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Double Indemnity to Along Came Polly: The Greatest Insurance Films
Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck star in Double Indemnity.
As the world continues its discussion of this year’s Oscar winners and losers, the Insurance Information Institute has put together its own list of movies worth celebrating—those film in which insurance plays a starring role (a couple of them have even garnered Oscars of their own). Over the past 65 years, these films have featured Hollywood legends including Edward G. Robinson, Cary Grant and Faye Dunaway and in more recent years, popular actors such Jack Nicholson and Jennifer Aniston.
Double Indemnity (1944)
Director: Billy Wilder; Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
In this classic film noir, smitten insurance man Walter Neff (MacMurray) plots the perfect murder with femme fatale client Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck): Stage her husband’s “accidental” death to collect double indemnity on his life insurance, then abscond with the loot. But the lethal duo must first get past a crafty claims investigator (Robinson) who senses something isn’t kosher. What ensues is a cat-and-mouse game with fatal consequences.
Oscar Count: 7 nominations
Quote: The job I’m talking about takes brains and integrity. It takes more guts than there is in 50 salesmen. It’s the hottest job in the business… Desk job? Is that all you can see in it? Just a hard chair to park your pants on from 9 to 5, huh? Just a pile of papers to shuffle around and five sharp pencils and a scratch pad to make figures on. Maybe a little doodling on the side. Well, that’s not the way I look at it, Walter. To me, a claims man is a surgeon. That desk is an operating table. And those pencils are scalpels and bone chisels. And those papers are not just forms and statistics and claims for compensation, they’re alive, they’re packed with drama, with twisted hopes and crooked dreams. A claims man, Walter, is a doctor and a bloodhound… and a cop and a judge and a jury and a father confessor all in one.
Memento (2000)
Director: Christopher Nolan; Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, ex-insurance investigator Leonard Shelby (Pearce) embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife. To carry out his plan and compensate for his disability Shelby snaps Polaroids of people and places, jotting down contextual notes on the backs of the photos, and tattoos important facts on his body.
Oscar Count: 2 nominations
Quote: Memory’s unreliable. No no no, really. Memory’s not perfect; it’s not even that good. Ask the police. Eyewitness testimony is unreliable. Cops don’t catch a killer by sitting around remembering stuff. They collect facts, they make notes and they draw conclusions. Facts, not memories. That’s how you investigate. I know. It’s what I used to do. Look, memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretation, they’re not a record, and they’re irrelevant if you have the facts.
The Fortune Cookie (1966)
Director: Billy Wilder; Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau
Shyster William Gingrich (Matthau) foresees a financial bonanza after Cleveland Browns star “Boom Boom” Jackson accidentally levels cameraman Harry Hinkle (Lemmon), Gingrich’s brother-in-law. Barely hurt, Hinkle is loath to help Gingrich scam the insurance company till realizing the moola might lure back his ex. A budding rapport with the guilt-ridden Jackson, however, begins gnawing at Hinkle’s conscience.
Oscar Count: 4 nominations; 1 win–Walter Matthau, Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Quote: Too bad it didn’t happen further down the street… in front of the May Company. From them, you can collect! Couldn’t you have dragged yourself another 20 feet?
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Clint Moseley on 9/09/09 at 8:43 am
“Double Indemnity” - an excellent movie. An interesting plot, remarkable actors. And MacMurray it is simply magnificent! “Double Indemnity” one of my favourite films.
- Comment by life cover on 9/13/09 at 12:17 am
I enjoyed the film’ Double Indemnity’ very much. Along with the plot, the role of Fred and Barbara was very appealing....
- Comment by Temporary Tattoos on 9/23/09 at 3:41 am
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- Comment by Marcus on 7/30/10 at 12:46 pm
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- Comment by Insurance reviews on 8/19/10 at 12:26 pm
What life insurance company is the best in the nation to work for and why? I am doing research and trying to figure out which life insurance company is best to work for or what is the best strategy working in the insurance field.
- Comment by Life Insurance Atlanta Georgia on 12/06/10 at 3:33 am
I’d like to add the Pixar animated movie “The Incredibles” to the list. Although the movie’s focus was on the superhero family, it offered a brief but very telling glimpse of the insurance industry in the part where Robert Parr (a.k.a. Mr. Incredible) was telling an old lady how to claim her insurance when it seemed that he policy didn’t cover her situation.
- Comment by Melisa Stryker on 11/07/11 at 9:19 am
Memento is a great piece of film making, somewhere in the lines of Inception. I remember watching it when it came out and being completely taken by it. It’s one of those movies that has you asking a lot of questions after it’s finished. I guess it also had a big effect on me because I was just starting as an agent for an reliance travel insurance company. I promised myself I would watch it again to fill in the blanks, and I think the time has come.
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