Film noir is a style of American films that evolved in the 1940s, and lasted until about 1960. The primary moods of classic film noir are melancholy, estrangement, bleakness, failure, pessimism, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia. The females in film noir are usually femme fatales - mysterious, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, unr

The femme fatale in Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity is Phyllis Dietrichson, and the likeable but amoral male character is Walter Neff. From her determined heels clicking down the stairs at her first meeting with Neff, to her planned perfectly calculated deadly finale, she is cool and in complete control. No pity, no excuses, no nerves. Phyllis is attractive, and with the appeal of the smooth, the powerful, the fatal. She’s the ultimate of confidence, but inside, there’s a steel trap coiled and waiting to spring. In her initial meeting with Neff she plans her moves for effect. She uses her anklet, her perfume, and her sensuality. As she and Neff test each other, it’s clear that this will be a fight to the finish. It’s clear though, from the beginning, it’s all Phyllis. She’s still

Some topics in this essay:
, Phyllis She’s, Walter Neff, Phyllis Dietrichson, film noir, femme fatale, meeting neff,