The Duke On "Double Indemnity"
Published March 03, 2005
So here I am, Keyes, yackin away into this funky ol' speaker thing from out the forties. Sittin in your office, lookin through your shit, pullin out these porn-mags you got hidden away in there. Fucking hell, Keyes. These broads are 80 if they're a day. You're a sick motherfucker, Keyes, but that's what I like about you.
So I guess you're wondering what I make of it all, when it all boils down to it, what thoughts I got running round the skull with regards this here flick by the name of Double Indemnity. I'll tell you Keyes, but first I'm gonna give a little backstory, on account of I know you love that sorta scene-setting bullshit.
"Always set the scene", you told me one time, and I took note of that, Keyes. Sure, I kicked you upside the face and threatened you with a fishing knife, but deep inside I respected you. I always have Keyes.
I sat down around 3 o'clock, just me and a cup of coffee and the television. And also a few hookers. It was raining, Keyes, tapping off the window like as if it were saying "Hey, let me the fuck in, it's pissin down out here."
The blinds were pulled just the way I like em, all moody and mysterious, casting funky shadows all around the room.
Chicks dig funky shadows, Keyes. It gets em soaked, is what it does.
The movie started just as I hit play on the Digital DVD. Some folks might see this as a coincidence. Some folks might see it as an act of God. Truth be told, Keyes, I don't know what I make of it, and I didn't have the time to discuss it, since not only were two hookers goin down on me at the time, but the credits were already rollin.
This Billy Wilder cat, Keyes. I've seen his name crop up a few times. The Lost Weekend, Sunset Motherfucking Boulevard, The Apartment, this cat's been up to his knees in all of them. Let's be honest here, he's no Kirsten Dunst, but he's up there with the celluloid greats. Probably one of the best Billy's of all fucking time, Keyes, and you know how many great Billy's there's been. Fucking dozens.
Remember Little Billy Morocco? He had two broken legs and still crawled to his Momma's bedside across town every morning for 43 years just so as he could get some fresh bread to her tremblin hands. He died tryin to save his Momma's tombstone from a buncha no-good hoodlums tryin ta sell the concrete for the price of a skag-pipe.
The Duke (Aaron McMullan to his parents and the clergy) is a Northern Irish writer, performer and insomniac currently residing in London. He is the creator of Mondo Irlando, wherein his scribblings and hollerings can be found. He is currently working towards the completion of his first novel, and his debut "punk / country / folk / whatever" album has recently been released by Ex Libris Records . You can also pop by His MySpace Page and maybe have a coffee and a biscuit.
- The Duke On "Double Indemnity"
- Published: March 03, 2005
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Thriller, Video: Suspense and Mystery, Video: Crime, Video: Classics
- Writer: Duke De Mondo
- Duke De Mondo's BC Writer page
- Duke De Mondo's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Glad to see your going through the classics, Duke. And with the style a mofo like me can only dream of.
ROTFL!
Jesus...(wipes tears from eyes...) you're the master, Duke. I love you, man.
Not in a motherfucking faggotly-assed way, either...
As you can tell from the link, this movie is out of print. In fact, I called the video store just the other day and they told me the same thing -- that the only way to get a copy is to buy it used. I prefer to wait for a fabulous re-issue package; one is definitely in order. This movie just defines film noir, and I love seeing Barbara Stanwyck shopping in her sunglasses; it just looks so weird.
If there is indeed a reissue, I wonder if the original ending is still in existence and would be added as an extra to the package. The original ending featured Edward G. Robinson watching Fred MacMurray's execution.
hey folks
glad you found this critique de cinema to be enlightening and so on. First off, with regards the DVD, at this page right here;
http://www.mondoirlando.com/double_indemnity.html
on my own site, i link to the REGION 2 DVD, which i thought was already out, but turns out it's not, it's being released this april. Hopefully it'll have an abundance of extras, the lieks of that alternate ending discussed up above, for example. Even if it's got nothing, though, it'll still be a must-own.
HW, i didn't know the sordid details of Chandler's part in it all (although i knew he co-wrote). there's something really rather disgusting about that whole set-up.
I bought my copy of the out of print Double Indemnity on evay for (gulp) $45.00. I don't feel any remorse. Even when it becomes worthless after an inevitable reissue.
I will not go into the greatness of "Double Indemnity" nor Duke's unique examination of said film. I will say that "Creepshow 2" is an excellent horror film, and the final segment dealing with the hitchhiker is one of the best such segments ever put on film. I am a member of the "Creepshow 2" cult, and we recite lines from that segment. The power of Lois Chiles reigns supreme. You folks may wax poetic about Barbara's sunglassed stroll through a 40s supermarket. I say partake in the power of Lois Chiles' greatness. Drink from her cup. Fred MacMurray you say? BAH! Give me the undead hitchhiker any day of the week.
matt, i know how these things go. Sometimes a man needs to fork out for whats worth forking out for. ie, i recently purchased several hard-to-find Kirsten Dunst pictures from off of such an auction site. Some may fling scorn at us, scornfully. Sod them. We know some things are worth more than money, limbs and so on.
dbcooper, i am awed by your reverence for this most wonderful of sequels. And what of Tom Savini's performance? flinging that cape around him like there's no tomorow. Do you have the wonderful Anchor Bay dvd? i presume it's available in the US, it's just been issued here in the United UK. Wonderful.
Don't fuck with Wood'n Head, i would advise.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/26280)
This has always been one of my favorite
Billy Wilder directed movies,"Stalag 17"
being the all time fave.You can't beat
those German bastards when it comes to
the visual aesthetics.
You were fully in appreciation of this
film's dialogue and I don't blame you at
all. It was done largely by Mr. Raymond
Chandler who was on a major drunk at the
time of writing this. He had full help
from the studio to pull this off. Being
fully aware of big Ray's penchant for
drink, the studio watched out for him &
shuttled him back and forth from home to
studio in a limo. He wrote great stuff
while drunk and the studio execs knew
this.Rather than trying to stop him they
found it easier to put him on a sort of
"controlled" drunk so he could knock
this screenplay off.It worked like mad,
although giving Chandler(a raving lush)
his booze was about like giving Krispy
Kreme doughnuts to diabetics. Chandler
also has an un-credited,non-spoken cameo
in the film.
One of the many great things that make
this film really stand out to me is the
out of character casting of MacMurray as
a slimeball and Barbara Stanwyck as the
femme fatale. Both pull off their parts
with ease and aplomb. Genius film.