| Phantom Lady | |
| Director: | Robert Siodmak |
| Screenplay: | Bernard C. Schoenfeld |
| Producer: | Joan Harrison |
| Music: | Hans J. Salter |
| Cinematography: | Woody Bredell |
| Editing: | Arthur Hilton |
| Studio: | Universal Pictures |
| Distributor: | Universal Pictures |
| Runtime: | 87 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Phantom Lady is a 1944 American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, and Alan Curtis.[1] Based on the novel of the same name by Cornell Woolrich, it follows a young Manhattan secretary and her endeavors to prove that her boss did not murder his wife.
After a fight with his wife on their anniversary, Scott Henderson, a 32-year-old engineer, picks up an equally unhappy woman at Anselmo's Bar in Manhattan, and they take a taxi to see a stage show. The woman refuses to tell him anything about herself. The star of the show they are watching, Estela Monteiro, becomes furious when she notices that she and the mystery woman are wearing the same distinctive hat. When Henderson returns home, he finds Police Inspector Burgess and two of his men waiting to question him; his wife has been strangled with one of his neckties. Henderson has a solid alibi, but the bartender, taxi driver, and Monteiro remember him but deny seeing the phantom lady. Henderson cannot even clearly describe the woman. He is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.
Carol Richman, known as "Kansas", Henderson's loyal secretary who is secretly in love with him, sets out to prove his innocence. She starts with the bartender. She sits in the bar night after night, staring at and unnerving him. Finally, she follows him home one night. When he confronts her on the street, some bystanders step in to restrain him. He breaks free, runs into the street and is run over. Later, Burgess offers to help her (unofficially). He believes that only a fool or an innocent man would have stuck to such a weak alibi. Burgess provides Kansas with information about the drummer at the show, Cliff, who had tried to make eye contact with the phantom lady.
Kansas dresses provocatively and goes to another of Cliff's shows. Flirting with Cliff during the performance, she manages to capture his attention. They rendezvous afterwards, visit an underground jam-session, and go to his apartment. Somewhat drunk, Cliff brags that he was paid $500 for his false testimony. He accidentally knocks over her purse and, among the spilled contents, finds a piece of paper with details about him. He accuses her of misleading him. Kansas escapes, leaving her purse behind. After she has gone, an unidentified man arrives, accuses Cliff of telling Kansas he'd been bribed to deny seeing the phantom lady, and strangles Cliff to death.
Jack Marlow, Henderson's best friend, returns suddenly from South America, ostensibly to help Kansas save Henderson. He is in fact the man who has just murdered Cliff. He secretly works to frustrate Kansas's efforts, while hiding his own deteriorating mental state. Kansas tracks down Monteiro's hatmaker, Kettisha. One of her employees admits to copying the hat for a regular customer and provides her name and address. With Burgess away on another case, Kansas and Marlow go to see the milliner's client, Ann Terry. They discover her under a doctor's care, having collapsed some months earlier when the man she was to marry had died suddenly, leaving her emotionally devastated. Kansas is unable to get any information from her, but does find the hat. Marlow suggests he and Kansas wait for Burgess at Marlow's apartment. However, while she is freshening up, Kansas finds her missing purse and the paper with Cliff's particulars in a dresser drawer. Marlow admits he became enraged when Henderson's wife refused to run away with him, an artist; she was only toying with him. Burgess arrives just in time. Marlow throws himself out the window to his death. With Henderson freed, things appear to return to normal. Carol is delighted to learn that Henderson returns her love.
Phantom Lady was Siodmak's first Hollywood film noir. It was also the first producing credit by Joan Harrison, Universal Pictures' first female executive and former screenwriter for Alfred Hitchcock.[2]
Cliff's frantic drum solo was dubbed by former Harry James and His Orchestra drummer Dave Coleman.
Critic Bosley Crowther was not impressed with the atmospherics of the film and panned the film for its screenplay, writing: "We wish we could recommend it as a perfect combination of the styles of the eminent Mr. Hitchcock and the old German psychological films, for that is plainly and precisely what it tries very hard to be. It is full of the play of light and shadow, of macabre atmosphere, of sharply realistic faces and dramatic injections of sound. People sit around in gloomy places looking blankly and silently into space, music blares forth from empty darkness, and odd characters turn up and disappear. It is all very studiously constructed for weird and disturbing effects. But, unfortunately, Miss Harrison and Mr. Siodmak forgot one basic thing—they forgot to provide their picture with a plausible, realistic plot."[3]
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released a made-on-demand DVD-R of the film through in conjunction with Turner Classic Movies.[4]
Arrow Films released a region A Blu-ray edition of the film through their Arrow Academy label on March 5, 2019.[5]
The Phantom Lady was presented on Lux Radio Theater, March 27, 1944.[6] [7]
The Phantom Lady was presented on Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre September 11, 1944.[8] [9] The 30-minute adaptation starred Ralph Bellamy, Louise Allbritton, David Bruce and Walter Abel.[10]