Starring
Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Aurora Miranda, Thomas
Gomez, Fay Helm, Elisha Cook Jr. Directed by Robert Siodmak. (1944/87
min).
ON
BLU-RAY FROM ARROW ACADEMY
Review
by Mr. Paws😸
Who
says you can't find good help these days?
Unhappily
married engineer Scott Henderson has a fight with his wife and goes
to a bar to drown his sorrows, where he meets a mysterious woman. She
seems morbidly depressed, too, so he suggests they attend a show he has tickets for. She agrees, so long as they remain anonymous.
Afterwards, Scott drops her back off at the bar and goes home,
only to find the police there. It turns out his wife was murdered -
strangled by one of his own neckties - and he's their number one
suspect.
Since
his only alibi is a woman whose name he doesn't know and can't
locate, Inspector Burgess (Thomas Gomez) has a hard time believing
his story, especially since potential witnesses - the bartender, the
concert musicians and the cab driver - claim they never saw Scott
with a woman that night. He's convicted and sentenced to death, but
his dedicated secretary, Carol (Ella Raines), is convinced of his
innocence. With 18 days left until he's executed, she goes out on her
own to find this mysterious woman and clear his name.
Man,
talk about your dedicated employees! Carol spends several evenings
browbeating the bartender into submission. When she finally confronts
him, he runs into the street and gets pancaked by a car. She later
seduces one of the concert musicians into drunkenly admitting he was
paid to lie to the cops. A show dancer's custom headwear -
apparently identical to the woman's - puts Carol on the search for
the hat-maker, who hopefully might provide a name.
 |
| Ladies night. |
If
you ask me, that level of dedication makes Carol a shoo-in for Employee of the Month. Well, she is secretly in love with
Scott, which I suppose is good motivation. She eventually gets help
from Burgess and, almost too conveniently, Jack Marlow (Franchot
Tone), a friend of Scott's who later flies into town upon hearing
about his conviction.
A
minor and obscure entry in the film noir genre, Phantom Lady
doesn't rank among the classics, but is enjoyable on its own terms.
The plot doesn't bear a lot of scrutiny and most viewers will have
this mystery solved at about the half-way mark. There's some clunky
dialogue and a few performances are a bit chuckleworthy (such as
Elisha Cook Jr's sweaty, manic turn as an overly enthusiastic
drummer). Still, this quick & dirty crime caper moves along at a
brisk enough pace that we don't question most of the story
implausibilities until it's over. Despite the billing order, Raines
is the real star of the film and she's quite engaging. Having just
recently revisited Key Largo, I'd also forgotten what a fine
character actor Gomez was. His congenial performance in this one was
a pleasant surprise.
So
while we ain't talking Hitchcock or Huston here, Phantom Lady
is a competently assembled piece of minor league film noir. It's no
classic, nor does anything about it doesn't resonate much afterwards,
but certainly entertaining in the moment...and perhaps a perfect secretarial training film.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
"DARK
AND DEADLY: 50 YEARS OF FILM NOIR" - A 20 year old documentary
featuring clips from old and recent noir films, along with director &
historian interviews. Not bad, but not particularly revelatory,
either, and Phantom Lady isn't even discussed.
RADIO
BROADCAST OF THE SAME STORY
IMAGE
GALLERY
SUPPLEMENTARY
BOOKLET
REVERSIBLE
COVER ART
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD. LIKE CAT CHOW.
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