Double Indemnity (1944)
Double Indemnity is a 1944 crime movie directed by Billy Wilder, with a running time of 1h 47m. It stars Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson.
Walter Neff sells insurance, and he thinks he is smarter than the policies he writes. Then Phyllis Dietrichson opens her front door in a towel and a smile, and he starts working out how a man might stage an accident, collect on a double-payout clause, and walk away clean. Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler wrote the dialogue like a lit fuse. Edward G. Robinson plays the claims investigator whose instinct for a phony story never rests. Shot in sharp black and white, this is the template a hundred later crime films copied.
Quick answers
What is Double Indemnity about?
Walter Neff sells insurance, and he thinks he is smarter than the policies he writes. Then Phyllis Dietrichson opens her front door in a towel and a smile, and he starts working out how a man might stage an accident, collect on a double-payout clause, and walk away clean. Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler wrote the dialogue like a lit fuse. Edward G. Robinson plays the claims investigator whose instinct for a phony story never rests. Shot in sharp black and white, this is the template a hundred later crime films copied.
When was Double Indemnity released?
Double Indemnity was released on 6 July 1944.
How long is Double Indemnity?
Double Indemnity runs 1h 47m.
Who made Double Indemnity?
Double Indemnity was directed by Billy Wilder.
Where can I watch Double Indemnity?
Double Indemnity is available on MGM Plus, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, YouTube TV and fuboTV.
Where to watch Double Indemnity
Stream: MGM Plus, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, YouTube TV, fuboTV
Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Cast
- Fred MacMurray as Walter Neff
- Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson
- Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keyes
- Porter Hall as Mr. Jackson
- Jean Heather as Lola Dietrichson
- Tom Powers as Mr. Dietrichson
- Byron Barr as Nino Zachetti
- Richard Gaines as Edward S. Norton Jr.
- Fortunio Bonanova as Sam Garlopis
- John Philliber as Joe Pete
- Douglas Spencer as Lou Schwartz (uncredited)
- Mona Freeman as Secretary (uncredited)
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Double Indemnity in our writing
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A few thoughts on Double Indemnity
For more of that cold noir calculation on the page, Rendezvous in Black follows a methodical revenge built on chance and timing, pure pulp fatalism. The Rainmaker turns the screws on an insurer instead, trading the femme fatale for a young lawyer and a claim the company never meant to pay.
Deadly seduction and the lover who won't let go
Double Indemnity turns on Phyllis Dietrichson, the wife who talks an insurance man into murder and never lets go. These stories run on the same dangerous attraction: a fatal affair, a spouse's cold betrayal, and an obsession that curdles into something lethal.
Perfect-crime schemes that come apart
Double Indemnity is the blueprint for a flawless murder plan that unravels under one investigator's questions. These crime thrillers chase the same slow collapse, where a scheme looks airtight until small lies pile up and the payout starts to smell wrong.
Twisty crime where the characters outsmart each other
Double Indemnity pairs needling dialogue with a plot that tightens like a noose. For that same pleasure of intricate scheming, try Agatha Christie's sleuthing duo, a con-driven mystery, a legal-thriller payout, and a case built on people reading each other cold.