Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)
by Billy Wilder
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DVD details
Actor: Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Fred MacMurray, Jean Heather, Porter HallDirector: Billy Wilder
Brand: Universal
Cinematographer: John F. Seitz
Writer: Billy Wilder
Producer: Buddy G. DeSylva
Producer: Joseph Sistrom
Writer: James M. Cain
Writer: Raymond Chandler
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Special Edition
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)
DVD Review: a metaphor for cosmic justice?
Summary: 4 Stars
Although the movie is predictable (both for the genre and because the movie starts a the conclusion) it is a fun ride. Highlights: great writing and actor's chemistry and understanding of their parts also the lovely Barbara Stanwyck. Rent dont buy.
DVD Review: Universal Legacy disappoints... BIG TIME!!!!!
Summary: 2 Stars
Yes.... Double Indemnity is a GREAT movie! However, this does NOT excuse the folks responsbile for the Legacy Series for putting out such a crappy product. Having been so impressed with other restorations in the series, I trusted and bought this edition. Technically, I could see very little improvement over a previously released DVD, and the bonus disc, a VERY bad TV remake, is simple a waste to even bother doing!
SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!
DVD Review: "You Said it was Murder. Check."
Summary: 5 Stars
America's cynical, fast-buck id crawls to the surface in this peerless classic that never disappoints. Billy Wilder gives it the pace and rhythm of a comedy, but it's a thrillingly entertaining trip to Hell.
Could a better actor have been as good as lightweight Fred MacMurray is here? He embodies Neff's horny shallowness perfectly. And while people complain about Stanwyck's wig, I think it's dead-on. She's supposed to be cheap, just like she's supposed to be a bad actress, which the star conveys in a performance devoid of conventional glamour. And while Edward G. Robinson's performance seems a bit showy at times, the soliloquies he rattles off are pretty amazing virtuoso turns.
There are two commentary tracks here and one has some interesting first-hand accounts of Billy Wilder. On Richard Schickel's he lets lose a couple of his patented doozies. I doubt the English-bred snob Raymond Chandler would have gone in for being called "Ray Chandler" as often as his apparent good friend "Dick Schickel" does here. Also, he stunningly refers to the "novel" The Brasher Doubloon which was the name given the little seen second screen version of Chandler's third novel The High Window."
The tacky TV remake included as an extra is simply a depressing curio. Richard Crenna at least deserved better. (He may have gotten his own back when starring in Body Heat.)
DVD Review: Justifiably At The Top Of Most Film Noir Lists
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best-liked classic films of all time and I am among that large group of fans as well. I am one of those suckers who bought the first Universal DVD release, but the transfer was terrible so I waited until this double-disc Legacy Series version came out and re-purchased it. Now, the film finally looks great.
Few movies have ever had dialog this entertaining.....at least the conversations between Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. I think it's a big appeal to this movie, except to younger folks who look at it as "cheesy."
I read the book, "Double Indemnity," by James Cain, and was surprised that the film's snappy dialog was not in it. This is one of the rare times when the movie was far better than the book. That's not a shock after you find out that literary giant Raymond Chandler and Hall Of Fame director Billy Wilder combined to write the screenplay,
For a murder/suspense story, there is very little action, almost none, yet there are no boring lulls. The three main actors - Stanwyck, MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson, are what make this so good.
MacMurray's narration is fun to hear as he tells the story in flashback, from the beginning by dictating into an old Dictaphone to his co-worker Robinson. The latter is almost mesmerizing in his performance, the way he delivers his lines. He can even make a speech about something as boring as insurance and still keep you riveted to the screen.
Stanwyck was no sex symbol (at least to me) but she looked great here in the most seductive of 1940s clothing and, like Robinson, has a distinctive voice and accent that keeps your attention.
This film was the inspiration for the 1980 movie, "Body Heat," starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. That, too, was a very, very good movie....but not many films are in the class of this one.
DVD Review: 3.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 5 Stars
The Bottom Line:
Though I still maintain that the framing device marrs Billy Wilder's otherwise flawless noir, Double Indemnity is a clever film and worthy classic that should be seen by anyone who enjoys film or the notion of a perfect murder.
Description of Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)
A salesman & a blonde kill her husband & get away with it until the insurance investigator becomes obsessed with the case. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/22/2006 Starring: Fred Macmurray Edward G Robinson Run time: 107 minutes Rating: NrDirector Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and writer Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy (notably in the TV series My Three Sons and the movie The Shaggy Dog), is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. --Jenny Brown
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