“THESE ARE THE DAYS OF NOIR LIVES”
Celebrating hearts of darkness with two classics
by JoAnn DiVerdi Miller

THE MOVIES:

(1944); Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson; Directed by Billy Wilder; Written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler; Cinematography John Seitz

(1981); Starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Ted Danson; Written and Directed by Lawrence Kasdan; Cinematography 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. Each film boasts an ending that both satisfies and reflects the accepted morality – or erosion thereof – of their times.

Double Indemnity tells the tale of Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who is happily cruising through his life as the best insurance salesman at Pacific All Risk until he runs into “a honey of an anklet” worn by Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). She’s a neglected second wife sporting the worst blond wig imaginable. You’ll not be able to stop staring at both the wig and the captivating Stanwyck, who was nominated for Best Actress that year. The film, based upon the novel by James M. Cain, has it all: shadowy apartments, rainy nights, hot-headed characters, cold-hearted dames and Edward G. Robinson [insert bad Edward G. Robinson impression here]. Robinson plays Barton Keyes, claims manager extraordinaire and moral conscience of the film.

There are many pleasures in watching Double Indemnity, but by far, one of the best is watching Fred MacMurray’s performance. Is this the same kindly, absent-minded guy best remembered as inventing Flubber and raising His Three Sons on television? It can’t be. This has got to be his virile, younger brother who enjoys barking out “Baby,” to the broads.

In Body Heat, Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner) is essentially Phyllis Dietrichson, but with a much keener sense of style, not to mention Turner’s absolute ease with being naked on screen. Ned Racine (William Hurt) is her lover and he is no Walter Neff. Though as winning as Neff with the ladies, Ned is an incompetent lawyer with a penchant to mess up. His friends try to warn him – like Keyes’s words should have served as a warning to Neff – but it’s hard to listen to others when the love of your life is panting in your ear.

Double Indemnity cinematographer John Seitz set the standard for the look of American film noir for the next fifteen years. It was a dark vision to match the dark corners of humanity that people had stumbled into during the Depression and had stayed for, trapped, through the Cold War years. Notice how many times the shadows of the Venetian blinds fall across the broad shoulders of Neff like the bars of a prison cell; or how he seems to be stalked by the shadow of his own dark soul. It is some of the most subtle yet deliberate design and lighting since Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca in 1942.

If Double Indemnity is best watched alone curled up under a quilt on a rainy eve, then Body Heat should be watched in bed with only your lover to keep you warm. Cinematographer Richard H. Kline has 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, Kline s a bit more sly. Notice the individual sequences of a fedora, a clown driving a red car and a web lit by the moonlight – visual shorthand for the entire movie. Also, there is no such thing as a discreet fade-out in this film.

Double Indemnity was one of the the legendary Billy Wilder’s early directorial efforts. It lost as Best Picture, believe it or not, to the overly sentimental My Way. Wilder was not known for sentiment, with wit and cynicism as two of his best-known trademarks. He partnered on this particular script with the 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 that has ever been committed to film.

Incredibly enough, Body Heat was the first film that gifted, now-veteran screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan directed. His true genius with this film was that he updated the story of Double Indemnity in such a way that to this day fits a modern sensibility. He took tough characters from a tough time, who make tough, murderous choices and turned them into greedy characters from a greedy time, who make greedy, murderous choices. Then he gave those greedy characters words that honor the great tradition of film noir: dialogue dripping in equal parts irony and blood.

Compare the initial come-on scene between Walter and Phyllis to the one between Ned and Maddie 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.
Neff: How fast was I going, officer?
Phyllis: I’d day about 90.
Neff: Suppose you get off your motorcycle and give me a ticket?
Phyllis: Suppose I let you off with a warning this time?
Neff: Suppose it doesn’t take?
Phyllis: Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles?
Neff: 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.
Maddie: I’m a married woman.
Ned: Meaning what?
Maddie: Meaning I’m not looking for company.
Ned: Then you should have said, “I’m a happily married woman.”
Maddie: That’s my business.
Ned: What?
Maddie: How happy I am.
Ned: And how happy is that?
Maddie: You’re not too smart, are you? I like that in a man.

Said the spider to the fly.

MOOD FOOD: Like the men in both of these films, stay out of your kitchen (unless it’s to fix yourself a very strong drink) and go to a diner, instead. And don’t forget to tip your waitress.

FRAME OF MIND: If you’re a man, say “Baby,” say it a lot and say it snappy like a bullet coming right for your lover’s heart. It you’re a woman, dump those daily affirmations from Oprah and channel your inner vamp, dress like a femme fatale and lead your man astray. He’ll love you for it ‘til the day he dies…