History Film / DoubleIndemnity

* SpannerInTheWorks: ''Two'' of them, one for each of our... er, [[VillainProtagonist heroes]]. On Walter's side: small-town yokel Jackson is in the train's observation car, where they have a brief conversation. While Jackson never recognizes Walter as the man on the train, he sees enough of him to know that the man on the train was not the real Dietrichson.

* SpannerInTheWorks: ''Two'' of them, one for each of our... er, [[VillainProtagonist heroes]]. On Walter's side: small-town yokel Jackson is on the train's observation car with him, and while Walter does succeed in baiting him away before "dying", Jackson remembers enough of the encounter to know that he ''wasn't'' Dietrichson. On Phyllis' side: her stepdaughter (Dietrichson's blood daughter) Lola has very vivid memories of her BlackWidow tendencies, and is ready to spill it all the instant things go to court.

* SchmuckBait: The titular Double Indemnity clauses are clearly described as this by Walter. [[WhatAnIdiot They go for it anyway.]]

* BattleaxeNurse: Three guesses on who was the nurse taking care of the late first Mrs. Dietrichson.

* SpannerInTheWorks: ''Two'' of them, one for each of our... er, [[VillainProtagonist heroes]]. On Walter's side: small-town yokel Jackson is on the train's observation car with him, and while Walter does succeed in baiting him away before "dying", Jackson remembers enough of the encounter to know he ''wasn't'' Dietrichson. On Phyllis' side: her stepdaughter (Dietrichson's blood daughter) Lola has very vivid memories of her BlackWidow tendencies, and is ready to spill it all the instant things go to court.

* SpannerInTheWorks: ''Two'' of them, one for each of our... er, [[VillainProtagonist heroes]]. On Walter's side - small-town yokel Jackson is on the train's observation car with him, and while Walter does succeed in baiting him away before "dying", Jackson remembers enough of the encounter to know he ''wasn't'' Dietrichson. On Phyllis' side - her stepdaughter (Dietrichson's blood daughter) Lola has very vivid memories of her BlackWidow tendencies, and is ready to spill it all the instant things go to court.

* ShoutOut: Phyllis Dietrichson's surname is most likely a ShoutOut to classic femme fatale actress Marlene Dietrich.

[[TheRemake Remade]] as a 1973 MadeForTVMovie directed by Jack Smight, with a script by Creator/StevenBochco that [[SettingUpdate updates]] the story to the '70s. Creator/RichardCrenna stars as Walter Neff, with Creator/SamanthaEggar as Phyllis Dietrichson and Creator/LeeJCobb as Barton Keyes.

[[TheRemake Remade]] as a 1973 MadeForTVMovie directed by Jack Smight, with a script by Creator/StevenBochco that updates the story to TheSeventies. Creator/RichardCrenna stars as Walter Neff, with Creator/SamanthaEggar as Phyllis Dietrichson and Creator/LeeJCobb as Barton Keyes.

The story is told in flashback and narrated by Neff, who is [[ForegoneConclusion making a confession into his office Dictaphone.]]

** Also Phyllis herself, considering how unpleasant her husband is.

** Foreshadowed by Phyllis

* InsuranceFraud: The plot of the film revolves around Phyllis' attempt to arrange her husband's murder and collect his insurance money, which pays double in the event of accidental death (i.e. double indemnity).
* JerkassHasAPoint: Mr. Norton, Neff and Keyes’ boss, might be a prick who has never so much as glanced at an actuarial chart in his life, but he is correct in assuming something is fishy about Dietrichson’s death. He is also the first to suspect Walter of being involved with his death.

* LoveEpiphany: The only logical explanation as to why [[spoiler: Phyllis doesn't kill Walter.]]

* MurderTheHypotenuse

-->'''Phyllis:''' We're not the same anymore. We did it so we could be together but instead of that it's pulling us apart, isn't it, Walter?
-->'''Walter:''' What are you talking about?
-->'''Phyllis:''' You don't really care whether we see each other or not!
-->'''Walter:''' Shut up, baby. [kisses her]

-->'''Keyes:''' Now that's enough out of you, Walter. Now get outta here before I throw my desk at you.
-->'''Neff:''' [[DeadpanSnarker I love you, too.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: Zig-zagged. When the film was in pre-production, it was Chandler's idea to make Keyes a lovably-passionate SympatheticInspectorAntagonist, whereas in the novel, he doesn't have ''nearly'' as much characterization.

* FamousLastWords:
** "I'm not asking you to buy it, just hold me close!" -- [[spoiler: Phyllis Dietrichson]]
** "I love you too." -- [[spoiler: Walter Neff]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Barton Keyes (according to Neff, anyway).

* HowWeGotHere:The narrator gets shot prior to the movie's start, and retells everything before dying. In other words, he slowly bleeds to death for ''the whole movie'', not kicking it until the end. The book begins with him on a ship, also suffering from a gunshot wound, shortly before his SuicidePact with Phyllis.

* HeroAntagonist: Arguably Keyes, depending on whether you see him as more of a force for LawfulGood or LawfulNeutral.

** "I'm not asking you to buy it, just hold me close!"--[[spoiler: Phyllis Dietrichson]]
** "I love you too."--[[spoiler: Walter Neff]]

* GoryDiscretionShot: When Walter kills Phyllis, he does so in a way that avoids showing any blood (with his back to the camera).
** Also, the camera pans to Phyllis's face while Neff kills Dietrichson.
** In the novel, he begins to describe how he used one of the husband's crutches to kill the man, then adds "I won't tell you what I did then. But in two seconds he was curled down on the seat with a broken neck, and not a mark on him except a crease right over his nose, from the crosspiece of the crutch."

* AdaptationDistillation:
** {{Downplayed|Trope}}. The film hews very close to the book for the most part (though it eliminates some revelations about Phyllis), but the ending is both spatially and temporally more compact. Its main differences are in the dialogue (Chandler believed Cain's dialogue [[PragmaticAdaptation wouldn't translate well]] to the screen) and the use of the FramingDevice of Neff recounting the story into the dictaphone.
** [[spoiler:Walter and Phyllis]] [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled commit suicide at the end of the book]], rather than face prison and/or execution for their crime. In the movie, violent confrontation ensues.

* RevisedEnding: One of the main areas in which the film differs from the book.
** Also applies to the film itself. An alternate ending was filmed in which Walter is executed at San Quentin, but the directer didn't use it because he felt it was anti climatic. The footage is now lost, except for a few still frames.

* OutlawCouple