"You're not smarter Walter, you're just taller."As the film opens we meet insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray). He's in a hurry and arriving early at the office he sits and dictates his confession. How he fell for Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) after he meets her to sort her husbands car insurance. How he was sucked into planning her husbands death and claiming on the recently taken out accident insurance, not only that but how Neff planned it so that she could claim under a double indemnity clause, doubling the insurance payout. But like all good plans there is always a thread that snags and unravels the whole thing. This one is snagged by Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), the investigator with a funny feeling that all is not what it seems.
One of the best film noirs from the period, shot full of cynisism, wise cracks and the blackest of humour, all wrapped up in suspense. We start by finding out Neff is a murderer, from there we watch in flashback as whole sorry tale unfolds. Simply a classic.
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