Double Indemnity Scene Analysis Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity Scene Analysis

Double Indemnity (1944) can be considered to be one of the films most representative of American film noir. Double Indemnity (1944) is the story of a woman, Phyllis Dietrichson, who has manipulated her way into marriage with a wealthy man, Mr. Dietrichson, and subsequently conspires with an insurance salesman, Walter Neff, to help kill her husband. Under the premise of being concerned for her husband's safety, Phyllis takes out an accident insurance policy, which is guaranteed to pay her at least $50,000 in the event of Mr. Dietrichson's untimely death. When Walter informs Phyllis that she can get $100,000 from the insurance policy if her husband dies in a rare accident, such as an accident involving a train, because of a double indemnity clause in the policy, the nefarious duo decide to concoct a plan that will make it appear as though Mr. Dietrichson fell to his death from a moving train, thus allowing Phyllis to claim $100,000. Through its mise-en-scene, Double Indemnity (1944) is able to create an atmosphere of paranoia, entrapment, seduction, and unease.

Billy Wilder, who along with renowned author Raymond Chandler, wrote the screenplay for the film, directed Double Indemnity (1944). In film, a director is responsible for leading "the actors in performance, determines the staging of the action, supervises all aspects of shooting, and works with the producer, writer, and designer before production and with the film and sound editors after production to ensure consistency and excellence of the movie as well as the best possible use of personnel, materials, and resources provided by the producer" (Mast & Kawin, 2003, p. 681). As a director, Wilder directed 27 films, from 1934 to 1981 (Billy Wilder, 2012).

Additionally, the director relies on the assistance of an art director and a production designer to help bring together the look of a film. The art director is someone who is responsible with designing a film's sets and deciding a film's decor (Mast & Kawin, 2003, p. 678). Double Indemnity (1944) had two art directors: Hans Dreier and Hal Pereira. Hans Dreier worked as an art director on at least 533 films and Hal Pereira worked as an art director on 267 films (Hans Dreier, 2012; Hal Pereira, 2012).

A production designer works with the art director to create a cohesive look for a film. A production designer can be defined as "an art director responsible for designing the complete look of a film, coordinating and integrating its sets, dressings, props, costumes, and color schemes" (Mast & Kawin, 2003, p. 687). While there is no production designer listed for Double Indemnity (1944), it is likely that Dreier and/or Pereira also fulfilled this role.

In the scene titled "End of the Line," lighting, setting, and costuming play a major role in setting the tone for the scene and help to provide insight into Phyllis's and Walter's character. In this scene, Walter confronts Phyllis after the murder of her husband to talk about how she has enabled him to get away with murder because she has inadvertently involved her stepdaughter's on-again-off-again boyfriend, Nino Zachetti, in the conspiracy to cover up Mr. Dietrichson's murder. While at the beginning of the conspiracy, Walter and Phyllis were bound to each other through their involvement in Mr. Dietrichson's death, the police investigating Mr. Dietrichson's death have begun to suspect Nino of conspiring with Phyllis to murder her husband, thus removing suspicion from Walter. Walter uses this as an opportunity to confront Phyllis and tell her that he is removing himself from the situation and that she and Nino will be implicated in Mr. Dietrichson's death, instead of he and Phyllis.

In this scene, the use of lighting helps to establish mood. This scene is vastly different in terms of lighting from the first time Phyllis and Walter meet. The first time Phyllis and Walter meet, when Walter first comes to the Dietrichson home to renew their car insurance policy, the room in which the two talk is well lit and it is daytime. However, in this scene, the room is dimly lit. The only light that comes into the room comes from outside. The lighting in scene creates an atmosphere of unease and gives the room a sinister look. The lighting reflects the tension that is present between Phyllis and Walter. In the film, Phyllis not only conspired to get Walter to help her murder her husband, but she also conspired to have her stepdaughter killed and Walter killed. The darkness of the room also reflects the darkness of Phyllis' character; the lighting of this scene literally makes Walter see Phyllis in a different light, for the person she really is.

The scene's setting also helps to establish mise-en-scene. Double Indemnity is set in Los Angeles during the postwar era in the 1940s. At the time, the decor and costuming was designed to be realistic and reflect the era in which the film was made. Additionally, certain elements in the film's decor are representative of film noir; for instance, venetian blinds are frequently used in film noir due to the shadows that are cast when light flows through them and the vertical lines created by them. The mood set by the decor and the lighting is intended to reflect postwar anxiety and paranoia.

The costuming and hair design is also created to be representative of the era as well as representative of each character's background and social status. In this scene, Phyllis is shown wearing a delicate, feminine jumpsuit that appears to have come from a high-end store. On her hand, is a large ring, which also helps to establish that she is a fashionable woman and that she is rich. Phyllis' appearance reflects her demeanor: she is calm, cool, and collected. The manner in which Phyllis' hair is styled is also reflective of her character. Through her appearance, Phyllis is styled to be a seductress, which is one of the factors that enable her to convince Walter to conspire with her. Phyllis' styling helps her to embody the role of femme fatale. On the other hand, Walter is shown wearing a suit that does not appear to be expensive and is not buttoned up. This suit is reflective of Walter's job as an insurance salesman. Because the suit does not appear to be expensive, it transforms to be representative of the uniform of the working man. Walter's slightly disheveled appearance reflects his anxiety and unease. When juxtaposed against Phyllis, it is evident that the two come from completely different worlds and are from completely different social classes.