Brackett didn't want to work on Double Indemnity, which is credited to Billy and Raymond Chandler. He thought the rushes 'monotonous' and 'brutal', though by the time it was finished revised his opinion to 'an absolute knockout of a picture, the most flawless bit of picture technique imaginable'. Other than they fell out, I can't really get a feel for what Chandler contributed to the picture, which is rich with juicy dialogue like 'I couldn't even hear my own footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man', prefiguring Billy's gas chamber ending, which he did film, then removed as unnecessary. Miklos Rozsa's music adds much, as does Edward G. Robinson - there are a lot of good long takes, and his - on suicide statistics - is a great one. (I found 'death by leaps' oddly memorable and funny.) A definite classic.
With Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber.
No doubt of value was editing supervisor Doane Harrison who on Five Graves was helpful in working out the camera positions with Billy.
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