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| Availability: | Double Indemnity |
| inEveryman's Library collection | |
| Double Indemnity | |
| Double Indemnity | |
| Double Indemnity | |
| Assurance sur la mort | |
| Doppelte Abfindung | |
| La morte paga doppio | |
| Pacto de sangre |
: clever, fast, sharp
| Source | Rating | Date | Reviewer |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Nation | . | 22/5/1943 | Dawn Powell |
| The NY Times Book Rev. | . | 18/4/1943 | John K. Hutchens |
| The NY Times Book Rev. | . | 2/3/1969 | Ross Macdonald |
| Time | . | 24/5/1943 | Tom S. Reck |
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- "(I)t is truly an astonishing style, rippling and easy in a nervous sort of way, the people talking as such people would talk, the writing vivid and direct." -
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The prevalent world view inDouble Indemnity is a deeply cynical one; in retrospect, given how and why the story is being told (which is only revealed at the end), there can perhaps be no other.
The story is told by insurance agent Walter Huff. He's been in the business for a while, and he's gotten to understand people and motives pretty well -- but when he comes across Phyllis Nordlinger he's immediately dangerously close to being in over his head. He visits the Nordlinger home to renew Mr. Nordlinger's automobile coverage, but only the Mrs. is there. And she's obviously interested in something else. Walter, maybe, but also a certain kind of insurance. Accident. "It's the one kind of insurance that can be taken out without the insured knowing a thing about it."
Walter knows exactly what she's after, and he knows exactly what he should do:
Huff's been in the business long enough to know what it takes to get away with murder. He also knows there are three keys to success, and the one that amateurs always forget is sheer audacity. And the plot they hatch is admittedly bold.
One of the keys is that it has to be a railway accident. That's where the double indemnity kicks in. And that's part of the audacity, because the insurance company knows that railway accidents aren't a very common way of getting oneself killed.
It's a good plan, and Cain nicely describes how it's done, from getting the insurance policy (very nicely handled) to the alibis to the act itself. Huff has it all planned out, and while it doesn't quite go off without a hitch the hitches are within the built-in margin of error.
The insurance company isn't thrilled by the turn of events. They hope for a ruling of suicide (rather than accident), but it's a hard case to make. Still, they're not thrilled about paying -- and they are suspicious. As the head of the Claims Department explains: No: it has to be murder. But that's easier intuited than proven.
Huff isn't in the all-clear very soon, but not too much attention is focussed on him.Phyllis is under suspicion, and it looks -- to the investigators -- like someone else might have also been involved.
Nordlinger's daughter (Phyllis' step), Lola, also complicates matters, especially when Huff falls for her. And he also learns that Phyllis is considerably more evil than he had originally thought (as he learns, for example, the fate of the first Mrs. Nordlinger). In fact, Phyllis turns out to be almost too bad to be true.
Eventually, Huff decides he has to get rid of her. Only too late does it dawn on him that she might have the same idea ..... Crime, ultimately, does not pay, and Cain nicely, darkly ties it all together.
Double Indemnity is an impressive novel. It doesn't have the heat ofThe Postman always Rings Twice, but, except for super-evil Phyllis, is largely more believable. The dialogue, especially, is excellent: clipped screenplay word-bites, with not a thing too much said. It's a compelling story, and though very dark (there are almost no good guys here) is still very enjoyable. Recommended.
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Double Indemnity:Reviews:Double Indemnity - the films:James M. Cain:- James M. Cain at books and writers
- James M. Cain at detnovel.com
- The Butterfly
- The Cocktail Waitress
- Galatea
- Love's Lovely Counterfeit
- Mildred Pierce
- The Postman always Rings Twice
- Serenade
- Sinful Woman
- Richard Schickel's study of the film,Double Indemnity
- See Index ofMysteries and Thrillers under review
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American author James Mallahan Cain (1892-1977) was, among other things, managing editor ofThe New Yorker and a screenwriter. He published his first novel when he was forty-two, and achieved great success with several hard-boiled classics.