Just Finished Reading: Double Indemnity by James M Cain (FP: 1936) [136pp] 

Walter Huff (played by Fred McMurray and, for some reason called Walter Neff, in the 1944 movie adaptation) had an idea for the perfect crime. He was an expert after all, being in the insurance business. He’d seen it all, all the mistakes people made when filing a false claim, all of the ways their attempted deception could’ve been smarter and more lucrative.  Then in walked Phyllis Nirdlinger (played by Barbara Stanwyck and again renamed, for some reason, Phyllis Dietrichson) with a request for accident insurance for her husband. The catch, which Walter saw immediately, was that she didn’t want her husband to know about the policy – so as not to ‘worry’ him. On confrontation Phyllis brakes down and admits that she intends to kill her husband because of the way he treats her. To her amazement Walter doesn’t turn her in, instead he starts to tutor her on the best way, the foolproof way, to get what she wants. Even better Walter tells her about a part of the policy that most people never get to see in action: Whatever the final claim is can be doubled if, and only if, the accident happens on a train. It would seem that Mr Nirdlinger is going on a trip – one way only. 

The Classic noir movie version is one of my favourite films, so I was looking forward to reading this slim volume. Whilst it does match up pretty well with the film, I did find the variations from that plot to be quite interesting. Apart from the odd name changes, the first part of the book fits very well with the movie screenplay almost scene for scene. One thing the novel – despite it being super slim – does is give several of the people, most especially Phyllis and her stepdaughter's boyfriend a far deeper background story which explains their actions much better than the movie. The other major difference was the ending. I’m guessing that the movie codes of the time (1944) just couldn’t accommodate the book ending and needed a more brutal and final finish. It was weird though, especially after most of the plot matching so well with the film, when the ending goes completely off-track, and you begin to wonder where and how it will all end.  

Overall, this was a pretty good noir novel and is worth reading, especially if you’re a fan of the movie or the genre. It’s a classic for a reason and was an enjoyable quick read. Recommended for all crime fans.