Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

LeonLouisRicci 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.

MartinHafer Scott (Alan Curtis) has a bad marriage and things are about to get a lot worse. Instead of going out with his wife, Scott spends the evening with a lady he's met in a bar. They got to a show together and then he returns home...only to find the cops there! It seems his wife is dead...and Scott is having a horrible time coming up with an alibi. The folks who could prove his innocence say they cannot recall him and the woman he was with cannot be found. Not surprisingly, he's convicted of her murder and he's soon on death row. His secretary, Kansas (Ella Raines), believes her boss is innocent and spends most of the movie trying to prove it. However, what she doesn't realize is that the man helping her (Franchot Tone) is actually a maniac and he's framed Alan! By the time she's finally realized what's happened...it might just be too late, as he's more than willing to kill EVERYONE who can prove Alan isn't the killer!This is a really good relatively low budget film. The only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the identity of the real killer is seen way too early and some of the suspense is missing. Still, well done and very enjoyable if you like film noir and suspense films.By the way, the Brazilian singer you see on stage near the beginning is Aurora Miranda--sister of Carmen. She never even came close to Carmen's fame in America and you wonder if it perhaps could have been since Aurora had much darker skin and looked more black. Sad if it was the case.

writers_reign This was the third of fourteen novels/short stories by Cornell Woolrich to be adapted for the screen in the nineteen forties. There had been one in 1929, one in 1934 and one in 1938 but the floodgates opened in the forties and though adaptations continued through subsequent decades it was the forties that were the most fruitful. The original novel, published in 1942, had another claim to fame inasmuch as it was the first time the pseudonym William Irish appeared in print - the publishers felt that the prolific Woolrich had published so many novels so quickly under that name - the name on his birth certificate read: Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich - that there was a danger of the public becoming sated, accordingly they suggested a new name might be in order and William Irish was the result. Woolrich/Irish quickly developed his own 'voice' and genre, psychological thriller-cum-terror and just a handful of forties titles adapted for the screen - The Leopard Man, Deadline At Dawn, Black Angel,Fear In The Night, I Wouldn't Be In Your Shoes, Night Has A Thousand Eyes - illustrate this although arguably the finest adaptation, The Window, had a somewhat innocuous title. Phantom Lady is slightly different to the novel though the premise remains the same; following a quarrel with his wife the protagonist meets a woman in a bar and invites her to spend the evening with him (he already has two tickets to a popular show, one meant for his wife) and she agrees with the proviso that they do not exchange names,, phone numbers, or indeed any scrap of personal information. Returning home he finds his wife has been strangled with one of his own neckties and he, with no real alibi, is the only suspect. Tried and convicted his only chance to escape the chair is for someone to locate the phantom lady, whose only distinguishing feature is a singular hat, so that we are now in a race- against-the-clock scenario which, given the date, 1944, will, we know, inevitably resolve itself happily. Director Robert Siodmak created a fine, atmospheric mood, drawing liberally on the expressionistic roots of his native Germany, whilst the cast comprised some of the names familiar to buffs of forties movies, Andrew Tombes, Thomas Gomez, Elisha Cooke, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis and top-billed Franchot Tone, cast against type. Certainly watchable and a reasonable addition to the 'noir' gallery.

lampic By definition film noir is a shadowy mystery/crime story and yes,there is a interesting story here - man is accused of murder and the only person who can prove that he was indeed spending that evening with her is mysterious lady in a fashionable hat, who disappears not to be seen anymore. He is imprisoned (mumbling about "lady in a funny hat") and now its up to his provincial secretary and a detective to solve the mystery. Secretary must be very provincial and in love indeed, because she puts herself into some very dangerous situations, following people she suspect are hiding the secret. The movie focuses so much on her that at certain point I wondered "hey,but where is Franchot Tone in all this?" - he, the biggest name here is finally appearing half way trough movie and in a role completely different from his usual charming smile performances (camera focuses on his hands so much that I freaked out, its very pure German expressionism). Unfortunately the mystery is solved way too soon so we already know who was the real murderer,for the rest of the movie its all about naive secretary finally discovering the truth.