Blog Post 3: Horrible Ending?

Double Indemnity: Part Two

Double Indemnity throughout the whole book/movie was very interesting, the book had you wanting to read more and pulled you into it. While the movie is very fast paced, they are still very interesting. In my personal opinion the ending in the novel was not very appropriate for this kind of story, throughout both the movie and book it was a very nail biting story in my opinion and to end it to that just did not do justice for me. Neither Huff, or Mrs. Nitlinger were served real justice for what they did. I thought that it was very weird that after all they did, cold blooded murder, and even Mrs. Nitlinger killed more than one person and Mr. Keyes just gave them a chance to be free and to never get caught. I thought that with them committing suicide was a very boring ending, I felt there should have been more that happened to them, more Mrs. Nitlinger than anyone who was a huge psychopath who should have not been let free.

 I think that a more appropriate ending would have been Mrs. Nitlinger ending up getting shot instead of Mr. Huff. I think that if Mrs. Nitlinger would have been shot by her step daughter Lola, it would have made for a more appropriate ending because not only was Lola suspicious of Phyllis from the beginning because she had thought that it was Phyllis who had killed her mother in the first place. Although I do not agree with what Huff did I think that he should receive less punishment than Mrs. Nitlinger because she was a psychopathic woman that knew she had the power to convince a man to do anything she wanted him to do. I mean don't get me wrong Huff does fall very easily for the first woman to give him attention but he was manipulated by Phyllis to help kill her own husband and he didn't even get what he wanted in the beginning, her and the money.  Like he said "I killed him for money, and a woman, and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman." I almost feel a little sympathetic for Huff because he really would do anything for a woman he cared for. But I definitely think Cain should have definitely made a more exciting ending to such a thrilling and nail biting story, instead he left you kind of puzzled in the end like what kind of ending was that? In my opinion the ending could have been a lot better but it is what it is.

 I think that Chandler and Wilder changed the book's ending because it was very boring and not very exciting. If people would to have saw that ending that occurs in the book they probably would be as disappointed as I was to see an ending like that after such a great story. The directors were smart to change the ending because it makes for a better ending. I think that they saw an opportunity to sort of fix the boring ending to something more exciting.

Blog Entry 2. Double Indemnity

Paul Shrader said that the qualities of film noir are nightmarish, weird, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel (Notes on Film Noir). Double Indemnity can definitely be categorized for many of the elements that are defined as film noir. Many things can be described as elements of film noir for double indemnity but the main ones that fit for double indemnity are weird, erotic, and cruel. One thing I noticed with double indemnity and the femme fatale which is Phyllis Nirdlinger is that the main character Walter Huff is very aware of the erotic effect she has on him from the beginning.  Huff said, "but she was walking around the room, and I saw something I didn't notice before. Under those blue pajamas was a shape to set a man nuts." (Page 6) He was very aware of her sexiness and he definitely liked it and at the same time it scared him. He again said on page 6 that "all of the sudden she looked at me, and I felt a chill creep straight up my back and into the roots of my hair." Huff  is very aware that Mrs. Nirdlinger seems like trouble but he can not stay away.

Double Indemnity is cruel in many ways in the fact that Mrs. Nirdlinger buys life insurance for her husband shortly before he is "killed" and even uses her way with Mr. Huff by getting him to fall for her. Mrs. Nirdlinger is very cruel and definitely fits into the category of a femme fatale. According to Huff, Mrs. Nirdlinger is "maybe thirty-one or -two, with a sweet face, light blue eyes, and dusty blonde hair". He portrays Mrs. Nirdlinger as the type of woman that would fit the character description of a femme fatale. Although that Huff is very aware of how cruel it is to kill somebody's husband for money and because he is as he puts it as loving her "like rabbit loves a rattlesnake" (Page 70).

Double Indemnity definitely has a very "weird" plot that can very much fit into the category of film noir. Walter Huff is a insurance salesman that randomly checks up on one of his customers and ends up falling for his wife, and ends up plotting and arranging the murder of the husband with the wife that he had never met until he checked up on the customers policy. It definitely in my opinion is not something that happens very often, but they both come off as very desperate and needy which also fits in the film noir category. Double Indemnity very much fits into the category of film noir. From the femme fatale, to the cruel and erotic ways of the book, it has a very weird plot and it makes you think twice of a lot of things. It can definitely be classified as a film noir.

What Defines Film Noir?

What Defines Film Noir? 

Film noir is in many ways a dark, gloomy, crime filled, good old fashioned black and white movie, but in my point of view film noir is more than just that. Film noir, in my opinion is a way of expressing the dark side in life. In most movies you see the happy side of life, everyone's always nice to each other and cares for each other, and in all reality that's not how life is. No matter what, there is evil people anywhere and everywhere you go, and that brings me to the point of what I think defines film noir. Film noir shows the dark side of life, it shows murder, corruption, crime, or anything that may show the dark side of people. Film noir shows a great deal of the other side of life, the one that most people do not want to involve themselves with, it shows that not everything is as happy and as perfect as it seems. That there is corruption and murder anywhere you can go, and that it can happen to you if you're not careful. Film noir is dark and cruel but it shows reality in my opinion, there have been dark and cruel people since the beginning of time and I believe that film noir has shown the realism in life, it shows the dark, gloomy, corrupted crime filled aspect of life. It has a great way of showing people how cruel life can be sometimes, and that everything is not as it seems.