-The scene where Neff and Dietrichson can't get their car started after the murder was added by Wilder after his car wouldn't start at the end of a shooting day.
2 of 2 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-The blonde wig that Barbara Stanwyck is wearing throughout the movie was the idea of Billy Wilder. A month into shooting Wilder suddenly realized how bad it looked, but by then it was too late to re-shoot the earlier scenes. To rationalize this mistake, in later interviews Wilder claimed that the bad-looking wig was intentional.
2 of 2 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did not get along well while writing this film's script, a process that was apparently filled with arguments. Wilder claimed that he flaunted his womanizing ability at the time to torment the sexually-repressed Chandler.
2 of 2 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-This film came out in 1944, the same year David O. Selznick released "Since You Went Away (1944)." Part of the campaign for the latter film were major ads that declared, "'Since You Went Away' are the four most important words in movies since 'Gone With the Wind'!" which Selznick had also produced. Wilder hated the ads and decided to counter by personally buying his own trade paper ads which read, "'Double Indemnity' are the two most important words in movies since 'Broken Blossoms'!" referring to the 1919 D.W. Griffith classic. Selznick was not amused and even considered legal action against Wilder. Alfred Hitchcock (who had his own rocky relationship with Selznick) took out his own ads which read, "The two most important words in movies today are 'Billy Wilder'!"
2 of 2 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-The character Walter Neff was originally named Walter Ness, but director/writer Billy Wilder found out that there was a man living in Beverly Hills named Walter Ness who was actually an insurance salesman. To avoid being sued for defamation of character, they changed the name. In the novel, his name is Walter Huff, and Dietrichson is Nirdlinger
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Dick Powell wanted the role of Walter Neff, but he was under contract to another studio and they wouldn't allow it. He was enraged and tore up his contract. The role went to Fred MacMurray.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-In the first scene in which Walter first kisses Phyllis, we see a wedding ring on Walter's hand. Fred MacMurray was married and the ring was not noticed until post-production.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Billy Wilder had a tough time getting a leading man for this film; many actors, including George Raft turned the project down. He had to persuade Fred MacMurray to accept the part.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-The victim, Mr. Dietrichson, is an oil company executive. Screenplay writer Raymond Chandler was an oil company executive before he became a writer.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Silver dust was mixed with some subtle smoke effects to create the illusion of waning sunlight in Phyllis Dietrichson's house.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-We never learn the first name of Mr. Dietrichson.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Various studios expressed interest in the story when it first appeared in serial form in 1935 but realized it was unfilmable within the strictures of the newly-established Production Code.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #29 Greatest Movie of All Time.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Author James M. Cain later admitted that if he had come up with some of the solutions to the plot that screenwriters Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did, he would have employed them in his original novel.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-The movie was based on the novel by James M. Cain, which in turn was based on the true story of Ruth Snyder, the subject of a notorious 1920s murder trial.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Barbara Stanwyck was the first choice to play Phyllis, but she was unnerved when seeing the role was of a ruthless killer. When she expressed her concern to Billy Wilder, he asked her, "Are you a mouse or an actress?"
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-On viewing the film's rushes, production head Buddy G. DeSylva remarked of Barbara Stanwyck's blonde wig, "We hired Barbara Stanwyck, and here we get George Washington"!
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-In the scene where Phyllis is listening at Neff's door as he talks with Keyes, Keyes exits into the hallway and Phyllis hides behind the door. The door opens into the hallway which isn't allowed by building codes even back then, but it does give Phyllis something to hide behind and increases the tension.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Raymond Chandler hated the experience of writing the script with Billy Wilder so much that he actually walked out and would not return unless a list of demands was met. The studio acceded to his demands and he returned to finish the script with Wilder, even though the two detested each other.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-In the early 1970s Paramount had plans to remake Assurance sur la mort (1944) with Robert Redford in the Fred MacMurray role. The project never got off the ground.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this 
-"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on October 30, 1950 with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray reprising their film roles.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 5, 1945 with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck reprising their film roles.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 16, 1950 with Barbara Stanwyck again reprising her film role.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-Alan Ladd, George Raft, and Brian Donlevy were all up for the leading role of Walter Neff but evidently turned down the role.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-During production, one day Raymond Chandler failed to show up at work and was tracked down at his home, and he went through a litany of reasons why he could no longer work with director Billy Wilder. 'Mr. Wilder frequently interrupts our work to take phone calls from women... Mr. Wilder ordered me to open up the window. He did not say please... He sticks his baton in my eyes...I can't work with a man who wears a hat in the office. I feel he is about to leave momentarily.' Unless Wilder apologized, chandler threatened to resign. Wilder surprised himself by apologizing. "It was the first - and probably only - time on record in which a producer and director ate humble pie, in which the screenwriter humiliated the big shots."
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-This marks the only film appearance of screenwriter and novelist Raymond Chandler.
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-According to an April 1975 career article on Brian Donlevy in "Films in Review," the actor turned down the lead role because it was "Too shady."
1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-When "Double Indemnity" was first published in 1935, offers of up to $25,000 were tendered but nothing came of it at the time because the Hays Office considered the novel unsuitable for filming. James M. Cain was ultimately offered $15,000 by Paramount. He was to get half on signing and the other half if the script was approved by the Hays Office.
Is this interesting? Interesting?YesNo | Share this
-An article, "The Making of 'Double Indemnity'" by Jay Rozgonyi, appeared in the June-July 1990 issue of "Films in Review." One of the best films noir ever, Double Indemnity communicates with amazing effectiveness the depths of depravity, greed, lust, and betrayal of the seemingly innocent and beautiful.