Femme Fatale
Monica Weir
While the film Double Indemnity contains almost all elements of film noir, I found the role of Phyllis Dietrichson to be by far the most intriguing. From her seductive charm to her undeniable beauty, she fits the mold for a femme fatale. The first scene of the movie shows our protagonist, Walter Neff, heartbroken due to the work of Phyllis as he confesses “I killed him for money – and a woman – and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?� From this, we learn that the main character is now a broken man, not our typical Post World War II era hero.
With eleven years of sales experience for Pacific All Risk Insurance Company, Walter is obviously intelligent and successful, however, upon meeting Phyllis any and all of his business ethics go out the window. After their first encounter, he’s hooked. Her physical beauty – porcelain skin, vibrant lips, perfectly styled blonde hair, and distracting anklet – matched with her witty conversation skills dominate his thoughts from that moment on. Since the movie is from Walter’s point of view, whether or not Phyllis is in a given scene, she is the focal point. The entire film revolves around the femme fatale - her desires, her worries, her problems, and above all, her control.
Phyllis is initially characterized as an unhappy, lonely housewife. When she cries to Walter about hating her husband because he’s mean and doesn’t love her the audience is led to believe that she is the victim. As the plot unfolds, the true characteristics of Phyllis show through. She uses her positive traits to her advantage to get whatever she desires. By controlling Walter’s heart, she only needs to plant the seed for him to take control of the murder. She wants her husband dead so Walter takes care of all the details in plotting the murder, performing the murder, and covering the tracks. This is ironically typical for the time period since the common view is that women need men to accomplish anything.
In the end of this film “the punishment exceeds the crime� (Scruggs 678), as is characteristic in film noir. Phyllis meets her demise when her once cold heart isn’t able to pull the trigger and kill Walter. Barton Keyes, the claims adjuster, learns that his best friend is the one whom he’s been searching for as the murderer. Most importantly, since meeting Phyllis, Walter has lost everything; he has above all lost himself.