Customer Reviews

Phantom Lady [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Phantom Lady may have been overshadowed in 1944 by the release of the two classic noir films; Double Indemnity and Laura, yet Robert Siodmak's psychological thriller still maintains an acknowledged position among the genre. Siodmak lures viewers through rain slicked streets, back alley jazz clubs, and post midnight rendezvous. Adapted from a Cornell Woolrich novel, Phantom Lady is similar to Wollrich's later work Black Angel, in that a man (Alan Curtis) is wrongfully accused of murder, sentenced to death and can only depend on his secretary ( Ella Raines) who desperately searches for the only alibi (the phantom lady) that can exonerate him. Franchot Tone recieves top billing as a psychopathic socialite with twitching hands, but it is twenty-three year old Ella Raines who deservedly steals the spotlight . As Carol "Kansas" Richman, she seduces simple minded Elisha Cook Jr., an orchestra drummer, during one of his performances. In a classic cat & mouse sequence, she trails an uncooperative bartender through Siodmak's darkened urban landscape. The sequence is highlighted with images and sounds of elevated subway cars, city taxi cabs, and amplified footsteps against wet black-tops. Siodmak created a five minute symphonic masterpiece that captured the essence of urban trepidation. The other eighty-two minutes should also please most noir aficionados.

A good hardbitten yarn, with effective use of shadows and night time backdrops. The scenes in which the female protagonist tails the bar-keeper through the subways and streets of New York are impressively eerie. The same peaches and cream protagonist then dresses up as an uncanny floozie---you can almost smell her cheap perfume through the VCR. The jazz drum scene involving peaches and cream/floozie and Elisha Cook Jr is high charged sex in a thinly veiled, naughty noir way. (It is far more erotic than the more explicit sex one sees in contemporary films.) The psychopath behind the intrigue is frightening and believeable. This is a great flick.

Cornell Woolrich is the unsung hero of this and many other films. His little stories bashed out at a tremendous speed simply make great films. Hitchcock used Rear Window to create one of his best films. Other directors have used his stories to great effect. The recent Original Sin is the latest in a very long and distinguished list.

With a great story line of a man sitting on death row while his friends race to find evidence of his innocence, Siodmak really produces the goods in this film. One sequence, in particular, the jazz jam session, is as close to a sex scene as film makers could go in those days. The scene alone puts this film in the master class. Great cinematography, some good acting and briliant direction add up to one of the best film noirs in circulation.

This is one of those films that may sneak up on you, as it did me: since at the time I first viewed it I didn't recognize any of the stars, except Franchot Tone (who has never impressed me greatly), I was amazed to find myself completely absorbed in the story. It's an intelligent, suspenseful film, with moody black-and-white photography (the prison scenes are particularly stark and atmospheric) and a heroine who's not only beautiful and kind but also resourceful and courageous. Franchot Tone, cast against type, turns in a surprising and powerful performance, and the eery, shadow-filled denoument will have you holding your breath. A must for noir fans.

"Phantom Lady" falls into the tradition of great forties' noir films beginning with "The Maltese Falcon." German emigre director Robert Siodmak, who gave us two Burt Lancaster noir gems with "The Killers" and "Crisscross," executed a deft hand and used the camera to compelling advantage in displaying confinement on the one hand and closeups of characters immersed in states of great tension on the other.

Cornell Woolrich was a master storyteller of New York tales about people trapped within the clutches of the big city, battling tenaciously for survival. Woolrich gave us perhaps the number one voyeuristic film in cinema annals with Hitchcock's "Rear Window." His story thrust of "Phantom Lady" is one of a crafty and elegantly beautiful woman's determined efforts to prove that the man she loves is innocent of the charge of murder, for which he has been tried and convicted. Ella Raines operates with burning conviction and speedy determination as she battles the clock, which is ticking down toward the murder execution of the man she loves, played by Alan Curtis.

The "phantom lady" of the title is Fay Helm, who meets Curtis at a Manhattan bar. He is distraught over a wrong turn in his marriage and quickly learns that she is even more forlorn than himself. Curtis has an extra ticket to a hit Broadway musical and he is able to finally entice her to attend it with him. After that they part. When he returns to his apartment the police are there, revealing that Curtis's wife has been murdered by strangulation.

For a while the film shapes up as a grand mystery as Raines continues searching frantically for Helm, who can account for Curtis's time while his wife was being murdered, but eventually it shapes up as a microscopic look at a brilliant, megalomaniacal killer when Franchot Tone turns up. A famous sculptor who has worked with Curtis, who is an architectural engineer, Tone masquerades as a friend of Curtis's who is actually planning to stand by and let him be executed for a crime Tone committed. One of the most interesting scenes of the film is the psychological banter between Tone and the investigating police officer who explains that psychologically disturbed people commit the kinds of murders as that visited upon Curtis's wife. An edgy Tone insists that normal people commit such crimes, people who are pushed to the brink of frustration.

Tone was never better. The camera closes in for brilliantly revealing shots of a man immersed in desperation. Revealing closeups also demonstrate the frustration and frequent despair of Curtis as a man falsely convicted and close to execution for a crime he never committed and the determination of Raines, who never looked more beautiful, as she fights to save the life of the man she loves.

Phantom Lady is a solid detective/true crime movie. This reviewer hesitates to label it noir due to some rather strange structural attributes. The film opens as a lonely and unhappy Alan Curtis meets a lonely and unhappy woman (Ann Terry), in a bar and impulsively asks her to a play. Soon afterward, she dumps him and goes to her apartment. Curtis arrives at his own home to find the cops waiting! His wife has been strangled and he is the suspect. (Husbands always are). When Curtis cannot establish an alibi, he is quickly convicted and sent to prison. The elusive Terry becomes the Phantom Lady. Curtis has 2 factors working for him: One is the lead detective, Thomas Gomez, who believes Curtis' story. The other is his devoted secretary Ella Raines. Here is the most loyal employee ever seen on screen! She is determined to track down witnesses, especially Terry, who can spring her boss. Viewers are perfectly aware that Raines loyalty is well placed! They know the alibis are valid! As noted above, there are 2 main defects: One is that that the actual murderer tips his/her hand to the observant. The other is that PL was OBVIOUSLY filmed in a studio and not on a big city location. This greatly lessens the noir effect of night shots, dark streets, high heels on lonely sidewalks, shadows, gloomy bars and all the standard tricks of the trade. Furthermore that scene on the elevated subway platform is almost comical! Who was the director kidding? That was an insult to all the subways of the world, especially New York's. This is why this reviewer urges viewers to forget the noir aspects of PL and concentrate on the searches for the real killer and Terry. Despite the aforementioned tipped hand, this is still a great mystery. Whodunit? Does Raines find the phantom? This reviewer does not give away endings. The curious will have to watch for themselves. Suffice to say, Raines carries PL virtually single-handed. This is her flick! PL is highly recommended to police/detective aficionados. As a treat, and a test, try to spot the cameo by the veteran actor Milburn Stone. He later played Doc in the long running Gunsmoke TV series. If you catch him, give yourself a gold star. And pay attention to what the ladies are wearing! Fashion matters!

Rainy streets, late nights, and a shadowy, moody aura prevails in the film noir from the 1940s. If you enjoy this genre, this film will deliver for you. Ella Raines plays a secretary from Kansas in love with her boss, a New York civil engineer, played by Alan Curtis. When he is falsely accused of murdering his wife, she sets out with determination to clear his name.

Throughout the film we are given hints as to who is the real murderer. We follow Raines as she reconstructs the activities of the fateful night and encounters characters who deny seeing a woman with Curtis. This witness could provide an alibi.

The twists and turns of the plot will keep you interested, as Raines unravels the mystery to find a happy ending. Recommended as a fine example of film noir.

A fellow is jailed for killing his estranged wife, but he actually had been at a bar, picked up a woman and took her to a show. Except that the cops don't believe him because everyone says they never saw him with the woman. His secretary, Ella Raines, is determined to find the phantom lady, with the help of his best friend and a detective.

Nice jobs by Franchot Tone as the best friend and Thomas Gomez as the detective, and a great job by Elisha Cook Jr as a strange drummer who takes Raines to an after-hours jazz club. I've always liked Tone and think he was a very good actor. And as the years went by he became even better.

This is a solid noir with a couple of unusual, surreal scenes. One of these days I hope someone brings it out on DVD

Robert Siodmak was undoubtedly one of the most prominent directors of the Noir genre. As the previous reviewer said, "Laura" and "Double Indemnity" left aside this well rounded gem for the memory of those spectators.

Nevertheless during all those years this film reached a more than deserved primacy among the most reminded classics of the genre.

Ella Raines as the devoted secretary of her boss will make the best she can in order to prove his innocence.

Scott is a Civil Engineer who is about to fall into suspicion web, once he returns his home, after having met an unknown woman (The phantom lady), who was invited for him to watch a musical show.

Once all the evidences seem to accuse him, he is sent to prison and condemned to death. The time is running and the key witnesses are murdered one by one. So, the circle encloses until...

The magnificent sequence in which she visits him in prison, when the light comes from the window talks us about the enormous influence of the German expressionism that still dewlled in Siodmak's craft.

One more thing: the killer uses a tie for his crimes. Does it sound you to Hitchcok's Frenzy in 1972?

Watch it. Better than you usually expected.

I found this film noir to be odd in that the beginning and the end were both lousy but the longer middle part was excellent. The "lousy" parts are such because they drag on and are simply boring when they don't have to be.

The immediate opening scenes are fine, showing an innocent man, "Scott Henderson" (Alan Curtis) being charged and found guilty of a murder he didn't commit....but then almost nothing happens for the next 20 minutes.

Then comes the good part when Henderson's secretary "Carol 'Kansas' Richmond" (Ella Raines) gets involved, taking it upon herself to find the missing woman who could prove that her boss was innocent. During her pursuit we meet a couple of very interesting characters and we see some outstanding film-noir photography.

The most interesting character, "Cliff," was played by film noir regular Elisha Cook Jr. He has one scene in which he takes Raines to a local warehouse-type room where his jazz band is practicing. Cook then shows off with this drum playing and it is so frenetic, so bizarre that it is almost shocking to watch. You have to see it, to appreciate it. It's a small, insignificant scene but very memorable. A few other minor characters are a bit strange, too.

Thomas Gomez plays a cop ("Inspector Burgess") who winds up helping Raines a bit, and he's good to watch, too. In the end, Raines discovers what's up and is in peril herself. That scene has suspense but is too drawn out. It's like, "okay, already.....let's get on with it!"