Double Indemnity

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by Richard Schickel

Type

Studies

Subject

One Film > Double Indemnity

Keywords

Billy Wilder

Publishing date

2026 (March 05, 2026)

Publisher

BFI Publishing

Collection

BFI Film Classics

1st publishing

1992

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 88 pages
5 ¼ x 7 ½ inches (13.5 x 19 cm)

ISBN

978-1-80575-021-5

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Book Presentation:
Richard Schickel's study of Billy Wilder's 1944 noir classic Double Indemnity traces in fascinating detail the genesis and realisation of the film: its literary origins in James M. Cain's hard-boiled crime novel, the difficult relations between Wilder and his scriptwriter Raymond Chandler, the casting of a reluctant Fred MacMurray, and the late decision to cut the expensively filmed execution sequence from the final release.

Schickel places Double Indemnity in the context of early 1940s Hollywood and the emergence of a new kind of crime thriller that later became known as film noir. The film was a cornerstone of the genre: its script creates two unforgettable criminal characters, the cynically manipulative femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) and the likeable but amoral Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray). Billy Wilder's direction enmeshes them in dramatic chiaroscuro, as bright California sunlight casts Venetian-blind shadows across dusty rooms and harsh lamplight slices through the night.

In his afterword to this new edition, James Naremore pays tribute to Schickel's analysis of Double Indemnity and its contexts, and considers debates surrounding the film's conclusion.

About the Author:
RICHARD SCHICKEL is a film critic, documentary film-maker and movie historian, who has written over thirty books, among them The Disney Version; D.W. Griffith: An American Life; Brando: A Life in Our Times; and a biography of Elia Kazan. His thirty documentaries include Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin; Woody Allen: A Life in Film; and Shooting War, which is about combat cameramen in World War II. He has recently completed a documentary about Martin Scorsese and a reconstruction of Samuel Fuller's classic war film, The Big One, was named one of the year's Ten Best Films by the New York Times. He has been reviewing movies for Time since 1972 and writes a monthly column, 'Film on Paper', for the Los Angeles Times Book Review.

See the publisher website: BFI Publishing

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