306. Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity, as much as any other movie, invented the film noir genre and is possibly the most imitated, spoofed and remade classic of all time. Yet, on re-watching it, we as hosts were truly surprised: Double Indemnity defies expectations, and as much as being a template for the Film Noir genre it helped birth, it is also a template for the singularly witty and cynical voice of the great Billy Wilder. Wilder’s record-breaking writer/director career defied genre expectations with satiric comedies, ground-breaking dramas and films like The Apartment that walk a tightrope between the two. With Double Indemnity, he took a lurid news story about a homicidal wife and, with screenwriter Raymond Chandler, turned it into a taboo-crossing tale of sex and betrayal that spotlights darkest Los Angeles while casting shade on modern American life. Do these qualities pierce through eight decades of parody, imitation and meme? To judge by our young panel’s responses, the answer is both yes and no. Hear for yourself if and how this 20th century classic survives 21st century perception. Hosts: Mark Netter, David Tausik Panelists: Guy Lewis, Olive Goldberg, Sonia Howell, Brennan Guntang An ElectraCast Production Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Indemnity IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/ Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/double_indemnity Original Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKrrAa2o9Eg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices