“The Phantom Lady” (1944)
The last in the noir series I’ve attended these past weeks, The Phantom Lady was enjoyable for its mood, though not its plot, which made little sense. A depressed man who’s been stood up, Scott meets a sad lady in a bar, asks her to a show, drops her off, returns home to find his wife dead. He’s the main suspect, and when police start questioning his story, no one knows a thing. Enter his cute assistant, played by Ella Raines, nicknamed “Kansas”. Determined to prove him innocent, she goes all girl detective to prove the witnesses are lying. In the midst of this, one of Scott’s friends shows up, and is quickly revealed as the bad guy to the audience, though its not obvious to the others. Franchot Tone plays the comically over-the-top murderer to very entertaining effect. Very good, probably not great, but worth watching for the performances by Raines and Tone, and for a scary-trippy jazz-den scene.