MovieChat Forums > The Killers (1946) Discussion > I don't get the insurance investigation ...

I don't get the insurance investigation - help!

posted 13 years ago by jgroub
9 replies | jump to latest

So Edmond O'Brien is seeing whether to pay out the $2500 death benefit. He's sure got a dead body. But what's the initial reason for the investigation after that? He leaves the money to some cleaning woman in a hotel. Does he really think that she's hired these killers to get him? That makes zero sense. As soon as he interviews the beneficiary, finds out her story checks out, that's the end of it, he should pay her, and the investigation is over.

What am I missing? What possible benefit to the insurance company could he come up with after that? Yes, he finds out that the Swede was in on a big payroll job, but he had no idea about that after speaking with the cleaning woman. Why continue the investigation?

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] peterjamesholmes 13 years ago

You're right! But it would spoil a good movie. Maybe someone has read the Hemingway story and can help. It seems to me that O'Brien is just following a hunch that something is wrong - even his boss is sceptical.

[–] bradford-1 13 years ago

I thought the factory that was held up was insured by O'Brien's company. Trying to find most of the stolen money would've been motivation for him to continue the case. This is off the top of my head, I don't have access to the movie now.
"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is more than she ever did."

[–] philster8-45-336918 13 years ago

That's the answer bradford-1. There's a scene where O'Brien tries to convince his boss that it would be worth continuing the investigation as he has a hunch that this could lead to the money stolen from the factory insured by his company. His boss initially refuses to allow what he sees as a wild goose chase (and there's a few amusing lines where he explains O'Brien the short-term business realities of insurance companies), but relunctantly agrees when O'Brien threatens to walk to the competition.

[–] Clyburn 11 years ago

Yes, once he knows about the factory heist it makes some sense to continue. But the question is why he investigates before that. There is considerable time and effort before that connection is made - for no sensible reason that I saw. Someone commented that he remembered the scarf from the news but I don't think that's true. That was also a later connection.

I think it's just a big honking gap in the logic of the story which many people are much more apt to forgive with old movies.

[–] andrewwjohnson 11 years ago

The Insurance Investigator was curious and continued the investigation on his own.
Its not like that didn't happen in other film noir movie. Also the story line helped pad out a short story far too brief for a feature film.

TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.

[–] elisedfr 12 years ago

One thing led to another and made Rearden puzzled...until he discovered about the factory hold up insured by his own company which was a good enough reason to go on. Anyway, to make a detecive out of an insurance agent was an interesting idea.
" You ain't running this place, Bert, WILLIAMS is!" Sgt Harris

[–] barjo4 11 years ago

Maybe it's time you loked at the long time, very successful radio program,
"Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" (The insurance investigator with the action packed expense account)

[–] anikor 12 years ago

The scarf. He remembers reading about it in the paper relating to the heist.

[–] Phillip Marlowe 11 years ago

Maybe someone has read the Hemingway story and can help.

Won't help. The original story (though I admit I haven't read it) only concerns the events in the first ten minutes or so of the movie--the arrival of the killers, their takeover of the diner, the Swede's puzzling acceptance of his death. The remainder of the movie is an extrapolation of the story.