One Foot in 1941

Aveiro

Portugal

Reinach, a man with an unyielding passion for the timeless beauty of ancient Greece, was captivated by the architecture, interior design, and art of the bygone era. He dreamed of bringing this exquisite atmosphere back to life, and he knew just the place to do it. On the tip of the Baie des Fourmis, nestled on a plot of land surrounded by the azure expanse of the sea, lay a piece of paradise in Beaulieu-sur-Mer. Here, Reinach envisioned a luxurious Greek house, mirroring the grandeur and elegance of the coastal temples he so admired, a tribute to the brilliance of a lost civilization.

Regi Allen

the backless dress – georges barbier – 1918

Double Indemnity was released in the US on 3 July 1944.

Based on James M. Cain’s 1943 novella of the same name (which was based on a 1927 murder Cain covered as a reporter and serialized in Liberty magazine in 1936), director Billy Wilder wanted Cain to help him adapt the work for the screen, but Cain was already under contract elsewhere, so Wilder turned to Raymond Chandler.

Chandler and Wilder did not get along (Chandler even sent the studio a list of reasons why he couldn’t work with Wilder), but the two were committed to the project and overhauled Cain’s novella, changing much of the characterization (especially Barton Keyes, played by Edward G. Robinson), plot, and dialogue. (Wilder defended the antagonistic relationship, saying, “If two people think alike it’s like two men pulling at one end of a rope. If you are going to collaborate, you need an opponent to bounce things off of.”

Cain was pleased with the adaptation, “It’s the only picture I ever saw made from my books that had things in it I wish I had thought of. Wilder’s ending was much better than my ending, and his device for letting the guy tell the story by taking out the office dictating machine – I would have done it if I had thought of it.“