RetroHound’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched the commentary by Richard Schickel and he says this is the first true Film Noir. I don't agree, but it is an interesting premise. Also interesting were some of the options for Walter Neff. George Raft? No way. Brian Donlevy? Nope. Fred MacMurray was the perfect combo of slick and smart, too slick and too smart for his own good, as he comes to realize too late. Schickel also talked about differences between the book and the movie, and basically James Cain said Wilder made his story even better. Some of that is due to Raymond Chandler's romanticism however. Barbara Stanwyck was absolutely perfect. Isn't she always though?
