Double Indemnity (1973 TV Movie)
4/10
Why a remake?
3 December 2011
This remake of the film noir classic about a seductress and an insurance man having an affair of horror, planning the murder of her husband, gives us the same question as just about any remake.

Why the remake? Many remakes are simply film adaptations of classic novels, such as TREASURE ISLAND.

Here, though, we have what is essentially a "homage" to E.G. Robinson and the others, who made the original classic.

The crux of the story is the Columbo style E.G. character. He is always the important one. And Lee J Cobb does a fine job. In fact, he is the the entire show in this one. I don't mean to disparage Richard and Samantha, but they were very bland.

And that was probably the point, to keep them bland.

It still makes for the question "Why the remake?" Lee J Cobb tries to make this his own role. And that's okay. You really don't want to try to mimic a classic. He does okay, but there are times when E.G. just did it perfect. For example, when he says "Closer than that", E.G. was perfect. Cobb, in the effort to make it his own, knows it is taking something away when he adds "much closer", but he doesn't want to be compared too much to E.G.'s perfect portrayal.

Which is why you don't really want to remake a classic film noir.
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed