DI - Cultural and Ideological Factors (Assessment) Flashcards
Although Double Indemnity was produced before the end of WW2, it tapped into a mood of __________ that was growing in America.
Disillusionment
A mood of post-war gloom led to a halting of idealistic notions of American _______.
Identity
The Westerns of the 1930s had celebrated the frontier spirit and the sense of opportunity and space offered by this new nation. Noir replaced this with a mood of cynicism and claustrophobia; a sense of darkness invaded space creating doubt and _________.
Paranoia
America had promised success through industriousness and endeavour and yet for many this was unattainable. If paths were blocked then individuals turned to crime and ______.
Violence
Economically, _____ ___ no longer wishes to be the servant of the insurance system he has served all his years.
Walter Neff
The cohesive view of society which wartime cinema had tried to promote was being challenged by the __________ world that individuals actually confronted.
Fragmented
The dates of the Second World War are: ____-____
1939-1945
Double Indemnity is set in which city? ___ _____
Los Angeles
Who is Billy Wilder?
The director of Double Indemnity
The term film noir is French for ____ ____
Dark film
What was Phyllis’ and Neff’s fate in the novel which Double Indemnity was based off of?
Originally at the end of the novel, Neff and Phyllis die by way of a suicide pact, however Joseph Breen saw suicide as ‘a violation of natural and divine law’ (Quoted in Doherty, 2007: 300). It seems that it would also be impossible to pass by censors because of the notion that they are taking their own lives as opposed to being served justice through punishment by the law - something that the Breen office wanted to uphold.
What was the original ending which Wilder had filmed for Double Indemnity?
Wilder originally filmed an ending which he described as one of the best two scenes he ever shot, where Neff is sentenced to death in a gas chamber while his best friend and colleague Barton Keyes (Edward G Robinson) looks on helplessly. There are several reasons was not included in the final cut, first Wilder believed it was unnecessary since he always put his trust in the audience.
