A rich woman and a calculating insurance agent plot to kill her unsuspecting husband after he signs a double indemnity policy. Against a backdrop of distinctly Californian settings, the partners in crime plan the perfect murder to collect the insurance, which pays double if the death is accidental.
Nominated for 7 Oscars. 2 wins & 9 nominations total
Top Critics Reviews
fresh:
This is the gold standard of '40s noir, straight down the line.
– Jessica Winter,
Time Out,
26 Jan 2006
fresh:
The film is a brilliant collision of evil and the mundane, and one of the reasons viewers respond to it so well is that it makes the mundane seem a little sexier in the resulting debris.
– Douglas Pratt,
Hollywood Reporter,
23 Sep 2006
fresh:
MacMurray has seldom given a better performance. It is somewhat different from his usually light roles, but is always plausible and played with considerable restraint.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
14 Aug 2007
fresh:
Wilder trades Cain's sun-rot imagery for conventional film noir stylings, but the atmosphere of sexual entrapment survives.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
11 Feb 2008
fresh:
This expert night of the Hollywood soul is such a genre axiom it practically scans like a mid-'40s shopper's catalogue for noiristes ...