DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)

“How could I know that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?”

An archetypal film noir by Billy Wilder is the tale of desperate and seductive femme fatale’s bait, leading a young insurance agent into a plot to murder her husband claiming fabricated train accident to get the benefit of double indemnity clause of policy. Told in a flashback, the story leads to fatal and dark ending. Wilder used voice over narrative technique which he later used in all his dark dramas- ‘The Lost Weekend’ and ‘Sunset Blvd’.

Both leading pair and partners in crime-Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck are just perfect. For MacMurray perhaps it’s one of the best of his career. There’s great supporting act by Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keys, Fred’s friend cum boss. Though it didn’t win any award out of its seven nominations in all major categories, it’s crackling film with sharp dialogues, dark characterization and striking camerawork showing decadent and scheming atmosphere. I would enjoy it better, if I hadn’t seen Bhatt camp’s Bipasha-John Abraham starrer ‘Jism’, an absolute rip off of this brilliant classic.

Ratings-8/10