Search results
Double Indemnity is a 1944 American crime thriller film noir directed by Billy Wilder, co-written with Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The film was based on James M. Cain 's novella of the same name, which ran as an eight-part serial in Liberty magazine beginning in February 1936.
- IT WAS INSPIRED BY A REAL MURDER. Before he began making serious headway as a writer of fiction, Double Indemnity author James M. Cain worked as a journalist in New York, and it was there that he stumbled upon the real-life murder case of Albert Snyder, who was killed in 1927 by his wife, Ruth Brown Snyder, and her lover, a corset salesman named Henry Judd Gray.
- IT FOUGHT THE PRODUCTION CODE FOR YEARS. Double Indemnity was first placed before the Production Code Administration in Hollywood in 1935, the year before it was serialized in Liberty, and the story was immediately met with resistance from PCA head Joseph I. Breen, who noted that a film version would likely be rejected according to the code.
- BILLY WILDER’S WRITING PARTNER AT THE TIME TURNED IT DOWN. It was producer Joseph Sistrom who first brought Double Indemnity to Wilder, believing the filmmaker would respond well to Cain’s hard-boiled story of deception and seduction.
- WILDER AND RAYMOND CHANDLER HATED WORKING TOGETHER. Wilder agreed to work with Chandler after reading some of his prose and finding the future author of The Long Goodbye had a knack for clever lines of dialogue and description.
Joseph Sistrom was born on 7 August 1912 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for The Atomic City (1952), The Night of January 16th (1941) and Incendiary Blonde (1945). He died on 7 April 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Producer, Additional Crew, Writer
- August 7, 1912
- Joseph Sistrom
- April 7, 1966
When slick salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) walks into the swank home of dissatisfied housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck), he intends to sell insurance, but he winds up becoming entangled with her in a far more sinister way.
- Walter Neff
Feb 12, 2019 · Paramount executive Joseph Sistrom thought the material would be perfect for writer and director Billy Wilder and they bought the rights for $15,000.
- Scott Anthony
Apr 24, 2017 · For giving his director his head to ride his splendid talent to the winner’s circle, the picture is therefore an even more excellent production credit for Joseph Sistrom. And there is a salute...
Joseph Sistrom is known as an Producer and Associate Producer. Some of their work includes Double Indemnity, Pocketful of Miracles, Wake Island, The Atomic City, Botany Bay, Submarine Command, The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt, and Star Spangled Rhythm.
