{"product_id":"double-indemnity-by-richard-schickel-9780851702988","title":"Double Indemnity","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA new kind of film emerged from Hollywood in the early 1940s, thrillers that derived their plots from the hard-boiled school of crime fiction but with a style all their own. Appearing in 1944, \u003cem\u003eDouble Indemnity\u003c\/em\u003e was a key film in the definition of the genre that came to be known as film noir. Its script creates two unforgettable criminal characters: the cynically manipulative Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) and the likeable but amoral Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBilly Wilder's brilliant direction enmeshes them in chiaroscuro patterns, the bright California sun throwing shadows of venetian blinds across dusty rooms, shafts of harsh lamplight cutting through the night.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRichard Schickel traces in fascinating detail the genesis of the film: its literary origins in the crime fiction of the 1930s, the difficult relations between Wilder and his scriptwriter Raymond Chandler, the casting of a reluctant Fred MacMurray, the late decision to cut from the film the expensively shot final sequence of Neff's execution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis elegantly written account, copiously illustrated, confirms anew the status of \u003cem\u003eDouble Indemnity\u003c\/em\u003e as an undisputed classic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PTY Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47470474100972,"sku":"9780851702988","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780851702988-double-indemnity.jpg?v=1775219683","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/double-indemnity-by-richard-schickel-9780851702988","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}