TCM Neo-Noir: Body Heat 1981

Last Sunday, Jeff and I watched Body Heat. I think I saw it when it first came out. I definitely recorded it from a cable showing, but I haven't seen it in years. 

When I first saw it, I wasn't as interested  in or as knowledgeable about noir as I am now. I saw the film as a worthy successor to the great noir classic Double Indemnity. The plot outlines are similar. A femme fatale ensnares a man to kill her husband. 

Both women are confident enough in their sexuality to seduce a man to murder for them. Kathleen Turner's Matty Walker is even more evil than Barbara Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity. Phyllis was quick to spot Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) as a sap and use him to get rid of her husband. All it took was "a honey of an anklet." Matty actually seeks out Ned Racine (William Hurt) for his mediocre legal skills. 

I also saw a few similarities to The Letter in Body Heat: specifically a masterful use of music, heat, shadows, and wind chimes. 

A strong supporting cast rounds out the film. I especially liked Ted Danson as Ned's dancing friend and assistant deputy prosecutor. 

Body Heat could do something that Double Indemnity could not: its femme fatale succeeded. The last shot of the film shows Matty achieving her ambition: to be rich and live in an exotic land. Hollywood's Production Code ensured that Phyllis had to be punished.