Paula Bordera- Keyes’s Little Man: “There’s got to be something wrong”

Keyes’s Little Man: “There’s got to be something wrong”

“Always go with your gut.”

I can’t even count how many times someone has said this to me. People always say to trust your instincts and intuition and to not second guess yourself. If something seems wrong, then it usually is. In the noir film Double Indemnity, insurance salesman Walter Neff is persuaded by the seductive, manipulative Phyllis Dietrichson into murdering Mr. Dietrichson and committing an insurance fraud scheme. However, insurance investigator Barton Keyes has a gut feeling, or a “little man” inside of him, that tells him that Mr. Dietrichson’s death was not an accident. Something just isn’t right. Keyes, in need of making sense of the case, goes to Neff’s apartment to discuss Mr. Dietrichson’s death. The only problem is that Neff had just called Phyllis and asked her to come over. This creates an issue because the audience knows that Keyes can’t see Phyllis at Neff’s apartment, as it will blow their cover up and Keyes will figure out they committed insurance fraud and murder. This creates tension and suspense, and depicts Keyes as the “bad guy.” Meanwhile, the audience is rooting for Neff to not get caught.

We first see a medium, two-shot of Neff and Keyes in Neff’s apartment discussing Mr.Dietrichson’s case. Then, the scene crosscuts to a long/full shot of Phyllis getting out of the elevator, occupying the right of the frame. Even though Phyllis walks with certainty towards Neff’s door, to the left of the frame, the ominous background music indicates that she is approaching danger. It’s as if the audience were watching a scary movie and Phyllis is the innocent girl and Keyes the dangerous bad guy. We are all at the edge of our seats, knowing Keyes is in there, and want to scream at her to not go inside the apartment or do something stupid that she will later regret. As Phyllis approaches the door, she overhears Neff and Keyes’s voices from outside his apartment door. Phyllis is shocked to hear Keyes’s voice, as she did not expect him to be there. Her shock quickly transforms into fear. If Keyes sees her, he will know there is something fishy going on between her and Neff, and he could even guess that they murdered Mr. Dietrichson, especially since he is already suspicious that his death was not an accident. The hall is dark/low in light and shadows can be seen, which leads us to believe that something bad is going to happen, as the setting is very ominous. The shot is in deep focus: the audience can see Phyllis but they can also clearly see the other clearly shut apartment doors behind her and the exit-less hallway: Phyllis has no way to escape. If Keyes leaves the apartment, he is going to find her. This makes the scene even more dramatic and adds tension. Will Phyllis be able to hide from Keyes? All of these mis en scene elements manipulate us to make us see Phyllis as the victim and want her to get away from Keyes, even though Keyes would normally be perceived as the good-guy/detective in other noir films.

While Phyllis anxiously waits outside the apartment, the film cuts back to a medium, two-shot of Keyes and Neff. The shot is over-the-shoulder of Keyes. Keyes is speaking in a harsh, determined tone and he is wearing a black suit as opposed to Neff, whose suit is light grey, which makes him seem more attacking, forceful, and like the “bad guy” of the film. There is a shot-reverse-shot as their conversation continues. The shot is the same as the previous one except for this time the shot is an over-the-shoulder shot over Neff’s shoulder.

As seen in the picture above, Neff is trying to remain calm and keep his cool. He lights a cigarette to seem as if he is put-together and collected, but if we pay close attention, we can see him anxiously shifting his eyes, which means that he is nervous that he will get caught but also that Keyes is obviously making him uncomfortable, as he is getting close to the truth and won’t stop investigating until he finds out what is going on. Keyes is very determined, and Neff knows that, so he knows that any wrong move could incriminate him.

Keyes decides that it’s time to leave, and the camera pans to the right towards the door. This scene is longer than others, such as the ones where Neff and Keyes were having a conversation, which builds suspense as the audience watches Keyes walk towards the door and anticipates him running into Phyllis. Where is she going to go? She has nowhere to hide! As the door opens, there is a straight cut back into the hall and we see Phyllis quickly hide behind the door in fear of getting caught.

As both Keyes and Neff walk into the hall, we see a full/long, three-shot. Keyes is walking away towards the elevator, which puts him in the background towards the right of the frame. A “Yes, he is finally going to leave!” is on everyone’s mind. This alleviates the audience some stress and allows everyone to let out that deep breath we were all holding while watching the scene.

The camera then straight cuts to a medium, two-shot of Neff and Phyllis, with Phyllis still hiding in the background behind the door and Walter on the foreground of the frame holding the door open. Phyllis turns the doorknob slightly to let Neff know she is behind the door, and he opens the door a bit more to ensure Phyllis is completely hidden by it. The audience can’t wait for Keyes to get in the elevator and leave. Neff and Phyllis think they are safe and that they have gotten away with it, as the music is now relaxed.

That is, however, until Keyes backs up and decides to walk back towards the center of the frame, asking Neff to light his cigar. Keyes asks for a light many times and it has never been a big deal. This time, however, as Keyes moves closet to Neff, he is also moving towards Phyllis. The ominous, suspenseful music starts up once again, causing the audience to hold their breath and become nervous. He didn’t catch her the first time, will he catch her the second time? The audience’s worried look mirrors Phyllis’s expression. As we can see in the picture bellow, Phyllis is hidden by the door and a shadow is casting over her as if trying to obscure her from Keyes, and it seems as if she almost blends in behind the door and its shadows. But what if Keyes decides to walk behind the door?

Finally, before Keyes can see Phyllis, the scene cuts back to the full, three-shot of the three characters and Keyes enters the elevator and leaves, leaving both Nef and Phyllis, and the audience, relieved.

In most noir films, the good guy is usually the detective. He is the hero of the film, who tries to find the culprit of a crime. In his article “The Gunfighter and the Hard-boiled Dick,” John. G Cawelti argues that the hero in hard-boiled detective stories has a code of ethics- “an inner code of his own”- which “rests primarily on a personal sense of honor and rightness” that he always sticks by (p. 187). This means “unmasking a criminal or a conspiracy” and even “bringing a just retribution to those criminals that society is unable to expose and punish” (p. 181). Cawelti also insists that the detectives have a notion of individualism and social authority, and act like they can bend the law as they please, which is often admired. The hard-boiled detective is very similar to the western cowboy character. They share similar characteristics and notions of behavior. Cowboys are related to the American Dream, and they are often referred to as the American heroes. The way the director chooses to portray Neff is crucial to highlight his similarities with the American hero, and to win the audience’s sympathy.  

Like the heroes in hard-boiled detective stories, Keyes also has a code of ethics and moral obligations that he chooses to live by. First of all, Keyes has to do his job and find out whether an insurance claim has been an accident or not. He will not be made a fool out of and let anyone steal money unjustly from his company. Keyes also has a gut feeling that Mr. Dietrichson’s death was not an accident, and he is trying to bring justice to his murder and find out who was responsible for his death.

In Double Indemnity, however, the audience is manipulated to root for the bad guy, Neff, instead of the detective, Keyes. Even though Keyes’s gut feeling was right, the mis en scene of the scene portrays him as the bad guy who is out to get Phyllis and Neff. That would explain why he is wearing a black suit, which makes him look sketchy and evil. He also speaks in a harsh, violent tone of voice. By contrast, Neff is shown wearing a light colored suit, which makes him look like the good guy.

The background music also adds to this allusion of the good vs. bad guy. As Keyes walks further and further away towards the elevator, the music is more calm and neutral, which means that no harm is going to come to Neff and Phyllis. However, whenever he walks back towards them, the music picks up and becomes more dramatic in order to build suspense and tension. It makes us think that Keyes is trying to incriminate Neff and Phyllis; that he is out to get them. Even though Keyes is the detective, he is portrayed as the antagonist in this film, not the hero or the good guy. The audience sympathizes with Neff because he as the outsider, independent protagonist, he reminds us of the classic American Hero from the old west.