美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Double Indemnity' Is 75, But Anklets (And Film Noir) Are Forever

'Double Indemnity¹' Is 75, But Anklets (And Film Noir) Are Forever

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A surprisingly influential² film turns 75 years old this month. The black and white movie is called "Double Indemnity." Billy Wilder directed it. This movie helped inspire a lot of other film noir classics featuring wounded men in fedoras and sultry femme fatales. And here is the surprising part - "Double Indemnity" also influenced a lot of what we are watching today. The fedoras didn't last, but much else did.

Here's NPR's Marc Rivers.

(SOUNDBITE OF JAMES SEDARES'S "DOUBLE INDEMNITY: I. PRELUDE")

MARC RIVERS, BYLINE³: Let's just get right to the point.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOUBLE INDEMNITY")

FRED MACMURRAY: (As Walter Neff) Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and for a woman. And I didn't get the money, and I didn't get the woman.

RIVERS: That's insurance salesman Walter Neff, played by Fred MacMurray.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOUBLE INDEMNITY")

MACMURRAY: (As Walter Neff) It all began last May...

RIVERS: His confession⁴ comes at the start of the film, so I didn't spoil anything. The woman is Phyllis Dietrichson, played by Barbara Stanwyck. She's a seductive housewife who would be much happier without her husband around.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOUBLE INDEMNITY")

BARBARA STANWYCK: (As Phyllis Dietrichson) The other night, we drove home from a party. He was drunk again. When we drove into the garage, he just sat there with his head on the steering⁵ wheel with the motor still running. And I thought what it would be like if I didn't switch it off - just closed the garage doors and left him there.

RIVERS: Together, they had to scheme to kill the husband and make it look like an accident. But in "Double Indemnity," it's also a given that the protagonists⁷ are doomed⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOUBLE INDEMNITY")

MACMURRAY: (As Walter Neff) Suddenly, it came over me that everything would go wrong. I couldn't hear my own footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man.

EDDIE MULLER: There's no doubt in my mind that it was not only the artistic⁹, but the commercial success of this film - is what really triggered the film noir movement in Hollywood.

RIVERS: That's Eddie Muller, the czar of noir, as he likes to call himself. He's the host of Turner Classic Movies' Noir Alley¹⁰.

MULLER: And I think that what makes it so special is that the protagonists are the villains¹¹.

RIVERS: Seventy-five years ago, that was a big deal. Hollywood was heavily policed by production codes, and it was bold for director Billy Wilder to take his popular stars and turn them into killers¹².

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOUBLE INDEMNITY")

STANWYCK: (As Phyllis Dietrichson) We're both rotten.

MACMURRAY: (As Walter Neff) Only you're a little more rotten. You got me to take care of your husband for you.

RIVERS: Film noir - stories that exposed the dark underbelly of the American dream, rich black and white with heavy shadows and witty¹³ double entendre that skirted the censors¹⁴.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOUBLE INDEMNITY")

STANWYCK: (As Phyllis Dietrichson) There's a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff - 45 miles an hour.

MACMURRAY: (As Walter Neff) How fast was I going, officer?

STANWYCK: (As Phyllis Dietrichson) I'd say around 90.

MACMURRAY: (As Walter Neff) Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket.

STANWYCK: (As Phyllis Dietrichson) Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.

RIVERS: And the smoking - so much smoking. After all, they were as good as dead anyway. Film noir came from the hard-boiled fiction of writers like Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler. It took off in Hollywood during and after World War II, when Eddie Muller says you couldn't sell people just on happily ever after anymore.

MULLER: And so finally, here were stories on a big screen at the movie house that reflected that pessimism¹⁵.

RIVERS: That strain of pessimism and the visual style have never gone away. It's mostly on TV now, from "The Sopranos" to Walter White in "Breaking Bad"...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BREAKING BAD")

BRYAN CRANSTON: (As Walter White) I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger.

RIVERS: ...Or "Jessica Jones," with its tortured female protagonist⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "JESSICA JONES")

KRYSTEN RITTER: (As Jessica Jones) A big part of the job is looking for the worst in people. Turns out, I excel at that.

MELISSA ROSENBERG: Jessica Jones is sort of in the role of the - what would be, typically, the male hero - you know, the Humphrey Bogart, Fred MacMurray - where she's the - you know, the antihero.

RIVERS: That's "Jessica Jones'" creator and showrunner Melissa Rosenberg. She says she could draw a line between Jessica Jones and "Double Indemnity's" femme fatale.

ROSENBERG: She's driving the story. She's the smart, ambitious one who does what she has to to get what she wants.

RIVERS: Today's audiences are no longer shocked by this kind of story. In fact, Eddie Muller says now people watch old movies like "Double Indemnity" because they're a little like comfort food.

MULLER: Like, wow, that's great. Look. Here's a murder story from a more innocent time.

RIVERS: Just don't go looking for innocence¹⁶ down the mean streets of "Double Indemnity." You won't find any.

Marc Rivers, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA'S "MRS. DIETRICHSON/THE CONSPIRACY")

1 indemnity   

n.赔偿，赔款，补偿金

参考例句：

• They paid an indemnity to the victim after the accident.他们在事故后向受害者付了赔偿金。
• Under this treaty,they were to pay an indemnity for five million dollars.根据这项条约，他们应赔款500万美元。

2 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

5 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

6 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

7 protagonists   

n.（戏剧的）主角( protagonist的名词复数 )；（故事的）主人公；现实事件（尤指冲突和争端的）主要参与者；领导者

参考例句：

• Mrs Pankhurst was one of the chief protagonists of women's rights. 潘克赫斯特太太是女权的主要倡导者之一。 来自辞典例句
• This reflects that Feng Menglong heartily sympathized with these protagonists. 这反映出冯梦龙由衷地同情书中的这些主要人物。 来自互联网

8 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

9 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

10 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

11 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

13 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

14 censors   

删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The censors eviscerated the book to make it inoffensive to the President. 审查员删去了该书的精华以取悦于总统。
• The censors let out not a word. 检察官一字也不发。

15 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

16 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。