The Silhouetted Figure on Crutches
The very first example of imagery presented on the screen is the mysterious silhouette of a male figure moving slowly toward the viewer and looming larger as he seems ready to burst right through the opening credits. The significance of this bit of imagery cannot be overestimated, given the meaning it takes on in hindsight. First, this figure foreshadows the central plot element of Mr. Dietrichson's murder and Walter's impersonation of him on crutches. Since at this point in the narrative we know nothing about Mr. Dietrichson, the image is fundamentally a mysterious one, and in film historical terms, this opening image now seems like a portentous example of the classic film noir aesthetic—all mysterious shadows and vague outlines.
The Post-Opening Credits Speeding Car Sequence
Once that starkly defined and deceptively ambiguous silhouetted figure on crutches passes through the opening credits, the narrative commences with a frenzy of action marked by imagery loaded with meaning. Maintenance workers illuminate a sign reading Los Angeles Railway Corp., which foreshadows the significance of a train to come. The speeding car that seems poised to lose all human control is symbolic of the state of the mind driving both Walter and Phyllis toward tragedy. The old-fashioned stoplight with the flip-out signs indicating to drivers to either STOP or GO is an ironic commentary on consequences of Walter’s not paying attention to less direct signs warning him against becoming involved with Phyllis. That speeding car only takes 30 seconds to get from the end of the credits to Walter’s place of work, yet presents robust imagery that takes lesser films an hour to convey.
The Two-Shot
Double Indemnity overflows with a remarkably diverse and creative series of shots composed to keep two major characters within the frame in order to further underline the significance of their relationship. When Phyllis and Walter have their first conversation in the living room of casa Dietrichson, for instance, the two-shot allows both Phyllis and Walter to remain in the shot, though they almost seem to be on opposite sides of a split screen. In the famous sequence inside the grocery store as they move toward collusion, we get one of the most iconic images from the movie: the two murderers standing closely together—Phyllis wearing dark sunglasses—as they peer over the food aisle with ambiguous expressions that could be read as guilt, suspicion, paranoia or even cunning. Likewise, almost every conversation that Walter and Keyes have inside the insurance offices are framed for the most part as two-shots to keep them both within the frame. The most telling aspect here is that Neff and Keyes are not situated within that frame as antagonists toward each other in the way that Walter and Phyllis sometimes are.
A Crime of Capitalist Dispassion
Some of the most telling imagery in the film isn’t even presented as a visual image, but rather arrives through dialogue as good old-fashioned literary imagery. Despite imagining themselves inexorably caught up in a web of passion, for Phyllis and Walter, the killing of Mr. Dietrichson is purely transactional. Killing him will remove an obstruction to their plan to be together while realizing a profit. Of course, that would be using 21st century literary imagery to describe the situation; the film locates us distinctly within the 1940s post-Fordist economic atmosphere through dialogue that represents the killing as an opportunity for a “quick buck.” And in the imagery conveyed in Walter’s confessional voice-over narration, even classical myth gets filtered through the language of capitalism: Walter describes how a switch has been thrown, meshing gears and putting in motion the machinery that will assemble their fate.
