Double Indemnity by James. M. Cain

Double Indemnity is quite the story. Again, in 80 pages, James M. Cain conveyed all he needed to in order to tell a chilling tale of murder and betrayal. It’s the same old story, murder for insurance, but it’s not the same old story in the way that it’s told. It’s the perfect murder, but it isn’t that perfect.

What I’ve come to realize, however, is that not only does Cain know how to tell a tale, he also knows how to create an ending that the readers won’t figure out. In both The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, I never in a million years would have conceived of his endings. Totally creative, totally fitting, totally satisfying, totally chilling. There is a reason why these novelettes are considered classics.

Now for the movie, which I intend to watch. I know I’ve seen it but don’t remember it. Since I remembered Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck played the leads, I wasn’t really picturing anyone else in the parts. What startled me was the Barbara Stanwyck’s character in the book is Phyllis Nirdlinger and in the movie is Phyllis Dietrichson. Tell me what director thought that Dietrichson was a better name than Nirdlinger. MacMurray’s character is Walter Huff in the book and Walter Neff in the movie. I’m sure there’s a story behind these and several other name changes, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine what it would be.

I’m pretty sure I have an old edition like this of The Postman Always Rings Twice floating around my apartment somewhere. I’ll soon be on the search to find it.

To sum up, if you want to know what a real mystery is like, short, sweet and to the point, I whole-heartedly suggest James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity.