Blog #2 "Double Indemnity"

James M. Cain's novel, "Double Indemnity" tells a story about a dark, deceitful and yet suspenseful murder. Walter Huff an insurance salesman out of Los Angeles, California meets a woman by the name of Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis is wanting to buy an accident policy for her husband. At first Walter was a little bit suspicious of Phyllis because she didn't want her husband to know, but Walter was amazed by her beauty and fell in love with her and as she did with him. He had a plan and that plan was to get her, and in order to do that he arranged the perfect murder and gave up everything he had ever lived for. Over time Walter and Phyllis planned out the murder of her husband, thinking about every possible detail that they could so it would be the perfect murder. Walter schooled Phyllis on everything and told her exactly what to do and say to get him right where they needed him. The plan was set now it was time to put it into action. Mr. Nirdlinger was heading to his school reunion and was supposed to drive but had broken his leg and wasn’t able to, which had worked out to Walters benefit. Because he couldn’t drive, Phyllis convinced him to take the train in which she drove him to the station with Walter hidden in the back seat, in which he proceeded to break Mr. Nirdlinger’s neck with his crutch. Walter was dressed exactly how Mr. Nirdlinger was and took his train ticket and got on the train. Phyllis drove the car with the body down the road to a dark place, where Walter got off the train and helped her place Mr. Nirdlinger on the tracks as if he stumbled and fell of the train. They thought they did it and planned it perfectly. But people started getting suspicious, especially Walters co-workers. One thought it was suicide, when the other new it couldn’t be and he knew it was murder.

 As you compare “Double Indemnity” to film noir you can see many characteristics. Film noir is described as, “nightmarish, weird, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel”. And James Cain’s novel “Double Indemnity”, I think is exactly that. Some characteristics such as, it taking place in a large city, femme fatale, crime, cops, guilt and paranoia play a major role in Double Indemnity. Film noir stories were developed around a male character who encounters a beautiful but promiscuous and seductive femme fatale who used her feminine charm and sexuality to manipulate him, often ending in a murder. Double Indemnity is just that as this quote shows it, “What I was doing was peeping over that edge, and all the time I was trying to pull away from it, there was something in me that kept edging a little closer, trying to get a better look.(14)” This quote explains how Phyllis was able to manipulate Walter into helping her with the murder of her husband. This is what film noir is about duplicity, guilt, and loveless love.