Let me start by saying, the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Billy Wilder is comedy – as in Some Like It Hot, Sabrina, The Seven Year Itch, and my personal favorite, The Fortune Cookie.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Fred MacMurray is comedy – as in My Three Sons and Disney’s Absent-Minded Professor movies.

With that said, Double Indemnity surprised me with a double whammy. Although I guess I should have seen it coming. After all, some of Wilder’s most important work includes the cynical and dark Sunset Boulevard, and much darker The Lost Weekend. Although I think MacMurray found his niche with Disney, there are a number of films (including Wilder’s The Apartment, where he plays a pushy, dishonest boss) that established him as a more serious, multidimensional actor.

Okay, onto the film.

I don’t know if I was ever sold on the narrative. It kept breaking the tension of the film. I initially thought as the story evolved, I would have preferred not knowing the outcome before the events took place (Wilder used the same narrative-style in Sunset Boulevard, in which William Holden narrates the movie although he’s dead at the beginning of the film… I’ve never actually figured that one out. How could he be recounting the story when he’s dead?). But as DI developed, it slowly pulled me. Halfway through, I was completely hooked. I wanted to know what little mistake the lead character would make that would get them caught. By then, I was okay with knowing they would be caught, and enjoyed listening to Edward G. Robinson’s hunches as he began to slowly put the pieces together.

I thought MacMurray’s acting was a stiff, baby! The way he delivered his dialog was too pulpy for me. He wasn’t a very likeable character, either. I thought Barbara Stanwyck and Robinson clearly stole the show. As ruthless as she was, I thought Stanwyck had passion (and looks, as compared to her more popular Big Valley days). Robinson, on the other hand, was the most likeable character in the film. His character may have taken his job a little too serious, but I liked the fact that he poked fun at himself, as well. Some of my favorite moments of the film were watching him pick the situation apart, drawing conclusions that would ultimately lead to the truth.

But the true star of the show was clearly Wilder. His ability to catch the characters off-guard, and watch them wiggle their way out of a sticky situation, was what kept me glued to the set. The following are the key scenes of the film:

• The closeup of Stanwyck’s face while the murder is taking place was chilling. I liked the way she doesn’t take her eyes off the road, despite flinching a few times as her husband struggles. Her ability to stay in control while a murder takes place just a few feet from almost gives you the feeling she’s been there before (hint, hint).

• When the car failed to start after they dropped the body on the tracks. I loved MacMurray’s nonchalant expression as he glances over to her as if to say, "Keep trying, baby." I liked that there was no dialog between them during that scene. It adds to the tension. The moment had me holding my breath. I initially thought that after all the planning they went through, this is one of those elements they could never have anticipated. Plus, the scene was the first of several close calls, or the beginning of the end.

• When Robinson arrives at MacMurray’s apartment that evening I thought "Oh my gooooddddd!" Much like Hitchcock, I liked the way Wilder set up the scene, giving the audience knowledge that Stanwyck was on her way up to the apartment. I couldn’t wait to see how they were going to avoid this one. Once Robinson saw them together, that was it. Closed case! My favorite scene in the entire movie was when she is hiding behind the door while Robinson waits for the elevator. It is sort of a split-screen in which you could see everyone in the scene, but Robinson could only see MacMurray. When he walks over to get a light for his cigar, people in the theatre were probably screaming, "Behind the door! Look behind the door!" But if he had, they would have been forced to kill him, too.

• When the witness on the train was sitting outside Robinson’s office. The one thing I enjoyed watching was how cool MacMurray was under pressure. I couldn’t help but rewind the witness giving MacMurray those subtle double-takes, as if to ask, "Have we met before?"

• Of course, the final scene in the film is classic. When MacMurray tries to make it to the elevator and falls down, he says something like "I didn’t realize they moved the elevator a few miles away." Great line! When Robinson offers a dying man (which MacMurray foreshadows earlier in the film when he said he felt like a "dead man walking") a light for his last cigarette. It’s an ironic twist as it was MacMurray who had the light (or "answer") throughout the film. But in the end, it is Robinson who has it.

A few other things I enjoyed about DI were the supporting performances of the cruel husband and victimized daughter (who was actually pretty hot!). I liked the twist that Stanwyck was also suspected of killing the girl’s mother, too, making her even more of a black widow. Once I found that out, I knew Stanwyck and MacMurray would eventually have a showdown.

I’ve always been a huge fan of 1950s and 60s classic movies, but I have to admit I’m gaining more appreciation for earlier films, especially from the 1940s. DI is just another testament to those earlier pictures.

On an interesting side note, I once read that in the film "Rebel Without A Cause," James

Dean supposedly improvised several memorable scenes, such as when the policeman frisks him and he chuckles like it tickles. This of course, had been done before. Another scene is when Natalie Wood’s character says she thinks he’s weird. As she runs away, Dean whispers to himself, "I love you, too." MacMurray mutters those exact words not only once, but twice, in DI (under similar circumstances).

I wanted to mention that Charlene almost always passes on old films. But she stayed with this one. Overall, she liked it, but had two problems with it: 1) the loud, dominating score (she said for a crime drama, she would have liked more silence), and 2) the fact that for whatever reason, MacMurray wore a wedding ring. Whether or not this was just another scheme to legitimize MacMurray’s character as a respectable salesman (after all, he knows all the tricks), the film never explains why he’s wearing a ring on his wedding finger.

I often find rating old films difficult as we are so influenced by how movies have evolved through the years. I am surprised, however, that DI hasn’t held up better with other classic films like the Bogart gems. Maybe that’s because the leading wasn’t a Bogart or Brando. I think some of the acting falls a little short, but the overall film clearly has stood the test of time. DI is one of the best "1940s" crime dramas I’ve seen, but when I compare it with the best "all-time" crime dramas, somehow its ranking falls short. On a scale of 1-5, I would give it 3½ stars when comparing it to the all-time crime dramas. But when I narrow the field down to the 1940s crime dramas, I give it 5 stars. In conclusion, I give DI a solid 4-star ranking in the crime drama genre.