Another reviewer nailed it, I think - a term life insurance policy is essentially a bet the company takes with a customer that says it will pay off if the customer dies. However a suicide turns the bet into a sure thing for anyone who INTENDS to die for whatever reason, be it terminal illness or one's conflicted desire to provide financial reward to a loved one. So virtually no insurance policy will pay off on a suicide, unless there's a provision that says otherwise.
So right off the bat, the film started off on shaky ground because that whole idea kept distracting me throughout the story. As for the double indemnity business, I think Donovan's boss stated that it was a good idea to pursue the murder angle because it was good public relations for the company, a way to increase business based on the publicity of a doubled payout. I don't know, it doesn't sound like a sound business practice to me.
But casting all that aside, the picture did a fairly good job of keeping the viewer on one's toes with the suspicious nature of the principal characters, especially Sheriff Best (William Bendix), who if this was a Western, would have all the characteristics of being in the pocket of the town boss. Other characters were quite intriguing too, I got a kick out of the Weatherby housekeeper Hilda (Doro Merande), surreptitiously offering investigator Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe) mysterious hints, and then burning a piece of evidence 'by accident'. Young Cathie Weatherby (Ann E. Todd) was a hoot too, can you imagine a teenager fascinated by insurance and mathematics? Oh, boy.
Though the resolution of the murder angle is offered in a way that almost sounds plausible, I couldn't help thinking that this town of Cleberg was one dysfunctional little community. With one of the best kept secrets in movie history, the entire citizenry (at least the ones Donovan came in contact with) managed to stay silent about the Phillips case while strongly suggesting the investigation be dropped. I was pretty surprised actually that Donovan went along with the recommendation to spare the community's feelings by not revealing the murderer. By so doing, everyone else along with the sheriff could go back to pursuing their own life of Riley.
So right off the bat, the film started off on shaky ground because that whole idea kept distracting me throughout the story. As for the double indemnity business, I think Donovan's boss stated that it was a good idea to pursue the murder angle because it was good public relations for the company, a way to increase business based on the publicity of a doubled payout. I don't know, it doesn't sound like a sound business practice to me.
But casting all that aside, the picture did a fairly good job of keeping the viewer on one's toes with the suspicious nature of the principal characters, especially Sheriff Best (William Bendix), who if this was a Western, would have all the characteristics of being in the pocket of the town boss. Other characters were quite intriguing too, I got a kick out of the Weatherby housekeeper Hilda (Doro Merande), surreptitiously offering investigator Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe) mysterious hints, and then burning a piece of evidence 'by accident'. Young Cathie Weatherby (Ann E. Todd) was a hoot too, can you imagine a teenager fascinated by insurance and mathematics? Oh, boy.
Though the resolution of the murder angle is offered in a way that almost sounds plausible, I couldn't help thinking that this town of Cleberg was one dysfunctional little community. With one of the best kept secrets in movie history, the entire citizenry (at least the ones Donovan came in contact with) managed to stay silent about the Phillips case while strongly suggesting the investigation be dropped. I was pretty surprised actually that Donovan went along with the recommendation to spare the community's feelings by not revealing the murderer. By so doing, everyone else along with the sheriff could go back to pursuing their own life of Riley.