Double Indemnity

Term Paper: Double Indemnity (1944) directed by Billy Wilder Modern society is undeniably obsessed with true-crime stories and murder mysteries. There is a prominent interest for the forces of so-called good and evil, attracting people to know about atrocities and massacres. Citizens, with the goal of obtaining a reasonable explanation of such events, question every aspect of a concrete crime or homicide, and try to find out the motive or the responsible’s background. All these doubts and…

the demure, dependent woman that wants to secure a stable male relationship, while simultaneously punishing the femme fatale creation as against nature. While Lola fits right into such a society and is the only “truly innocent” character that Double Indemnity celebrates, Phyllis challenges this ideal traditional woman, and in doing so, is punished for it. Lola displays the characteristics of the shy, dependent woman who looks for leadership among her male counterparts, she can’t thrive in an…

protagonist; or they could be a secondary character, who helps to give the reader details about the plot or leading characters. Characters not only help to deliver the plot of the novel, but also help to bring out the theme of a novel. The novel Double Indemnity by James N. Cain follows the life of an insurance salesman named…

romance films she stops on a black and white movie where two lovers are confessing their feelings for one another. But what Tina is watching isn't just any old love story, in fact the film is more of a crime story than a romance-she's watching Double Indemnity. Inspired by the investigator in the film who has the revelation that he was too close to the subject to figure out who was guilty, Tina decides that she will distance herself from her brother's case (just a tiny bit) by hiring a private…

The first time we meet insurance agent Walter Neff, the protagonist of Double Indemnity, he enters his dark workplace, surveying the room, almost as remembering a past life. Neff, obviously wounded, settles into his office and beings to regale us with tale of lust, plotting and murder, taking the form of a confession into his Dictaphone. Neff’s saga begins as he visits the house of Mr. Dietrichson to discuss an insurance policy renewal. There he meets Phyllis Dietrichson, the “femme fatale” of…

In 1943, James M. Cain wrote one of his most selling novella “Double Indemnity”. A year later, Billy Wilder, a movie director, with the help of Raymond Chandler, a screenwriter, took the book and adapted to the big screen while keeping the original title. Eventually, the movie became very popular and nowadays, “Double Indemnity”, widely regarded as a classic, is often cited as paradigmatic film noir and as having set the standard for the films that followed in that genre. The movie adaptation is…

Cain portrays the ongoing perceived corruption in his work: Double Indemnity. The corruption is interpreted through the perspective of the novels’ anti-hero: Walter Huff. Double Indemnity begins with Walter Huff trying to convince Mr. Nirdlinger, a wealthy oil man, to purchase an insurance policy from his company. Throughout Double Indemnity, the reader gains a perspective on the corrupt environment through either the anti-heroes actions or through…

critic’s eyes everywhere. Double Indemnity, made in 1944, The Seven Year Itch, made in 1955, and Some like it hot, made in 1959. Billy Wilder’s style in his films could be described as comic in most of his films but some of them like Double Indemnity could be described as dark as it is a film noir. Over the decades Billy Wilder’s films do improves in style. In his earlier film Double Indemnity Wilder uses Black and white film instead of color film. Since Double Indemnity is a film noir, the…

Femme fatale is known to be a “fatal woman” who is characterized as a dangerous and seductive figure in different forms of text. In Fantomina and Double Indemnity, the female uses seduction to lure male counterpart into their world of terror. The character starts out with female characteristics and behaviors. David Crewe describes the female “alluring and enrapturing, film noir’s hapless protagonist is drawn to her like an insect to a spider’s web” (17). She goes inside the male character’s head…

Nguyen Tutor and tutorial time: How does Double Indemnity represent gender? This annotated bibliography showcases a brief account of my further research on gender representation, one of the most unique features of film noir in Double Indemnity. Angryanchovie's viewpoint quite one-sided since it pays too much attention to masculinity. Bronfen's argument is sometimes lengthy and complicated, thus resulting in confusion to the readers. Although the text "Double Indemnity's Fatal Woman" is a…