Double Indemnity

     The roll that is expected from woman in a film of this time period is to be the damsel in distress.  To be the bait for the killer, or come off completely inept to whats happening to her.  She is supposed to be there just to look at, an object if you will, never the bad one.  But in the film Double Indemnity Phyllis Dietrichson turns out to be the not only the damsel in distress but the murderer with a plot to collect all the Dietrichson insurance settlement.  

      The representation of this twisted women becomes much more complex through out the movie.  At first we only know that Phyllis is the beautiful house wife.  There to wait on her husband hand and foot.  As the film progresses and the plot thickens.  We discover that when Walter comes to the house selling insurance policies that Phyllis might be interested in something more.  This is when she begins to get the idea about killing her husband to collect the $50,000.  But making his death look as if it was an accident by falling off the train she is able to collect double indemnity from the insurance company.  The look in her eye when she realizes that this is possible with Walters help is sinister.  We later learn from the Dietrichson's daughter that this is not the first time Phyllis has killed.  

     So the preconceived idea that woman are just objects to look at in films has been destroyed.   We now see what can happen if a bored house wife who is ignored and unloved by her husband becomes motivated by money and the idea of life without him completely.  The drive for that money is making her cold and distant to everyone.  Phyllis only pretends to love Walter so she can play him.  She gets him to help her plan the murder because he knows what the insurance people will look for and he succumbs to her ways only to see that she was really in it with another man the whole time.  So we should never judge a book by its cover or a girl by her pretty smile, because sometimes woman look red hot but are truly stone cold.