Friday, June 05, 2009






Raymond Chandler's Appearance in Double Indemnity

As reported by Adrian Wootton in today's Guardian, and first noticed by crime writers Mark Coggins and John Billheimer, Raymond Chandler appears as an extra in Wilder's movie. One can see him some 16 minutes into the film, reading (though we can't see exactly what he's reading) while Fred MacMurray walks by. Interesting given the frosty relationship between Chandler and Wilder, because, other than a home movie, it is the only time Chandler was captured on fim. But why hadn't anyone notice this before?

3 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

His disdain for the sap is evident.

-K- said...

Fascinating. I wonder what led up to it?

Jesse Sublett said...

Dang! Thanks for posting this. I had no idea. Reminds me, of course, of the ailing Jim Thompson's role in Farewell, My Lovely, as Baxter Wilson Grayle, which is also commented on by Mitchum in his last interview, in which he said something to the effect, "We had a guy who was in such bad shape we weren't sure if he would last out the day."