Movies Under the Stars

Double Indemnity (1944)

Film Screening

An NCPA & Film Heritage Foundation Presentation

One of the earlier film noirs Double Indemnity, Billy Wilder’s hard-boiled masterpiece, tells the tale of an insurance salesman, Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), seduced into murder by the deliciously wicked Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). Working with co-writer Raymond Chandler, Wilder launched himself onto the Hollywood A-list with this epitome of film-noir fatalism from James M. Cain’s pulp novel of the same name. Featuring scene-stealing supporting work from Edward G. Robinson and the chiaroscuro of cinematographer John F. Seitz, Double Indemnity is one of the most entertainingly perverse stories ever told and the standard by which all noirs must be measured. Paul Howlett of The Guardian writes, “What marks Double Indemnity out from other great film noirs is that sense, among all the crazy, twisted, duplicitous shenanigans, of real, human heartbreak.”

Director: Billy Wilder
Producer: Joseph Sistrom
Screenplay: Billy Wilder & Raymond Chandler
Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck & Edward G. Robinson.

Admission on a first-come-first-served basis. NCPA Members will get preferential seating till 6:20 pm.