Closet Picks
Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity

Billy Wilder, 1944

Spine #1126

Picked by 3 guests

Crime / Thriller

Criterion Letterboxd TMDB

Directed by Billy Wilder

Written by Raymond Chandler, Billy Wilder

Cinematography John F. Seitz

Edited by Doane Harrison

Cast Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines

Picked by

Charles Burnett

“One of my favorite film noir pieces. Double Indemnity is this film. It’s really a suspenseful film. I met Fred MacMurray. Because I used to work for this agency that handled him. I had to take scripts over to him and people like that, have them sign it, and that was my job. I was like a messenger. And he was such a nice person. A very talented actor. Good stuff.”

Matthew Broderick

“So I have a noir: Double Indemnity. This movie is… Everybody talks this very clipped, short, stylish noir way that… there’s no other film quite like it. It’s perfect. And Barbara Stanwyck, no collection is complete without Barbara Stanwyck. One of the best film actors ever.”

Matt Damon

“Oh, yeah, Double Indemnity. One of my favorite little exchanges, I think, ever in a movie: Barbara Stanwyck is being a little coy and… and Fred MacMurray says something to her that’s, like, a little racy, and she says, 'I wonder if I know what you’re talking about.' And he responds, 'I wonder if you wonder.' Wonderful film. And of course, Edward G. Robinson’s in it.”