On this day in movie and book history - Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity

directed by Billy Wilder,

written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler,

based on the novel by James M. Cain,

was released in the United States on July 3, 1944.

Music by Miklós Rózsa.

Cast:

Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber, Raymond Chandler, Bess Flowers, Betty Farrington, Teala Loring, Sam McDaniel, Miriam Nelson, Douglas Spencer.

Recommended reading:

Double Indemnity

by James M. Cain.

 

Filmed as:

Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder.

Double Indemnity (1973), directed by Jack Smight.

 

Published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard.

Published 1943.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 9780679723226

ISBN-13: 9780679723226

Description:

“An American masterpiece.” – Ross Macdonald.

“No one has ever stopped reading in the middle of one of Jim Cain’s books.” – Saturday Review of Literature.

Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.

Tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful, Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir.

________________________________________________________________

Double Indemnity: The Complete Screenplay

by Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Jeffrey Meyers.

Published by University of California Press.

Published 2000.

ISBN-10: 0520218485

ISBN-13: 9780520218482

Description:

On every level -- writing, direction, acting -- Double Indemnity (1944) is a triumph and stands as one of the greatest achievements in Billy Wilder's career. Adapted from the James M. Cain novel by director Wilder and novelist Raymond Chandler, it tells the story of an insurance salesman, played by Fred MacMurray, who is lured into a murder-for-insurance plot by Barbara Stanwyck, in an archetypal femme fatale role. From its grim story to its dark, atmospheric lighting, Double Indemnity is a definitive example of World War II-era film noir. Wilder's approach is everywhere evident: in the brutal cynicism the film displays, the moral complexity, and in the empathy we feel for the killers. The film received almost unanimous critical success, garnering seven Academy Award nominations. More than fifty years later, most critics agree that this classic is one of the best films of all time. The collaboration between Wilder and Raymond Chandler produced a masterful script and some of the most memorable dialogue ever spoken in a movie.

This facsimile edition of Double Indemnity contains Wilder and Chandler's original -- and quite different -- ending, published here for the first time. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction contextualizes the screenplay, providing hilarious anecdotes about the turbulent collaboration, as well as background information about Wilder and the film's casting and production.

On this day in movie history - Two Seconds (1932)

Two Seconds

directed by Mervyn LeRoy,

written by Harvey Thew,

based on the play by Elliott Lester,

was released in the United States on May 28, 1932.

Music by W. Franke Harling.

Cast:

Edward G. Robinson, Vivienne Osborne, Guy Kibbee, Preston Foster, J. Carrol Naish, Frederick Burton, Harry Beresford, Dorothea Wolbert, Berton Churchill, William Janney, Edward McWade, Gladys Lloyd, Lew Brice, James P. Burtis, Jill Dennett, Adrienne Dore, Charles E. Evans, Helena Phillips Evans, June Gittelson, Otto Hoffman, Fred Howard, John Kelly, Matt McHugh, Franklin Parker, Sam Rice, Larry Steers, Luana Walters, Allen Wood, Harry Woods.

On this day in movie history - Tampico (1944)

Tampico

directed Lothar Mendes,

written by Kenneth Gamet and Fred Niblo Jr.,

based on the story by Ladislas Fodor,

was released in the United States on April 5, 1944.

Music by David Raksin.

Cast:

Edward G. Robinson, Lynn Bari, Victor McLaglen, Robert Bailey, Marc Lawrence, E.J. Ballantine, Mona Maris, Tonio Selwart, Larry Arnold, Trevor Bardette, Martin Black, Sammy Blum, Helen Brown, Ralph Byrd, Harry Carter, Martin Cichy, Ann Corcoran, David Cota, Victor Cox, Paul Cristo, Jean Del Val, Ludwig Donath, Carl Ekberg, Ben Erway, Arno Frey, Martin Garralaga, Kit Guard, Louis Hart, Peter Helmers, Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian, Harvey Karels, Paul Kruger, Charles Lang, Rolf Lindau, Chris-Pin Martin, Margarita Martín, Antonio Moreno, Rudolf Myzet, Fred Nurney, Daniel Ocko, Nestor Paiva, Karen Palmer, Grace Poggi, Otto Reichow, Roy Roberts, Constantine Romanoff, Muni Seroff, George Sorel, Juan Varro, Hans von Morhart.

On this day in movie history - Little Caesar (1931)

Little Caesar

directed by Mervyn LeRoy,

written by Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert N. Lee, Robert Lord and Darryl F. Zanuck,

based on the novel by W. R. Burnett,

was released in the United States on January 25, 1931.

Music by Erno Rapee, Leo F. Forbstein and David Mendoza.

Cast:

Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell, William Collier Jr., Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Ince, Stanley Fields, Maurice Black, George E. Stone, Armand Kaliz, Nicholas Bela, Ernie Adams, Elmer Ballard, Ferike Boros, Kernan Cripps, George Daly, Adolph Faylauer, Ben Hendricks Jr., Al Hill, Lucille La Verne, Gladys Lloyd, Noel Madison, Tom McGuire, Louis Natheaux, Henry Sedley, Larry Steers, Landers Stevens, Mike Tellegen.

Recommended reading - Little Caesar by W.R. Burnett (1929 & 1981):

Little Caesar

by W.R. Burnett.

ASIN: B0012363AA

Published by Dial.

Published 1929.

Hardcover.

First edition.

Description:

Rico is a small, pale man, but he has guts, endurance and a steely single-mindedness. When Vettori sends the gang out to rob a local nightclub, Rico shoots a cop who pulls a gun on him. They get away, but Vettori is shocked. He had told Rico, no gunplay. That’s when Rico realizes that Vettori has gone soft. He’s too old to control the gang anymore. So Rico takes over. With the faithful Otero at his side, the rest of them quickly shift their allegiances. Now the world is Rico’s. It’s his gang, and he’s calling all the shots. But there is always a weak link, someone who’s ready to spill when the bulls get tough. And sooner or later the nightclub killing is bound to catch up with him.

 

Little Caesar

by Gerald Peary.

Edited by Tino Balio.

Published by University of Wisconsin Press.

Wisconsin / Warner Bros. Screenplays.

Published 1981.

First edition.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 029908454X

ISBN-13: 978-0299084547

Description:

Little Caesar, a 1931 Hollywood gangster classic, is viewed in revivals today with nearly as much audience enthusiasm as it enjoyed a half-century ago, in the depths of the Great Depression.

In general, the Hollywood film industry responded to the dark economic conditions of the 1930s with escapist and non-topical films. The fascinating exception was the gangster film, through which the studios joined in the debate over the spiritual and economic health of the nation. Little Caesar, considered by many to be an architype of the genre, is one of the most memorable dramatizations of the discontent and alienation, the deep anxiety and hostility shared by millions of Americans during those dark years.