Double Indemnity ** (1973, Richard Crenna, Lee J Cobb, Samantha Eggar, Robert Webber) – Classic Movie Review 10,181

Director Jack Smight’s 1973 film of Double Indemnity has plenty of talent involved, but is a bloodless TV remake of the 1944 classic Double Indemnity, based on the James M Cain novella in his book collection Three of a Kind. It finds Samantha Eggar struggling in Barbara Stanwyck’s still smouldering shoes as the femme fatale Phyllis Dietrickson, the scheming wife who lures the weak-willed insurance investigator man Walter Neff (Richard Crenna) into her murder plot to kill her husband and have it seem an accidental death.

The enduring power of the story and Lee J Cobb’s intense performance in the old Edward G Robinson part as Walter Neff (Crenna)’s suspicious boss Barton Keyes just about keeps it watchable, but it is little more than an eerie and empty copy in Technicolor of the original film. The 75 minutes running time, as opposed to the original’s 106 minutes, keeps it moving briskly but keep it thin too.

It is based on the 1944 film screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler rather than the original novella. Steven Bochco was hired as writer to update the film but not change it substantially. The flaw here is that the 1944 film did not need updating. Bochco writes the script with loving care and the faithfulness to the original film should be commendable but actually only makes it a totally frustrating experience. They showed the script to Double Indemnity director Billy Wilder, who surprisingly apparently gave his approval, though presumably he may have earned money from this teleplay.

Also in the cast are Robert Webber as Edward Norton, Arch Johnson as as Dietrickson, Kathleen Cody as Lola Dietrickson, John Fiedler as Mr Jackson, John Elerick as Donald Franklin, Joan Pringle as Neff’s Secretary, Gene Dynarski as Sam Bonventura, Ken Renard as Porter, Joyce Cunning as Norton’s Secretary and Arnold F Turner as Redcap.

James M Cain’s fifth book Three of a Kind (1943) contained three novellas – Career in C Major; Double Indemnity (first published in Liberty magazine, 1936); and The Embezzler (first published as Money and the Woman, in Liberty magazine, 1938).

Double Indemnity is directed by Jack Smight, runs 75 minutes, is made by Groverton Productions and Universal Studios, is released by NBC Universal Television, is written by Steven Bochco, based on the 1944 film screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, is shot in Technicolor by Haskell B Boggs, is produced by David Victor (executive producer) and Robert F O’Neill, is scored by Billy Goldenberg and designed by Joseph Alves Jr [Joe Alves].

It is included in the Film Noir Collection [DVD] of four crime films, with the classic This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942) and The Blue Dahlia (1946).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,181

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