The Little Man

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One of my all-time favorite movies is Double Indemnity, the 1944 film noir classic starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson….all in roll reversals from what I grew up with. To me, Robinson was the quintessential “bad guy,” while MacMurray was the lovable My Three Sons dad (and inventor in The Absent-Minded Professor) and MISS Barbara Stanwyck as the matriarch of the Barkley family in The Big Valley. Not in this movie: Robinson was the good guy, while MacMurray and Stanwyck were sleazes. Anyway, there’s a classic scene (and a running “joke” of sorts) about Brandon Keyes (Robinson’s character) and his “little man.” Early in the film he said the “little man” was a feeling in his gut that screamed “something’s wrong here” when he saw a “phony claim” in the insurance company. Robinson’s “little man” paid me a visit today. I mentioned, in passing, that I have some ceiling issues. Not the roof (although it could stand to be replaced), but the ceiling. It’s cracking in a few places, mostly near old (as in, when I first moved in 33 years ago) repair work from a leaking roof. (So much for that great house inspection they did to make sure the house was fit enough for a VA loan. ) I’ve called a number of companies (as I mentioned when I went to the Home Remodeling Show last week) and gotten nothing much. “We’re covered up, we’ve got all we can do,” as I’ve quoted Tim Wilson’s routine about construction work before. Ah, but one did come out today. Things seemed great initially. Then the little man started kicking. The drywall guy came out to take measurements and was apprehensive over the notion of him having to cover my furniture for the ceiling repair. He asked if I had a garage (not saying anything else, but implying I could just haul everything out to the garage while they worked….as if I’m 22 instead of 62….). Then all of the sudden, after I’d expressed my desire to use the company, the communications stopped. DEAD. How can someone call me half a dozen times before the appointment and zero times after it? (Oh, and I was supposed to get color samples for shingles…nope.) Robinson’s “little man” served him well in Double Indemnity. I’m going to pay attention to my little man, too. Brandon Keyes (Robinson) explaining his “little man” early in Double Indemnity: