Phantom Lady

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

Rats! One of the all time great film noirs, "Phantom Lady" is on TCM right now. If you don't mind catching the last third of it...

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

TCM doesn't show this one all that often, but if you get the guides, keep an eye out for it in the future. It has the beautiful, elusive actress Ella Raines, and Franchot Tone, among others. Ella Raines is the assistant to an architect accused of murdering his wife, and she must enter the seamy 1040's NYC underworld to prove his innocence.

I love this film, despite some overwrought writing and unrealistic psychiatric posturing. It's all in the direction by legendary director Robert Siodmak. He does the shadows and lonely subway stops and dark wet streets of film noir masterfully!

I really like Franchot Tone, even though he overacts a bit in this one. The wholesome, cornfed secretary, nicknamed "Kansas", bumps up against true evil for the first time in this outing, and she has to summon all her wits. She becomes a dogged pursuer of justice.

Oh-- standout scene: "Kansas" in her undercover persona as an urban barfly, goes with drummer Elisha Cook to a tiny, Forties jazz club, probably in Greeenwich Village? There is a crazy, extended drum solo that is unlike anything else you would see in a film of that period. There are all kinds of little gems like that in this movie!