Paramount
Oscar Alert
Oscar nominations: 7
Picture, produced by Joseph Sistrom
Director: Billy Wilder
Actress: Barbara Stanwyck
Screenplay (adapted): Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler
Cinematography: John Seitz
Score: Miklos Rozsa
Sound recording: Loren Ryder
Oscar Awards: None
Oscar Context:
Made during WWII, “Double Indemnity” was critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated in seven categories, including Best Picture, but the Academy opted for more conventional and schmaltzy fare like the Bing Crosby melodrama, “Going My Way.”
In 1944, the winner of the Best Actress Oscar was Ingrid Bergman for “Gaslinght.” Joseph LaShelle won the Cinematography Oscar for another distinguished film noir, “Laura.”
Auteur Alert
Directed by Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity as film noir is perhaps the most ironic of all movie genres. Wilder explores in many of his films themes of impersonation, deception, especially emotional. Some of the many great films Wilder has directed are: The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Stalag 17 (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Some Like It Hot (1959), and The Apartment (1960).
