Andy MacedoPeriod 4L.A Noir 3/7/12Double Indemnity Not only is Double Indemnity one of the prototypical films known as film noir but it is regarded by many as the first bona fide film noir. It is also one of the best. The characters, scenario and stylistic elements of Double Indemnity all perfectly represent this group of Hollywood films from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. The dark tone of Double Indemnity, both visually and thematically, the anti-hero who is led astray by greed and lust, and the seductive yet deadly femme fatale are all essential film noir characteristics. It is hardly surprising that Double Indemnity is loaded with some of the best examples of hardboiled language as two icons of hardboiled fiction contributed to the script. Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler used an array of symbolism in the film that would be used in noir film all throughout history. The low-key lighting that is arguably the most defining feature of film noir is a key element of Double Indemnity. This exploitation of shadows portrays the environment that the characters live in as dangerous and full of corruption, mystery, violence, and inhabited by people with dubious motives and ambiguous morals. The use of clever and double entendre dialogue also separates the film from others, and also was the key to passing the Hays film code. “Suddenly it came over me that everything would go wrong. It sounds crazy, Keyes, but it's true, so help me. I couldn't hear my own footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man”, a famous line Walter says in the film. This line shows the simply average guy who gets embroiled in a situationthat he has no control over, a core concept of film noir. He gets into this situation because his common sense and moral fibre go astray when he is tempted by money, a woman, or, as in the case of Double Indemnity, both. With Fred MacMurray as insurance salesmen, Walter Neff perfectly embodies the film noir hero who is a combination of kind-hearted softy, hopeless sapAndy MacedoPeriod 4L.A Noir 3/7/12and ruthless murderer. Like most film noir heroes, he is doomed from the start. This also shows the Naturalism and Pessimism found in the Americans in 30s and 40s, which is a key reason to why Double Indemnity became so popular.In this time era, Americans had lost their innocence, and the twists of fate and pure darkness of noir films enticed audiences to go and see them. American films were taking a look at the underside of the American character, and people who went and saw these films wanted to see cynical dark sides of characters. Double Indemnity was so popular in view of the fact that it was brilliantly filmed and incisively written. It perfectly captured the decayed Los Angeles atmosphere of a Chandler novel, but it used a simpler story and more substantial characters. It was culturally, historically, and aesthetically