Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)

Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)
Director 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
Customer Review: ONE OF THE GREATS
The combination of Billy Wilder ( directing ), and Raymond Chandler ( screenplay ) should have insured any movie 'classic' status, but the addition of an excellent cast nailed the lid down. The chemistry between Stanwyck ( who pretty much set the standard here for femme fatales ), and Fred MacMurray ( in, arguably, his best role ) was incendiary. Add Edward G. Robinson, and the mix is positively lethal. For all the pretty packaging of this product the 'extras' pretty much suck. Still, the movie does look a bit better than it did on my old VHS tape.
Customer Review: I disagree
-The movie looks great -Those who say the remaster is bad are wrong -Buy the movie