The Absent Minded Murder--The Ageless Performance

An actor's most important asset, above all, is his fans. Modern and Classic actors alike. Especially in the Golden Age of Hollywood, a following a particular performer would garner was among the most important figures to the Studio who employed him. As almost everything was either directly or indirectly controlled by the main Hollywood film Studios (M-G-M, Paramount, Warner Bros. etc...) and stars had numerous opinions as to the direction of their careers from their top Execs. When it came to choosing film roles big stars, like Fred MacMurray, almost always considered what his fans would think of them. Fred was, until his self-proclaimed two greatest performances, typecast as the "nice guy" of Hollywood, and when Billy Wilder came to him with visions of him as Walter Neff, MacMurray was hesitant. Previous actors, like George Raft and Dick Powell, weren't able to take the role leaving Wilder leading man-less until he successfully persuaded Fred to take on, inarguably, what became his most recognized and illustriast performance of his long career.
Double Indemnity (1944), among one of Billy Wilder's greatest masterpieces, is a Film-Noir about an insurance man (MacMurray) who is persuaded by an unhappy wife (Barbara Stanwyck) to kill her husband and collect on it. Fred played Walter Neff, a very complicated character, who is horrific in all aspects of his personality except for his talent to charm, which comes in handy in his work. Walter had redemptive qualities but only after he realized his feelings and actions were in vain. He did not possess any remorse or good intentions, thus making him the complete opposite of the Fred MacMurray the public knew.
Now when one watches Fred as Walter Neff onscreen without any previous knowledge of his persona, it is practically impossible to imagine any other type of role that suits him. And still, even after viewing "nice guy" performances, the memorable looks, lines and smiles come from him pretending to be a very bad man. The acting required is not completely simple or over-the-top, but, as with any picture directed produced and written by Billy Wilder, the characters are not complicated in situation but their motives, feelings, and reactions to experiances make them all among the realist men and women to ever be portrayed.
What makes Fred MacMurray's performance one of the greatest of all time, is his understated way throughout the whole of the film. Even when Walter is faced with overwhelming passion, anger, pain and fear, Fred plays him as minimally as possible. That medium he reached between emotion and restraint makes it fantastic, and gives Walter Neff the power required to both play off Barbara Stanwyck's equally astounding portrayal of his achilles heal and despite his awful qualities, a believable, sexy and haunting man.
Fred once said that the only two roles he ever took on that required acting were those given to him by Billy Wilder (the other being Jeff Sheldrake in The Apartment (1960)), and as much as I believe that he did capture every person he played perfectly, everything bows down to Walter Neff. Nothing from a single line or action gets me like the way Fred says "anklet" or strikes a match with his thumbnail in Double Indemnity, and it will always be as poignant and ageless upon every viewing.

FILM TO WATCH---FRED MACMURRAY: Double Indemnity (1944) Dir. Billy Wilder