Yeah, Double Indemnity is possibly the best noir ever.
1 Like
I canāt remember which Val Lewton movie it was off the top of my head but Ward Cleaver played a scumbag in one of them
2 Likes
Love Double Indemnity. I first saw it with my mom and grandfather. They liked to watch old movies on VHS and showed that one to me during one of my infrequent visits. Great noir with a great ending.
2 Likes
My only hesitation is that Iām not always sure what films count. There are films like Rebecca that I would place a bit higher, but Iām not sure whether that movie fits the subgenre.
1 Like
hyde from that 70s show has a bit part in Face/Off and within 5 seconds of his characterās introduction, he attempts to date rape a girl. (john travolta beats his ass)
1 Like
I donāt know if Double Indemnity is the best noir ever. But if you looking for the definition of film noir in the dictionary, the first example is Double Indemnity.
1 Like
Double Indemnity also includes the sickest actuarial burn of an insurance company CEO of all time.
You tell him, Ed! My profession rarely gets called out like this in movies.
2 Likes
To be fair, the headline made it look worse than it was I think.
FFC still seems like an entitled boomer, but clipping that into the headline they did made it look more Seinfeldian (in the real life sense) than it was.
1 Like
Sunset Blvd. surely counts as film noir and would be a very close contest with Double Indemnity. I do think that Double Indemnity is easily the more accessible of the two, but that cuts both ways in terms of how well I think it compares between the two.
I would absolutely include movies like Uncut Gems as neo-noir, Double Indemnity is still the GOAT.
1 Like
Uncut Gems actually seems like the rare example of borrowing heavily from a prior great movie (The Gambler - Caan edition obviously) and managing to improve upon it. Though I agree it doesnāt reach a Double Indemnity level of all-time greatness.
One thing that struck me during this watch of Double Indemnity is that itās wild to me that we havenāt seen more attempts to remake it. Not that they are in any way needed since the movie holds up beautifully, but it just seems like the sort of story that people would want to run back. Particularly in an era where there wouldnāt be any code or norm keeping everything so chaste.
1 Like
If you told me Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell count as sci-fi neo-noir, I might have to sit and think about which is best but they would all be in my top 5-10.
No audience for it imo. Film nerds are the only ones who care about DI, and they arenāt going to care for a remake when there are loads of great modern noir movies.
1 Like
What Iām thinking is stuff like running back Psycho in a Dressed to Kill outfit. I wouldnāt think youād do another rendition called Double Indemnity (though that happened once in the 70s and it doesnāt get good marks).
2 Likes
You got me interested so I checked out the Wikipedia.
After the success of Double Indemnity, imitators were rampant. In 1945, Producers Releasing Corporation, one of the B movie studios of Hollywoodās Poverty Row, financed Single Indemnity starring Ann Savage and Hugh Beaumont. Marketed as Apology for Murder, Paramount was not fooled by the title change and obtained an injunction against the filmās release that still remains in effect.
So many imitations flooded the market that Cain believed he deserved credit and remuneration.
Which I think speaks to your point that aside from remakes as a radio drama, Paramount didnāt approve any official remake until 1973, when the movie was remade as a made for TV movie.
The movie was also parodied by Carol Burnett as Double Calamity.
Off topic: Iāve heard that one of the Psycho adaptations is actually good? I think the Flop House guys tlaked about it at one point.
This has been mined a lot on TV since the movie. I donāt know if there has ever been a direct to theaters remake but one of the big problems is modern audiences donāt really like noirs. You have to basically hide itās a noir to get it made today. Sometimes a neo-noir like The Score gets through, but it didnāt make any money. What are modern examples of neo-noirs that have made money in the last 20 years?
Iāve been wanting to remake The Maltese Falcon for a long time and wish someone would do it.
Hahaha that Hugh Beaumont was a rough one back around 1945.
1 Like
Does seem like examples are few and far between. It looks like Fincherās The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo made money.