Phantom Lady (1944)

If you're a fan of film noir, don't be fooled by the many false references to this motion picture as film noir. Many people make mistakes about what is/isn't film noir, but of all the films that are mistaken as film noir, this one is probably the least noir. Here are but a few reasons why it isn't noir, keeping in mind that not all film noir have all the essential elements.The main element in film noir is an innocent man who makes a choice, that he knows he probably shouldn't make, but makes it anyway, and this choice starts a descent. Usually the choice is made based on the presence of a femme fatale.In this film the main character makes no real choice. He goes out to a show, his wife is killed, and he gets arrested.There is no femme fatale. In fact there is a middle west down-to-earth great woman who sticks by his side. You never see this in film noir.As a third essential element, film noir demands a sad ending. It's usually deadly, but it's never happy. This film has a happy ending. Boy gets girl. You can't be less film noir than this.A fourth main element in film noir is the photography - dark, asymmetrical, and reminiscent of the German expressionist films. This film has almost none of that (exception in the jazz club). Mostly it's bright and crisp.Film noir often takes place at night and in the rain. I don't recall a single rain drop, though there are many night scenes.A fifth element of film noir is the ragtag motley crew that usually accompanies the main villain. There is no gang here. And apart from Alisha Cook Jr, none of the characters are quirky or memorable.A sixth element of film noir is the emphasis on crime. The main character is usually from law enforcement (in this case he's an engineer!) and there is usually an ongoing murder or robbery involved. The main focus of this film seems to be on insanity, or "paranoia" as Inspector Thomas Gomez insists. Crime, per se, seems incidental.The only thing that might lead to to think this is film noir is the director, Robert Sidomak. Sidomak was a German and he did do some great film noir (e.g., The Suspect in 1944, The Killers in 1946, Criss Cross in 1949) but he also did lots of other genres (Son of Dracula, The Crimson Pirate, Custer of the West).So this isn't film noir. Is it any good? No.Franchot Tone thinks by stroking his hands and caressing his temple he looks like a crazy person. The central alibi revolves around a hat, but no one stops to think that the hat is irrelevant. The time line attested to by half a dozen people, places the engineer away from his home at the time of the murder. The fact that no one recalls the lady in the hat is irrelevant.

Let's get Actor Alan Curtis out of the way first. Most Fans and Cultists of this Seminal Film-Noir (and one of the earliest) wish He was Way Out of the Way, like not in the Film. His Awful Performance is a Controlled Contrivance of Unbelievability that is a Distraction to this Otherwise Excellent Foray into Expressionism by Director Robert Siodmak.It's a Visually Stunning Movie. It Helped Write the Template for many a Noir to Follow. Drenched in Shadows, Odd Angles, Trash Riddled Gutters Framing Rain Soaked City Streets, Back Alley Dives with Hopped Up Jive Bands, just to Name Some.Ella Raines as a Strong Secretary Type adds a Multi-Dimensional and wholly Sensuous Performance with Her Transformation to B-Girl Unforgettable. Elijah Cook is also Unlikely to be Forgotten as a Krupa Style Drummer who is "Real Gone" and forsakes Creature Comforts and spends His Money "On other things". Obviously Drugs and Easy Women.Franchot Tone is Remarkable as a Killer who Kills Anyone at Anytime because..."What is their life compared to mine, in fact what's any life compared to mine?" He has Facial Tics and Migraines. Thomas Gomez also makes an Impression as a Concerned Police Detective.Aside from Alan Curtis, the Cast Helps Siodmak make this a Creepy, Unsettling, and "Artsy" Thriller that is Considered Top Film-Noir. It's a B-Movie with Staying Power and some of its "Hamminess" actually adds to the Appeal. It's Sleazy, Pulpy, and Grade A-Low Brow. A Must See.

A mysterious woman wearing an odd hat escorts a stranger to a Broadway musical revue and totally disappears after the date when he needs her most. You see, his wife has been murdered, and he has no alibi. Even the bartender where they met insists that he was there alone, a drummer who ogled her from the orchestra pit denies seeing her with him, and the Brazilian spitfire who spat fire upon seeing her wearing the same hat she was denies having seen her. Now he's on death row for murder, and his devoted secretary (Ella Raines) must do everything she can to find this missing woman, revealed to the audience to be much troubled in the scene, agreeing to go with the accused man (Alan Curtis) on the premise that they don't exchange names, only a night at the theater. Curtis's chum (Franchot Tone) shows up to give Raines support and seems to know more than he's admitting.This was 1944, and film noir exploded on cinema after a few minor tries. This year gave movie audiences some unforgettable classics in this genre: "Laura", "Double Indemnity", "Ministry of Fear", "Murder My Sweet", "The Mask of Dimitrios", "Betrayed" and "Experiment Perilous" to name just a few. "Phantom Lady" has some of the greatest elements of noir through its mystery, vision of night life in a big city, and characters that can definitely be described as unconventional.Take for example Rains as the secretary. She is visited by the police detective (Thomas Gomez) who initially questioned Curtis and has now changed his opinion about Curtis's guilt. At his suggestion, she disguises herself as a Times Square floozy, gets a front row seat in front of drummer Elisha Cook Jr., and seduces him from there into taking her out so she can get some information. This is after she literally stalks the bartender who denied seeing Curtis with the mysterious woman, spooking him into a guilt complex with results that prove fatal. The mystery part of the story is actually solved long before the film is over, but it is the motivations and "how was it done" that dominate the second half and keep you hooked. Robert Siodmark, who would direct some other great film noir, gives this a pacing that is eerie and at the same time, somewhat romantic.

Phantom Lady is directed by Robert Siodmak and adapted to screenplay by Bernard C. Schoenfeld from the story written by Cornell Woolrich (pseudonym William Irish). It stars Ella Raines, Franchot Tone, Alan Curtis, Thomas Gomez, Elisha Cook Jr and Fay Helm. Music is by Hans J. Salter and cinematography by Woody Bredell.Out drowning his sorrows, Scott Henderson (Curtis) meets an equally unhappy woman in a bar, agreeing to her request to not exchange names, but to merely enjoy each others company, Henderson takes her to a show. Upon returning home Henderson finds his wife has been strangled and he is arrested as the prime suspect for the murder. When he frantically tries to prove he has an alibi by way of the "phanton lady" he spent the evening with, he comes up against a wall of silence with nobody able to prove he was with anybody. The electric chair awaits unless someone can prove his alibi. Enter Henderson's intrepid secretary Kansas Richman, who not only carries a torch for her boss, but appears to be his only hope of proving his innocence...An important film in the film noir cycle given that its success kicked opened further the American doorway for German director Robert Siodmak (The Killers); something that all fellow film noir fans are eternally grateful for. Often cited as a top draw noir or one of the best from the early 40s output, it's a frustrating experience in many ways. Undeniably the middle third is an absolute visual treasure, where Siodmak and Bredell (also The Killers) craft the essential film noir style with highly detailed shadows and lighting gaining maximum atmospheric impact. An extended sequence that sees the wonderful Raines (Impact) stalk a witness through dark and dank streets to a subway station is clinical in its photographic brilliance. I love the quote from Bredell where he said that after being coached by Siodmak he felt he could light a football pitch with only a match! This middle third of Phantom Lady is the meeting of two visual minds and it's a class combination.Elsewhere Siodmak emphasises objects and weird art to keep his world off kilter, while a key character's obsession with his hands also keeps things simmering in the realm of the strange. There's also a "famed" suggestive sex scene as Elisha Cook Jr (as always, memorable) pounds his drum kit to a climax as Raines positively smoulders in front of him. All of these things are set to the backdrop of a ticking clock format, where the innocent Henderson's life hangs in the balance. These are all film noir traits and executed with such skill it hides the fact that the film is primarily studio bound, in fact this can be seen as a marker for how to do "studio noir" effectively.Unfortunately there is good reason why Phantom Lady is divisive in film noir circles. The dialogue is often plain daft, almost as daft as the plot itself. The murderer is revealed at the mid point and therefore we are robbed of the mystery element and sadly it sign posts the finale as being obvious and disappointing. Plot in the final third puts our heroine in constant danger at the hands of the real murderer, suspense is meant to be wrung out, but it never hits home the way it should. While on the acting front Curtis is too stiff to really make a telling innocent man hanging by a thread character and Tone is equally as flat in a critical role. However, do these things stop Phantom Lady from being a great film? No, I don't think so, there's just too much good in the mix to stop it from deserving some of the (admittedly exaggerated) praise put its way. 7.5/10