Blog Entry #2

The article “Towards a Definition of Film Noir”, by Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton says that “Film Noir is crime from within; from the point of view of the criminal.” The novel Double Indemnity is exactly that. The story is told by an insurance salesman named Walter Huff. He starts off just doing his normal job, going to inform his client Mr. Nirdinger that his auto insurance policy is about to expire. When he tricks the servant into letting him in, he finds that he is not home. Instead, Walt runs into Mr. Nirdingers wife, Phyllis. They chat a little, and out of nowhere she asks about accident insurance. Walter starts to get a weird feeling about the whole business and offers to leave and come back later. Skipping ahead a bit, Phyllis calls Walter at his office and they meet at the house three days later. When Walter gets there, only Phyllis is home. He ends up kissing her. By now he’s really confused and wary but curiosity is keeping him from dropping the case. She goes to his office later, he asks her what exactly she is planning. She caves and admits that she wants to kill her husband. He offers to help her do it and not get caught. In the text he actually uses the term “Amateur Murderer”. The story goes on with Walter and Phyllis meeting up to go over their master scheme and their alibies. All the while he has to keep up with his normal job. Eventually they get it figured out, and Walt goes and bores Mr. Nirdinger into signing papers that weren’t what he said they were. Then he goes around setting up his alibi. The last few pieces fall into place, and they are ready. Walter dresses up exactly like Mr. Nirdinger, and then breaks the mans neck when he gets in his car. They get to the train station and Walt goes by everyone acting like Nirdinger. Once the train departs and gets a little ways away from any onlookers he jumps off and they dump the body on the rails. Walt goes home, goes to work, talks to his boss, and acts like nothing happened.

The same article also said (towards the end of a quote) that “In every sense of the word, a noir film is a film of death.” This is the truest thing that can be said of Double Indemnity. The entire novel is literally about killing one person, from hatching the plot to carrying it out to getting away with it.

The article “Primary Characteristics and Conventions of Film Noir: Themes and Styles” from the website Filmsite, states that “Film Noir films (Mostly shot in grays, blacks and whites) show the dark and inhumane side of human nature with cynicism and doomed love, and they emphasize the brutal, unhealthy, seamy, shadowy, dark and sadistic sides of the human experience.” I find this true to Double Indemnity, because it is all based around Walters feelings for Phyllis. He wouldn’t have tried to kill anyone before he met her. Although, you can tell that he has at least contemplated it in the past, he had the basic plan in his head right off the bat. He’s put some thought into it. He falls for her, and she drags him into murdering her husband for the insurance money. And now he’s stuck with her while their alibies crumble.

 

It also says that "The primary moods of classic film noir are melancholy alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia." Walter Huff displays many of these, especially the guilt and paranoia in the days following the murder. Mostly the paranoia, and mostly at work when the other insurance claimsmen are trying to piece together what happened in front of him.