DOUBLE INDEMNITY.
Edward G Robinson & Barbara Stanwick,
Jean Heather, Fred MacMurray, Tom Powers.
Dir: Billy Wilder, 1944, Paramount.

SYNOPSIS:
Glamourpuss insurance scam in a murderous and unsentimental drama that has Raymond Chandler's incisive hand in its script. An archetype of 40s film noir, it's shot in a decaying LA and features no heroes or villains, just sinister bastards.

"He was fifty; the paunch was beginning to show, and although his hair was dyed, his age showed in his face. For more than a dozen years since Little Caesar he had not taken a supporting role. The time had come to change his outlook, and he knew it. Billy Wilder saved the day, he thought Robinson perfect for the part of Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity. He appeared on the screen with all the snarling, energetic power he displayed in Little Caesar. No camera angles could contain his interpretation of Barton Keyes, he dominated every frame he was in. Many of the critics said that he had stolen the film."
- Alan Gansberg, E G Robinson biographer.

REVIEWS:
"The sort of film which revives a critic from the depressive effects of bright epics about the big soul of America or the suffering soul of Europe and gives him a new lease of faith."
- Richard Winnington.
"The most pared down and purposeful film ever made by Billy Wilder."
- John Coleman.
"One of the highest summits of film noir... without a single trace of pity or love."
- Charley Higham.