Reveal the Time of Day

         The only time when Fred MacMurray's Walter Neff is shown in broad daylight in Double Indemnity  is when the flashback begins, right before he meets Barbara Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson. From then on, daylight only makes itself present through streaks of sunlight that come into interiors through the blinds of the windows which are more likely to suggest his being trapped in his own destiny rather than reveal the time of day. There is no escape for him. It's a feeling that follows him around at all times, a sense of darkness that takes hold of him, even if he is trying to keep it at bay with his cynicism and black humour. His apartment is rendered cold and strange, the Dietrichson mansion is menacing, stifling and shadowy, the office usually appears deserted, just a place where one can make a buck and take a shot at living, the phone booths and other urban spaces are dark, like unmendable gaps in the urban grid.

Deceit is in the Details
Ada Pirvu
Classiq.me
2020
                  https://classiq.me/deceit-is-in-the-details-barbara-stanwyck-in-double-indemnity