Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Some alternative casts: 1) Alan Alda, Tuesday Weld, and Telly Savalas 2) Sam Elliott, Shirley Knight, and Jack Cassidy 3) Darren McGavin, Elizabeth Montgomery, and Herschel Bernardi 4) Bradford Dillman, Jean Simmons, and Edward Asner (Phyllis didn't need to be blonde) 5) David Janssen, Rosemary Forsyth, and Dean Jagger.Other candidates for Phyllis could be Elizabeth Ashley and Diana Hyland.John Badham was doing some stylish TV movies at the time including "Isn't it Shocking?" with Alan Alda and "Reflections on Murder" with Tuesday Weld. He might have been able to inject more energy. Badham is still a working director doing series episodes.Or John Llewelyn Moxey who did such a beautiful job directing "The Night Stalker" with McGavin might have been good.

An insurance agent is seduced by a woman. She convinces him to sell her a huge policy on her husband...and then help her kill him so she can collect and live happily ever after with the agent. However, this great plan doesn't play out exactly as they'd anticipated when the husband and agent begin wondering whether or not they can trust their new co-conspirator.The idea of remaking the classic 1944 version of this film is pretty pointless. After all, why remake a film that is considered a classic?! Yet, oddly, this is exactly what happened over the years. Consider that they made a sequel to "Gone With the Wind" and remakes of "High Noon" and musical versions of "Lost Horizon" and "Goodbye Mr. Chips"--and all of them totally stank. Why, oh why?! Perhaps they were easy and cheap to make and even if they were bad they were guaranteed a certain audience...but it still seems wrong to have done this.Richard Crenna plays the part originally played by Fred MacMurray. Samantha Egger plays the part originally played by Barbara Stanwyck. And, Lee J. Cobb plays the part originally played by Edward G. Robinson. All of these are reasonably good actors...but certainly not up to the quality of the originals. What's worse, however, is that the original director (Billy Wilder) was a genius...yet here the film is helmed by 'Jack Smight'?!? And, they sped up the film a bit as well. Why?! Now if there never had been an earlier version of this film, then it would have been a made for TV movie that would have been worth seeing--one you'd probably remember. It IS good for what it is--because the original story was very good...but it's also too close to the original and offers nothing new or interesting. Overall, it's like the saying goes "you can't go back".

Murder and insurance fraud take an adulterous couple to "the end of the line"...TV was visually vulgar back in the early 1970s and this truncated, made-for-TV knock-off hurt my eyes. It can't possibly compare to the 1944 Billy Wilder Film Noir classic as anyone in their right mind ought to know -sight unseen- but that doesn't mean this update should be seen as a separate entity, either. Although based on the original Paramount screenplay, there's over half an hour cut out and the director's bland indifference makes what's left imminently forgettable. With rare exception, the younger generation wasn't interested in watching old black and white movies on TV back in 1973 (still true today, alas) so this lurid, compelling tale was new to the overwhelming majority of viewers; then as now, ratings rule and cashing in was its only reel raison d'etre. Gus Van Zandt remade Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO for similar reasons and if these redux led to the seeking out of the original films or novels, so much the better. I loved the James M. Cain source novel enough to tune in back then and I enjoyed this time capsule curio the second time around for the longish hair, halter tops, turbans, ugly decor, and lush auburn locks of "guest star" Samantha Eggar, who didn't try too hard. In addition to recognizing a few of the incidental cast from a childhood spent in front of the boob tube, Lee J. Cobb was able to hold my interest as a world-weary, tired-looking Keyes but Richard Crenna's affable and inoffensive Walter Neff only reminded me of Bill Bixby on a bad day. Improvement upon the original was, of course, never intended in a rush to make a buck but, instead of a mindless retread, a new adaptation of the novel would have been a novel idea. Cain's book differs somewhat from its celluloid incarnations and the horrific shark fins in the moonlight ending is killer. The completist in me is thankful this speeded up "Me Decade" update was included as part of the DOUBLE INDEMNITY DVD extras but the experience not only made me long to see the original, it had me nostalgic for any episode of the better-made COLUMBO TV series. I also flashed back to a very good 1973 ABC TV Movie Of The Week that I haven't seen since its initial airing: John D. Macdonald's LINDA starring the beautiful Stella Stevens as a ruthless femme fatale who murders her lover's (sexy John Saxon) wife and then frames her mild-mannered husband for the crime and, if I remember correctly, there's also an open-ended ending. Like DOUBLE INDEMNITY, it was needlessly remade with TV movie queen Virginia Madsen as the titular vixen and Richard Thomas as the milquetoast husband.

ATMOSPHERIC THRILLER directed by Jack Smight exceeds the 1944 original. Richard Crenna mantains his reputation as a major 60s/70s leading actor teamed with the excellent Samantha Eggar in this vastly superior remake of the 1944 "classic film noir" that had an inferior team of Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. Being a well made, tightly budgeted Television movie this 1973 thriller is beautifully written, plotted and acted, giving full value for money in each scene. Richard Crenna is totally head and shoulders above the fumbling and uncertain Fred McMurray and Samantha Eggar adds real style, glamour and sexiness in her role. Absolutely recommended in all departments this is yet another TV Movie that is hugely well made and exceeds the efforts of a cinema release.