Rent Phantom Lady (1944)

Classic film noir. - Phantom Lady review by Steve

This slight, fatalistic film noir was written by Cornell Woolrich who would recycle variations on this plot many times, about an innocent accused of murder, unable to track down the witness who would save his life. Its director Robert Siodmak was one of many Germans to emigrate from the home of expressionism to American noir, and this is the best version of the familiar premise.

Alan Curtis plays a middle class malcontent, stood up by his elegant but selfish wife, who instead spends the evening at a theatre with a stranger on the understanding they won't talk about themselves and never meet again. When Curtis' wife is killed and he needs an alibi, that premise for an evening's diversion proves catastrophic! Curtis' secretary (Ella Raines) must trace the woman and free her boss.

 Odd there is no musical score, but it is still phenomenally suspenseful. Siodmak was a genius at assembling a scene. The way he fits the images together is sensual and artistic. There's an evocation of German silent horror, amplified by the Peter Lorre-esque performance of Franchot Tone as an artist experiencing psychopathic delusions of grandeur.

There's a glorious noir look of the rain soaked streets and train stops crisscrossed by the secretary as she searches for the phantom lady. But everyone mainly remembers this for the scene with Elisha Cook as a jazz drummer and Raines sleuthing undercover as a hepcat. The eroticism implied by Cook's lengthy drum solo is jaw dropping and transcends an already outstanding noir.