Double Indemnity

Raymond Chandler adapted James M. Cain's masterpiece to create a perfect screenplay. The story remains the same in both book and movie. Why would a man with a good job and no police record allow himself to be drawn into a conspiracy to commit murder? Only money or a woman could explain it, and in this case we have both. In this instance, the career of actor Fred MacMurray reveals the changing tastes that Hollywood shoves down the throats of gullible American audiences. In Double Indemnity, those audiences viewed a work of artistic merit. By the 1950's, MacMurray was reduced to the portrayal of a happy idiot in television's My Three Sons.