EVEN MURDER OFFERS WOMAN NO ESCAPE

The case inspired writers to create fictionalized accounts, notably James M. Cain's "Double Indemnity" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice," novels that became two of Hollywood's most famous noir films. Its [Ruth Snyder] figure, identified only as the Young Woman ([Rebe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Record (Hackensack, N.J.)
Main Author Feldberg, Robert
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bergen County, N.J North Jersey Media Group Inc 17.01.2014
Subjects
Hall, Rebecca
Snyder, Ruth
Turner, Lyndsey
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The case inspired writers to create fictionalized accounts, notably James M. Cain's "Double Indemnity" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice," novels that became two of Hollywood's most famous noir films. Its [Ruth Snyder] figure, identified only as the Young Woman ([Rebecca Hall]), is a restless, insecure romantic trapped in this soulless universe. She works as a stenographer in an office that's a beehive of mind-numbing industry. People speak in clipped, repetitive phrases; machines clack and clang. Her boss (a superb [Michael Cumpsty]) delivers wisdom in the form of cautionary cliches. ("Hew to the line. Haste makes waste.") Thanks to Hall's haunted characterization, though, the essence of the play, the sense of an individual plowed over by the inexorable surge of society, never fades. We don't feel sympathy for the Young Woman's crime, nor are we meant to, but it's impossible not to be touched by her futile struggle to find her place in the world.