Crewe goes on to say that: “Typically, critics regard the femme fatale as the natural consequence of shifting gender roles post–World War I, as women increasingly left the home to join the workforce. So, this is evident that Walter isn’t helping her out of the kindness of his heart, or for the money in reality, but out of pure lust. Only an object exploited and placed on a mantle to be leered at for hours lustfully. Like a prized art piece in a gallery Phyllis is not even given the dignity of being a human being. Her body is slowly scanned over piece by piece and taken in by us and Walter. Her tight-fitting clothes once she’s dressed, and her tempting anklet that Walter fantasizes about the most. Our eyes and Walter’s are drawn to her curves and flirtatious figure in the towel.

The film immediately sexualizes Phyllis, so the audience believes one thing about her, without really knowing anything about her at all.

What she’s after is something for herself.” As Janey Place argues, “what she’s after is not the man. But what is the personality of a femme fatale? David Crewe states that, “By her sexuality: she is alluring and enrapturing, and film noir’s hapless protagonist is drawn to her like an insect to a spider’s web.” Deborah Walker also adds that: “The femme fatale is like a spider-woman who uses physical seductiveness with lethal ambition: a drive for personal independence within which the man is no longer a romantic object of desire. Her first appearance on the stairs above Walter in a towel is the first look you get of her and her personality. This is done by characterizing Phyllis right from the beginning of film as a seductive manipulator. Making it seem like Walter was the one who wanted him dead and provided a way to see it done. She doesn’t persuade Walter to kill her husband, she brilliantly manipulates him into doing something she only thought about doing. However, if you really listen, watch the film carefully, and analyze the dialogue used by Phyllis. To achieve this, she sweet talks the main character Walter Neff, who is an insurance salesman into murdering him. A housewife who desired one thing, the death of her abusive husband. In Double Indemnity, it was actress Barbara Stanwyck who plays the beautiful, and deadly seductive Phyllis Dietrichson.

For a well-crafted film noir is not complete without an equally classic femme fatale. Is the perfect example of female exploitation and the misinterpretations of women in the 40s. Billy Wilder’s 1944 film noir classic Double Indemnity that critics believe was the first film that began the film noir craze.

Double indemnity analysis