DREAM STREAM
Enjoy two perfectly paired films, mood food & a classic film frame-of-mind
THE FILMS: Double Indemnity (1944) starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson; Directed by Billy Wilder; Written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler; Cinematography by John Seitz and Body Heat (1981) starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Mickey Rourke; Written and Directed by Lawrence Kasdan; Cinematography by Richard H. Kline.
THE CONNECTION: One is a classic black-and-white film noir; the other, a successful homage. Both tell the tale of an unhappily married woman and her lover plotting the murder of her husband for profit.
Double Indemnity tells the tale of Walter Neff, played by Fred MacMurray, ace insurance salesman of his office until he runs into “a honey of an anklet” worn by Phyllis Dietrichson, played by Barbara Stanwyck, a neglected second wife in a cheap blond wig. Based on the novel by James M. Cain (who also wrote the books that the noir classics The Postman Always Rings Twice and Mildred Pierce are based upon), Double Indemnity has it all: shadowy apartments, rainy nights, hot headed characters, cold-hearted dames and Edward G. Robinson. Robinson plays Barton Keyes, claims manager extraordinaire and the moral conscious of the film.
In Body Heat Matty Walker, played by Kathleen Turner, is Phyllis Dietrichson with a much better sense of style and an absolute ease with being naked. Ned Racine, played by William Hurt, an incompetent lawyer, is her lover. Ned’s friends try to warn him, as Keyes words should have warned Neff, but it’s hard to hear anyone when the love of your life is panting in your ear.
Cinematographer John Seitz created the look of film noir in America for the next decade and-a-half. It was a dark vision to match the dark corners of humanity that people had stumbled into during the depression and stayed, trapped, through the Cold War years. Notice how many times the shadows of those Venetian blinds fall across the broad shoulders of Walter Neff like the bars of a prison cell; or how he seems to be stalked by the shadow of his own dark soul.
If Double Indemnity is best watched alone, curled up under a quilt on a rainy night, then Body Heat should be watched in bed with only your lover to keep you warm.
If Double Indemnity is best watched alone, curled up under a quilt on a rainy night, then Body Heat should be watched in bed with only your lover to keep you warm. Cinematographer Richard H. Kline created a film noir where every curve of light feels sensual and every color frame, full of dark secrets. He nods to classic noir; the shadows of those ubiquitous blinds falling like prison bars across poor, hapless Ned, but visually he’s a bit slyer. Notice the individual sequences of fedora, clown and spider web – visual shorthand for the entire film!
Double Indemnity was one of the amazingly talented Billy Wilder’s early directorial efforts. He partnered on the script with famed mystery writer, Raymond Chandler. Though the two could not stand each other and were never to work together again, they pounded out a screenplay with some of the best dialogue ever committed to film.
Body Heat was the first film talented screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan directed. Setting his story in a heat wave he uses the seasonal scorcher to cleverly work in references to the heat and its varied meanings throughout the film. His true genius however was that he was able to update the story of Double Indemnity in such a way that it fit a modern sensibility while still honoring the great tradition of film noir: dialogue dripping in equal parts of cynicism and deceit.
Compare the initial come-on scene between Walter and Phyllis to the one between Ned and Matty to see the tough act Kasdan had to follow and just how well he did:
From Double Indemnity:
Phyllis: There’s a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff, 45 miles an hour.
Walter: How fast was I going, officer?
Phyllis: I’d say about 90.
Walter: Suppose you get off your motorcycle and give me a ticket?
Phyllis: Suppose I let you off with a warning this time?
Walter: Suppose it doesn’t take?
Phyllis: Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles?
Walter: Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder?
Phyllis: Suppose you try putting it on my husband’s shoulder?
From Body Heat:
Ned: You can stand here with me if you want, but you’ll have to agree not to talk about the heat.
Matty: I’m a married woman.
Ned: Meaning what?
Matty: Meaning I’m not looking for company.
Ned: Then you should have said, “I’m a happily married woman.”
Matty: That’s my business.
Ned: What?
Matty: How happy I am.
Ned: And how happy is that?
Matty: You’re not too smart, are you? I like that in a man.
Oh, if only we all spoke as cleverly in real life as they do in reel life!
MOOD FOOD: Fix yourself a drink – and make it a double. Then eat out like the men in both of these films. Though drugstore counter service is a thing of the past, we still have diners. And in the spirit of noir dialogue: Enjoy something hot, quick and cheap. Then go out and get yourself something to eat.
CLASSIC ATTITUDE: If you’re a man say: “Baby.” Say it often and say it fast, like a bullet going straight for your lover’s heart. If you’re a woman, channel that inner vamp and lead your man astray. He’ll love you for it ’til the day he dies.
Before you watch this clip, can you guess how many times Walter Neff says, “Baby”? Is it 16? 28? Maybe 32 times? Watch and learn, Baby. Watch and learn.
