Blog 2: Elements of Film Noir within Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain is a classic work of fiction that fits perfectly within the various definitions of the noir style. The novel follows Walter Huff, a lonely and successful insurance salesman as he is sucked into a twisted murder plot by a beautiful woman. Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton state, within "Towards a definition of Film Noir," that, "film noir is [crime] from within; from the point of view of the criminal." Cain's novel is Walter Huff's personal account of the events surrounding the murder of his client H.S. Nirdlinger. Mr. Huff meticulously describes his decent into the criminal world from the moment he laid his eyes on the beautiful wife of his client, through his thorough planning of the murder, and the steps that would be necesssary to ensure that the crime would go unsolved, and finally how it all went wrong. He recounts, in vivid detail, every aspect of his sordid affair and his reaction to being manipulated into doing the heinous crime.

The website, Filmsite, states that, "The females in Film noir are either of two types - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femme fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous... and desperate women." The women within Cain's novel fall exactly in line with this description. Lola Nirdlinger, the daughter of the victim, is a sweet and charming young woman, who was devoted to her mother and father, and who wanted nothing but to find out the truth about what happened to them. Phyllis Nirdlinger is the femme fatal, a beautiful and depraved woman who was willing to go to any length to get what she wanted. She easily manipulated Walter Huff into killing her husband after only a single visit. Her actions proved her to be truely evil, with the insane ability to justify the most disturbing of deeds to serve her needs.

Filmsite, also states that film noir "narratives are frequently complex and convoluted, typically told with flashbacks." Walter Huffs' narrative is indeed complex, from the way he describes every aspect of a successful murder, to the intricacies of the insurance system, and finally the way he planned down to the second every action that took place the night of the murder. Every twist and turn of the story is told as a flashback after the whole sorted affair had come unglued.