Double Indemnity

1944

103 mins

Directed by Billy Wilder
97%
95%
Drama
Thriller

Director Billy Wilder's film noir classic, co-written by Raymond Chandler and based on the hardboiled novel by James M. Cain.... More

Director Billy Wilder's film noir classic, co-written by Raymond Chandler and based on the hardboiled novel by James M. Cain. Widely regarded as one of the genre's finest, Double Indemnity was ranked the 29th best American film of all time by the American Film Institute in 2007.

Fred MacMurray is insurance salesman Walter Neff who, after falling for the sultry Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck), is persuaded to attempt the "perfect crime". They conspire to kill Phyllis' husband, make it look like an accident, and collect on his life insurance policy. While the plan goes smoothly, Neff's suspicious boss Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) smells something fishy...

The term 'double indemnity' refers to a clause in life insurance policies that doubles the payout when a death is accidental.

Less

Where to watch Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity is available to stream in New Zealand now... More on YouTube and Google TV and Apple TV Store and Prime Video Store.

There is no screening information for this title.

Double Indemnity | Ratings & Reviews

97_%110 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
95_%35,975 reviews
Audience score rating

"MacMurray has seldom given a better performance. It is somewhat different from his usually light roles, but is always plausible and played with considerable restraint."

—

Variety

"This is the gold standard of '40s noir, straight down the line."

—

Time Out

"Such folks as delight in murder stories for their academic elegance alone should find this one steadily diverting, despite its monotonous pace and length."

—

The New York Times

"If you like your dialogue hardboiled, your lighting shadowy, and your femmes fatales preposterously evil, then look no further."

—

The Guardian

"Few other directors have made so many films that were so taut, savvy, cynical and, in many different ways and tones, funny."

—

Roger Ebert

"The film is a brilliant collision of evil and the mundane, and one of the reasons viewers respond to it so well is that it makes the mundane seem a little sexier in the resulting debris."

—

Hollywood Reporter

"Film noir at its finest, a template of the genre, etc. Billy Wilder in full swing, Barbara Stanwyck's finest hour, and Fred MacMurray makes a great chump."

—