:46:36Z")
Walter tended to be kind of flip a lot of the time, I always assumed it was just a joke. Although now I see it was an anachronistic joke. Still, not what I’d call a big goof. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/4 "2022-09-04T03:02:07Z")
For what it’s worth, not only is that dialog not in the book, but his name is Huff, not Neff. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/5 "2022-09-04T03:14:09Z")
It is quite obviously a joke and nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/6 "2022-09-04T15:33:41Z")
I wonder if audiences in 1944 recognized the anachronism. Apparently no one at the studio did, including the writers and actors. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/7 "2022-09-04T15:52:14Z")
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie. Was it obvious that it was set in 1938? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/8 "2022-09-04T19:02:59Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Was it obvious that it was set in 1938? It’s in the first line of Neff’s dictaphone confession at the start of the film. I have no idea why they chose that year. The book doesn’t use that framing device; it’s just a first person narrative that starts with the visit to his victim and co-conspirator’s house. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/9 "2022-09-04T19:58:48Z")
The date Neff uses in his confession (16 July) was Barbara Stanwyck’s birthday IRL. I wonder too about the 1938 dating. The murder on which the book was based was committed in 1927. The book itself was originally presented in the form of a serial in _ **Liberty** _ magazine in 1936, and the property was then shopped around Hollywood. The major studios were interested but couldn’t proceed because of the Hayes Code. A revised script was submitted eight years later and approved. I would guess the date in the original script remained the same, and no one thought of substituting 1944 for 1938. > **[Double Indemnity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Indemnity)** > > Double Indemnity is a 1944 American crime film noir directed by Billy Wilder, co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The screenplay was based on James M. Cain's 1943 novel of the same title, which appeared as an eight-part serial for Liberty magazine in February 1936. > The film stars Fred MacMurray as an insurance salesman, Barbara Stanwyck as a provocative housewife who is accused of killing her husband, and Edward G. Robinson as a claims adj... The only other thing I can think of is that audiences in 1944 might have wondered why a man so relatively young and obviously healthy wasn’t in uniform. Unless, of course, insurance salesmen were vital to the war effort. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/10 "2022-09-04T20:04:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The date Neff uses in his confession (16 July) was Barbara Stanwyck’s birthday IRL Hell of a performance for a six year-old! And, yeah, I think you’re right about wanting to set the story pre-war. Not just because of the protagonist’s age, but also things like no gas rationing, civilian rail travel and other things that would look out of place in 1944. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/11 "2022-09-04T20:07:12Z")
Another good point. 👌 They still, however, could have set it in '40 or '41, in order to avoid the obvious anachronism. It would seem it just never occurred to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/12 "2022-09-04T20:17:45Z")
I wonder now if the exchange between Neff and Phyllis wasn’t just an ad-lib that slipped past in the dailies. Still, MacMurray should have known it was out of place (or time). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/13 "2022-09-04T20:23:20Z")
It’s on page 11 of the script. It’s too good a line to throw away just because the years don’t line up. Audiences back then just weren’t as picky as we are now. > **[Double%20Indemnity.pdf](https://www.public.asu.edu/~srbeatty/394/Double%20Indemnity.pdf)** > > 3.45 MB ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/14 "2022-09-04T21:02:27Z")
Earlier versions of the script may have set the film later and then they changed the date but it didn’t occur to them that the joke was anachronistic. Or they liked the joke so much that they didn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/15 "2022-09-04T21:12:24Z")
Other errors… The bachelor Neff wears MacMurray’s wedding band throughout the film. Near the end of the film we hear the 1941 song _Tangerine_ playing on Stanwyck’s radio or record player. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/16 "2022-09-04T22:59:03Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The bachelor Neff wears MacMurray’s wedding band throughout the film. Ooh, I was just coming it to mention that, I noticed it yesterday, I think in the grocery store scene near the end. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Near the end of the film we hear the 1941 song _Tangerine_ playing on Stanwyck’s radio or record player. The music in that scene (if this is the scene where a gun is fired…) was coming from outside, presumably the house next door; that’s why he closes the window (he says) and then gratuitously closes the drapes Now I have another question: was he dumb enough to walk into that house unarmed? He had a plan for getting out of the situation, was it just the one that he told to her, i.e. to let the young guy go down for the murder and her as an accomplice? Or did he have a backup plan to kill her? I couldn’t quite remember everything he said both in the scene and in the voiceover. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/17 "2022-09-04T23:18:41Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The music in that scene (if this is the scene where a gun is fired…) was coming from outside Yes, you’re right. I need to watch this again. The last time I saw it, I was paying more attention to the shadows than the story which is really quite good. Style _and_ substance. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/18 "2022-09-05T01:25:38Z")
Anachronistic music in movies is so common, if someone planted one deliberately to make a point, I’ll bet it would be lost. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/19 "2022-09-05T12:52:58Z")
Thank you for posting that script! Fascinating to see the alternative endings. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911/20 "2022-09-07T12:25:25Z")
I think he went there intending to kill her. A little earlier, he says something to the effect of, “That’s the first time I thought of her that way. Dead.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-double-indemnity-the-movie/970911.md?page=2)