The Duke On "Double Indemnity"
Published March 03, 2005
I'm sure you remember Body Heat, Keyes, in fact I know you do. I remember you said about how it was a value for money rental, unlike Fisting Miss Daisy or Sit On My Face 2, on account of once you were done playing with yourself you still had a great yarn to sit through whilst you gathered your composure. Unlike Slutty Housewives 5, you didn't turn it off after three minutes and then take it back to the store, all the while weeping with utter self-loathing.
You said that, really, the plot about the betrayal and the illicit affairs was probably just as good as the scenes were Kathleen Turner had some sexes. Well, Kathleen Turner isn't in Double Indemnity. Come on Keyes, she wasn't even born, most likely. But I think this might be a remake of Body Heat. Obviously it's the forties so they can't shaft one another up the exit, but it bears a lot of similarities.
Except that Double Indemnity is about 89% better in almost all conceivable areas. Let me tell you this for nothing, Keyes, and take note, son. This thing is a motherfucking masterclass in how to be a hard-boiled wise-cracking motherfucker. The dialogue, Keyes, it's like two terriers fightin over the last sausage in the tray. Just slices through a fella, back and fourth, back and fourth, bam bam bam. It's the kinda shit gets a man giddy just to hear. Kinda shit a man wants to note down in case he spies any attractive ladies on the way home who maybe need a warm bed for the night and a finger on a trigger.
Let's be honest, Keyes, those wank jokes weren't gettin us no damn place.
And it's so bleak, Keyes, so suffocatingly bleak. Let's take a little minute for a flashback within the flashback, if you don't mind, and maybe take a note of how World War 2 was just about to end in a wave of blood and concrete. Maybe note those fellas wandering home after all that time spent gettin bits blown off and blowin bits off of other folks. The home they return to, Keyes, it ain't the home they left.
These folks should be coming back secure, content, with a future mapped out ahead a them. Instead, they don't know where to go, Keyes, they don't know what lies around the next corner, or if it even is a corner, or maybe just a slight bend in this shitty ol' road headed for shitsville.
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.