, the screenplay by Raymond Chandler
and Billy Wilder
. Wilder directed the movie, which stars Fred MacMurray
, Barbara Stanwyck
and Edward G. Robinson
. Everybody is operating at the very top of their game. It simply doesn't get any better than this. Still and all, in the history of movies, there have been films with a pedigree close to this one - that have vanished for good reason. So let's call Double Indemnity a product of pedigree - with a minor miracle mixed in.
As to why this movie from way, way back is great for modern movie audiences to watch again and again? It's just pure fun. There isn't a moment Stanwyck is on screen that you're not focused on some neat little thing she's doing. (And yes, Stanwyck herself.) Edward G. Robinson, who normally played nothing but tough guys, is still a tough guy. Only this time he's an Actuarial Accountant in an insurance agency. Nothing against actuarial accountants, but you have to ask yourself - how many movies could turn this particular profession into something so incredibly compelling and fun to watch again and again?
Let's not forget Fred MacMurray. The truly lovable, trusting dad from Disney movies ("The Absent Minded Professor
") and TV's "My Three Sons
" plays a decent guy who somehow lets himself go rotten as an egg you forgot to refrigerate. MacMurray makes it so real and believable, no matter how many times you watch this film. He turns in a performance that still works like gangbusters 70 years later.Finally, there's Billy Wilder. He always made comedies with a dark edge. Think "Stalag 17
", "Some Like It Hot
" and "The Apartment
". Funny stuff - but full of evil and ugly behavior. Double Indemnity gives us a kind of reverse-Wilder; a dark movie with a comedic edge. You can't help but laugh out loud at scenes between Robinson and his boss.All of which is why, sometimes the right pedigree produces a movie that stands out and makes it almost impossible to stop watching over and over again.
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