Screening

About Double Indemnity

Director Billy Wilder launched himself onto the Hollywood A-list with this epitome of film-noir fatalism from James M. Cain’s pulp novel. When slick salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) walks into the swank home of dissatisfied housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), he intends to sell insurance but winds up becoming entangled with her in a far more sinister way. One of the most entertainingly perverse stories ever told and the standard by which all noir must be measured. The film will be preceded by an introduction from Professor Emeritus James Naremore. [107 min; noir, drama; English]

"There are double-crosses galore, but holding it all together are some unforgettable insights about post-war America and lower-middle-class desperation." — Ben Sachs, Cine-File

"With diamond-hard repartee by Wilder and Raymond Chandler (by way of James M. Cain’s novel) and ghoulish cinematography by the great John Seitz, this is the gold standard of ’40s noir, straight down the line." — Time Out

"Film noir is the most intoxicating of Hollywood cocktails, and none is more potent than Double Indemnity." — The Telegraph

This program is generously supported by the Roberta and S. James Sherman Inspiring Conversations Fund.

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