Double Indemnity Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Double Indemnity Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 16, 2022

Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity" (1944) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include new program film critics Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith; new program with film scholar Noah Isenberg; Volker Schlöndorff and Gisela Grischow's documentary "Billy, How Did You Do It?"; archival audio commentary recorded by critic Richard Schickel; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The film begins with a confession –- a sweaty man enters a small office, pulls a chair next to a desk and begins taping himself. His confession is about a claim, some accident and double indemnity.

The man is Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), an insurance agent with a sharp tongue. He quietly explains how he met and fell in love with Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), a beautiful blonde married to a wealthy businessman in Los Angeles. The two designed an ‘accident’ to get rid of her husband and pocket the money from the life insurance Walter sold to him.

For a while Walter was confident that their plan was perfect. He had thought of everything his employers would look at and question, even the smallest details were taken care of. Phyllis also acted as he wanted her to act – she never panicked and never made any mistakes. When she eventually filed the insurance claim with his employers, they could not reject it because everything looked legit.

But Walter’s boss, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), wasn’t convinced. To him the whole thing looked too clean, too perfect. He started asking questions, the type of questions Walter did not want anyone to ask. Fortunately, at one point even Keyes got fed up with the case and started believing that Phyllis’ husband died in a tragic accident.

Then something went wrong. Walter should have seen it coming, but didn’t. Perhaps because he was too busy thinking about the future, perhaps because Phyllis was the first woman to get into his head -- and stay there. Whatever the reason, he got exactly what he deserved, maybe even slightly more. Now he is tired -- not angry, just too damn tired.

Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity deserves all the praise it has received during the years -- it is a superbly acted and directed film, the type one would instantly refer to when one would argue that “they don’t make them like this anymore”.

The script is pure terrific. There are so many classic one-liners it is hard to believe that Wilder and the great novelist Raymond Chandler did not get along well while working on it. Some of the early exchanges between MacMurray and Stanwyck, for instance, are easily amongst the best ever scripted. There are other film noirs where the dialog is just as sharp, but the rhythm is often problematic. Here everything flows perfectly.

The direction is just as impressive. There isn’t a single sequence where one does not feel the tension. The film begins with a confession that reveals how it would end, but the story it tells is anything but predictable because there are character transformations that dramatically change one’s perceptions about the events taking place on the screen.

MacMurray and Stanwyck are superb. The former exudes just the right amount of cockiness for an experienced go-getter who could slip and make a crucial mistake. The latter looks seductive but often genuinely dangerous. She is the type of woman that could create a lot of problems for a man naïve enough to believe that he could have her. The ultimate femme fatale? I think so.

*In 1945, Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity was nominated for seven Oscar Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Stanwyck), and Best Cinematography (John F. Seitz).

Double Indemnity Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its origin aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Double Indemnity arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K restoration, which will be made available on 4K Blu-ray as well. You can see our listing of this upcoming release here. Currently, we do not have a screener to provide a review of the 4K Blu-ray release.

I have four different releases of Double Indemnity in my library, one of which is a very old R1 DVD. So, I did some extensive comparisons with Eureka Entertainment's Region-B release from 2012, and Universal's North American release from 2014.

This upcoming Blu-ray release has the most convincing organic presentation of Double Indemnity, but I still like the other two releases quite a lot. A direct comparison with the Region-B release immediately reveals that this upcoming release has superior grain exposure. You won't have to view the film on a larger screen to appreciate the difference either because the improvement is consistent and easy to appreciate throughout the entire film. Also, the inherited density fluctuations do not compromise this improvement. In fact, quite a few of them make it easier to appreciate because they emphasize the organic nature of the visuals. The grayscale has more in common with that of the North American release because it reveals better balanced blacks and grays with more attractive and natural highlights. However, I am very much looking forward to testing the upcoming 4K Blu-ray release because I suspect that gray and black nuances will have superior ranges in native 4K that will improve the dynamic range of darker footage. At the moment, I think that in 1080p some of this darker footage looks just a tad too dark. This being said, I actually prefer how this footage looks now, especially when compared with the same footage from the Region-B release. Clarity, sharpness, and depth are typically very good or excellent, but they were convincing on the previous releases as well.

A direct comparison with the North American release once again confirms that the upcoming release has the all-around best organic appearance. This time the discrepancy isn't as easy to identify, but trained eyes will notice that on the North American release there are very minor traces of grain management. On the upcoming release some of the native density fluctuations are slightly more pronounced, and this is almost certainly the reason why the adjustments I mentioned earlier were introduced. Highlights are balanced very similarly, so I am unsure if minor differences would be possible to identity without having the two releases playing on different monitors at the same time. They are no distracting age-related imperfections. So, at the moment it very much looks like the new 4K restoration will be the most convincing makeover Double Indemnity has received to date, and I expect the 4K Blu-ray release to simply confirm that it is so. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Double Indemnity Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clear, clean, and nicely rounded. I think that even on the Universal release the audio was already slightly better rounded, possibly thicker than it was on the Region-B release as well, but I could not hear a notable positive difference on this upcoming release. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Double Indemnity Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

BLU-RAY DISC ONE

• Trailer - vintage trailer for Double Indemnity. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith - in this new program, critics Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith discusses the stylistic identify of Double Indemnity, its tone and mood, James M. Cain's novel, and the film's lasting reputation as the "ultimate film noir picture". There are some quite interesting observations about some major and minor similarities and differences between Double Indemnity and other great film noirs. The program was produced for Criterion in February 2022. In English, not subtitled. (32 min).

• Shadows of Suspense - this archival documentary examines the roots, development, and popularity of film noir as well as its distinctive American qualities. Included in it are interviews with critic/author Eddie Muller, author Phil Cousineau William Friedkin (The French Connection), author James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential), critic Kim Newman, and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Natural), amongst others. A large portion of the documentary is dedicated to the production history and style of Double Indemnity. The documentary was produced in 2006. In English, not subtitled. (38 min).

• Noah Isenberg - in this new program, film scholar Noah Isenberg, editor of Billy Wilder on Assignment: Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna, discusses the Americanization of Billy Wilder, the evolution of his career, and the production of Double Indemnity. The program was produced for Criterion in February 2022. In English, not subtitled. (18 min).

• Radio Plays - presented here are two vintage radio adaptations of Double Indemnity. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. The Screen Guild Theater - broadcast on March 5, 1945, and starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. (30 min).
  2. Lux Radio Theatre - broadcast on October 30, 1950, and again starring the two stars of Double Indemnity. (57 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by critic Richard Schickel in 2006. The bulk of the comments address the production of Double Indemnity, its reputation as the "first true film noir", some of the major differences between James M. Cain's novel that inspired it and the screenplay, as well as the film's cultural significance and influence on other film noirs.

BLU-RAY DISC TWO

• Billy, How Did You Do It? (1992) - this archival documentary was produced by Volker Schlöndorff and Gisela Grischow, and was broadcast as part of the BBC documentary program Arena. The documentary takes a closer look at Billy Wilder's extraordinary life and success in Hollywood as well as his working methods and lasting appeal of his films. Included in it are long interviews with the great director as well as plenty of archival footage. The documentary is broken into three episodes. In English, French, and German, with English subtitles where necessary.
  
  1. Episode One. (60 min).
  2. Episode Two. (62 min).
  3. Episode Three. (63 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Angelica Jade Bastién, as well as technical credits.

Double Indemnity Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Is Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity the first true film noir, possibly the ultimate one as well? Frankly, folks, the answers to these questions are usually of some importance only to a very small group of critics and scholars. This film is pure dynamite and this is the only reason it will always be considered one of the all-time greatest. I don't even think that you have to view it through the prism of film noir to instantly recognize its brilliance, which is incredibly attractive and impossible not to admire. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from an outstanding new 4K restoration and has a great selection of bonus features. However, I wish to remind you that this exact same 4K restoration will be available on 4K Blu-ray as well. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.