InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Robert D. Ruplenas I'm sorry to contradict the cornucopia of praise for this flick. I was drawn to this on TMC by the plot description and by the presence of Franchot Tone. It started out as a decent film noir, as a man with wife troubles spends an evening with an unknown lady with a strange hat. His wife is found murdered that evening and upon investigation all the people who saw him with the lady deny ever having seen her. Good premise. But as the movie unwinds, the whole thing becomes tedious. First problem: lousy acting. I guess there's a reason that the names of Ella Raines and Alan Curtis do not live in moviegoer's memories. Their performances as the leads are dismal. Second problem: lousy script. All the clichés are there in abundance. Franchot Tone is a fine actor but the pretentiousness of the lines when he contemplates his hands is over the top. My favorite is when Raines confronts Tone in the final scene with "you're mad, MAD, MAD." Not even a great actress could deliver such tripe convincingly. Third problem: the circuitous and incomprehensible plot. The unconvincing turns are too numerous to list. The plus side - fantastic cinematography by Elwood Bredell. The composition of so many scenes is beautifully executed. It's too bad that the script and acting could not match it. It's a Hitchcock wannabe that just doesn't make it.

utgard14 Film noir directed by Robert Siodmak from a story by Cornell Woolrich about a woman (Ella Raines) trying to clear the name of her boss (Alan Curtis), who is accused of murdering his wife. She's in love with the guy, of course, and will risk her own life to save his. Ella Raines is lovely and does a fine job. Alan Curtis has a voice made for film noir dialogue. Every line where he uses Raines' character's nickname "Kansas" is gold. Franchot Tone, Thomas Gomez, Regis Toomey, and Elisha Cook, Jr. are all good.It's a film with a lot of nice little almost Hitchcockian touches, such as the woman coughing at the trial as the verdict is read or the darkly comic fate of a frightened bartender. Then there's the film's most talked-about scene, the drum solo where Elisha Cook, Jr. gets all worked up over Raines in her sexy undercover outfit. Visually, it's got a very attractive noir style to it. Also the way Siodmak incorporates music is a big plus. The only major negative is that the killer is obvious from early on before he even appears on screen so there's not a great deal of suspense to be had there. But it's still intriguing to watch the buildup to him being caught. Definitely worth a look for noir fans.

MisterWhiplash This isn't the best film noir but in a way it's quintessential in this way: I saw this years ago, and I have such a hazy memory that it's almost like I didn't see it... I think (?) It's the kind of movie I used to throw on really late at night like at 2 AM and I might watch all of it or some of it and then the rest the next day, and it has the kind of film noir plot and execution that it blends into many other film noirs. I don't mean to say that as a put down or to its detriment, but this fits so well into how this mood and feel work involving murder and a woman-who-wasn't-there (or seemingly never was) and a mystery to find the missing woman and all of the twists and turns therein.It might be because it doesn't have the top shelf cast of some of the other movies of the period - there's no Barbara Stanwyck or Robert Mitchum or Edward G Robinson or Burt Lancaster or Glenn Ford or the list goes on - and yet I don't remember anyone here being so bad or off-putting that I had to turn it off or felt like I didn't get my VHS rental's worth. Siodmak's a quality director, and this is clearly the forerunner to what he would perfect with The Killers and Criss Cross. I'm sure I should see it again so I can solidify my opinion of it, but in a way I think it's fitting that it's half-forgotten - it's almost like the way that the characters find themselves in this story, a mystery to track down something buried away and not wanting to be found.Or something.

poe-48833 PHANTOM LADY (not to be confused with the Golden Age comic book with art by Matt Baker) comes from the mind of "William Irish" (Cornell Woolrich, who also gave us the stories that became the Noir movie classics THE WINDOW and REAR WINDOW). If anyone knew anything about the Twists and Turns of the Psyche, it was Woolrich (see the biographical information in many of the best collections of his short stories at your local Public Library); that PHANTOM LADY winds its way through a Mystery with so many Dead Ends and What-the-F---s isn't surprising. (On the other hand, like Raymond Chandler himself, Woolrich could sometimes forget or overlook a plot point or two- and so do the Screenwriter and Director, here.) If you're one of those who INSISTS that all one's ducks be properly aligned, you're going to have a problem or two here and there- but, if you can enjoy for the sheer Naughtiness of it Elisha Cook, Junior's "drum solo," you're in for a Fun Ride.