Double Indemnity
By James M. Cain
Rating: 5/5 Stairs
Long story short, I’ve been meaning to read Double Indemnity and watch the film for quite a few years now. I finally got around to it.
I started with the film, watching about half of it before I stopped and picked up the book. I came back to finish the film once I finished the book. The film did color my reading; the story is told in the first person narrative, and I heard Fred MacMurrary’s voice as I read. Not that it was a bad thing, Fred MacMurray was brilliant as insurance salesman Walter Huff.
Walter Huff meets Mrs. Phyllis Nirdlinger, femme fatale, while out on a sales call. This fateful meeting begins Walter’s path towards fraud, murder, and guilt. The movie closely follows the book, with the exception of the ending. They did make some changes when moving it from the page to the screen.
Written in 1936, Double Indemnity is a great example of the noir genre. It was fun to read and also to watch. You can’t go wrong with this classic novel.
Hidden Staircase 
I recently read this, and it is wonderful, if you like noir. It’s written in a different manner than contemporary novels. Very terse and unusual, yet in those days, many books were written like that.
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I haven’t read this, but the movie is excellent. Fred MacMurray was wonderful, playing against type. Barbara Stanwyck might be the only actress who could make a character named Phyllis Nirdlinger so sexy. 😉
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I saw the movie years ago, but I also read the book for a book group on Good Reads.
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I’ve never read or seen this but I’ve heard of it. Now I’m intrigued! And I like that quote too- obviously someone is being tempted to do something very bad. 🙂
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I’ve seen the movie more than once ( wonderful ) and recently read the novel. If you love noir, you will love both.
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