Scene stealers

I wouldn't debate the point that Robinson could steal a scene with the best of 'em, but this one he didn't have to steal; it's handed to him on a silver platter, and is all his. An interesting aspect of it is that it represents one of the few passages that was lifted nearly verbatim from James M. Cain's novella. It's also one of the few instances in which Cain's dialogue, which could often be awkward and even florid, matches the snappy, punchy conciseness of that crafted by screenwriters Chandler and Wilder.

I'm not among those who generally compare film adaptations to the novels upon which they're based, or even encourage such comparisons, but I make an exception for Double Indemnity, for more than one reason. First, Cain's book is such a brisk read, coming in at only 115 pages, about the same number as the average script of the day. But the primary one is that a reading of the book with a companion viewing of the film provides a do-it-yourself master class on the art of book-to-film adaptation.

I'm repeating myself from other posts on this board as well as its IMDB predecessor, but I can't think of another example from which anyone interested could glean a clearer understanding of that process: literary devices are converted to cinematic ones; characters, motivations and events are more sharply focused; some are given more emphasis and others de-emphasized; major plot points are streamlined or minor ones jettisoned and so on, and the reasons for those changes are abundantly evident when one considers the differing intentions behind what works on the page and what plays on the screen.

And that concludes my little lecture-slash-curriculum recommendation, which I feel compelled to deliver about once a year during discussions of Double Indemnity. Oh, and one more little tease: Cain's book concludes with one of the most devastating final pages of any I've ever read (constituting an entirely different denouement from that of the film), ending with only two very simple - and chillingly haunting - words.