Double Indemnity (1944)
Barbara Stanwyck: Phyllis Dietrichson
Photos
Quotes
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Phyllis : Mr. Neff, why don't you drop by tomorrow evening about eight-thirty. He'll be in then.
Walter Neff : Who?
Phyllis : My husband. You were anxious to talk to him weren't you?
Walter Neff : Yeah, I was, but I'm sort of getting over the idea, if you know what I mean.
Phyllis : There's a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour.
Walter Neff : How fast was I going, officer?
Phyllis : I'd say around ninety.
Walter Neff : Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket.
Phyllis : Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.
Walter Neff : Suppose it doesn't take.
Phyllis : Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles.
Walter Neff : Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder.
Phyllis : Suppose you try putting it on my husband's shoulder.
Walter Neff : That tears it.
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Walter Neff : You'll be here too?
Phyllis : I guess so, I usually am.
Walter Neff : Same chair, same perfume, same anklet?
Phyllis : I wonder if I know what you mean.
Walter Neff : I wonder if you wonder.
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Phyllis : Neff is the name, isn't it?
Walter Neff : Yeah. Two "F"s, like in Philadelphia, if you know the story.
Phyllis : What story?
Walter Neff : The Philadelphia Story.
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Phyllis : We're both rotten.
Walter Neff : Only you're a little more rotten.
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Phyllis : I was just fixing some ice tea; would you like a glass?
Walter Neff : Yeah, unless you got a bottle of beer that's not working.
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Phyllis : I think you're rotten.
Walter Neff : I think you're swell - so long as I'm not your husband.
Phyllis : Get out of here.
Walter Neff : You bet I'll get out of here, baby. I'll get out of here but quick.
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Phyllis : I'm a native Californian. Born right here in Los Angeles.
Walter Neff : They say all native Californians come from Iowa.
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Edward S. Norton : So he gets rid of this Jackson with some flimsy excuse about cigars.
Edward S. Norton : [dramatically] And then he's alone. And then he does it.
Phyllis : [bristling] Does what?
Edward S. Norton : He jumps. Suicide. In which case the company is not liable. But you know that, of course. Now we could go to court...
Phyllis : [furious] I don't know anything! In fact, I don't know why I came here!
Edward S. Norton : [abashed] Just a moment. I said we could go to court, I didn't say we want to. What I want to suggest is a compromise on both sides. A settlement for a certain sum, a part of the policy value.
Phyllis : Don't bother, Mr. Norton. When I came in here I had no idea you owed me any money. You told me you did, then you told me you didn't. Now you tell me you want to pay a part of it, whatever it is. You want to bargain with me at a time like this! I don't like your insinuations about my husband and I dont like your methods... in fact, I don't like you, Mr. Norton! Goodbye gentlemen!
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Walter Neff : You know, about six months ago, a guy slipped on a cake of soap in his bathtub, knocked himself cold, and was drowned. Only, he had accident insurance, so they had an autopsy, and she didn't get away with it
Phyllis : Who didn't?
Walter Neff : His wife. Then there was the case of the guy who was found shot. His wife said he was cleaning his gun and his stomach got in the way. All she got was a 3-to-10 stretch in Tehachapi
[a California women's prison]
Walter Neff : .
Phyllis : [Wearily] Perhaps it was worth it to her.
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Walter Neff : The insurance ran out on the 15th. I'd hate to think of you having a smashed fender or something while you're not... fully covered.
Phyllis : Perhaps I know what you mean, Mr. Neff. I've just been taking a sun-bath.
Walter Neff : No pigeons around, I hope.
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Phyllis : Do you make your own breakfast, Mr Neff?
Walter Neff : Well, I squeeze a grapefruit now and again.
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Phyllis : I loved you, Walter, and I hated him. But I wasn't going to do anything about it until I met you. You planned the whole thing. I only wanted him dead.
Walter Neff : [bitterly] And I'm the one that fixed it so he was dead? Is that what you're telling me?
Phyllis : And nobody's pulling out. We went in this together and we're coming out at the end together. It's straight down the line for both of us. Remember?
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Phyllis : Nettie, show Mr. Neff into the living room.
[leaves to get dressed]
Walter Neff : Where would the living room be?
Nettie - Dietrichsons' Maid : In there, but they keep the liquor locked up.
Walter Neff : That's alright, I always carry my own keys.
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Walter Neff : She didn't get away with it. All she got was a three to ten stretch at Tehachapi.
Phyllis : Perhaps it was worth it to her.
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Walter Neff : You don't know Keyes. Once he gets his teeth into something he never lets go. He'll investigate you, he'll have you shadowed, he'll watch you every minute from now on. Afraid, baby?
Phyllis : Yes, I'm afraid, but not of Keyes. I'm afraid of us. We're not the same anymore. We did it so we could be together, but now its pulling us apart, isn't it, Walter?
Walter Neff : What are you talking about?
Phyllis : And you don't really care whether we see each other or not.
Walter Neff : [embracing her] Shut up, baby.
