The File on Thelma Jordon

There have frequently been two main reasons for seeing any film etc. One is the cast, so many films have a cast full of very talented actors that promises already so much. The other is if the story/premise itself sounds very interesting on paper. 'The File on Thelma Jordan' is another one of many examples to have both those things. Am also a great admirer of Barbara Stanwyck, and saw it also to see as many of her films not yet seen as possible.

On the most part, 'The File on Thelma Jordan' is pretty impressive with a lot of great things going for it. If it had a better male lead and had a tighter pace to begin with, there was a lot of potential for it to be great. It just falls short of that but the good things are many and those good things are actually excellent. It really helps that we have such a great actress excelling in a role that plays to her considerable strengths and that we have a director that was experienced in this type of film.

Am going to start with those good things. First and foremost, Stanwyck. She is absolutely marvellous here, she has a real allure and at times vulnerability but is also very steely and evokes chills. The supporting cast play their parts very well, even if none are quite on the same level as Stanwyck. Stanley Ridges especially comes over well. As does Robert Siodmak (who has done quite a lot of good films, especially 1946's 'The Killers'), showing a lot of flair and eye for detail and atmosphere.

Visually, 'The File on Thelma Jordan' looks great. The photography is both gorgeous and atmosphere-filled. The lighting is suitably moody and the production design is suitably elaborate. Victor Young's score looms ominously in all the right places. The script is sharp and thought probing and the story has suspense and surprising grit. It is also not hard to follow without being simplistic.

Wendell Corey was less good though in my view. Found him a bit too meek and anaemic in a role that too often goes overboard on the passiveness. He has a little more chemistry with Stanwyck than what was seen in 'The Furies', but it doesn't quite fire enough on all cylinders. It's competent but under-explored.

Pace wise, it could have been tighter in the early stages and takes too long to get going. While the ending is a surprise, it could have been handled with more subtlety.

Overall though, it is worth watching. 7/10

Wendell Corey had a long career in film and television. In this film he plays Cleve Marshall, an assistant DA who is staying late at the office to avoid going home on his anniversary because his father-in-law (Minor Watson) is there.

While he knocking back shots as fast as he can pour them, in walks Thelma Jordan (Barbara Stanwyck) looking for help. Now, one would certainly be suspicious if a beauty like that immediately began a relationship, but our intrepid hero is too drunk to notice, and, after all, he wants to go out and find a dame.

He is no better the next day when his wife (Joan Tetzel) takes the kids to the beach house, and leaves him alone during the week.

As one would expect in film noir, everything is not as it seems. Cleve gets himself into hot water and uses all his wits to get out.

I have to admit the ending was a big surprise.

So much has already been said about this film, so I don't have to elaborate. All I can say about this movie is "oh my!". The reason being is that during the late 40's and early 50's a film about infidelity, even though popular at the time (Nora Prentiss, The Postman Always Rings Twice) was viewed by many as taboo, but that didn't stop them from flocking to the local theater to see it!

What puzzles me is that this film has been ignored. It is a well crafted movie with all the elements of a good film noir. It has crime, it has sex, it has deception and it has corruption throughout and it has great cinematography; what a perfect noir! If you have a chance to see this film on TCM, do yourself a favor and make a copy. You will not be disappointed.

One of the noir cycle's best titles ushers in one of its better offerings. Barbara Stanwyck's assumption of the title role, of course, gives the picture a running start. She had worked with Billy Wilder – and helped to shape the cycle – in Double Indemnity, and was to work with Fritz Lang in Clash by Night and even Anthony Mann in The Furies (a western, yes, but a dark one), all key noir craftsmen. Here her director is the no less central Robert Siodmak, and her performances in this and the other titles cited (plus The Strange Love of Martha Ivers and at least five other suspense films of the 1940s and 1950s) cement her sobriquet as the First Lady of Film Noir.

Like her Martha Ivers, Stanwyck's Thelma Jordon has a wealthy old aunt (Gertrude Hoffman, who the next year in Caged would steal that movie from some very tough competition). One evening the niece strolls into the District Attorney's office with a story about prowlers and burglars (explaining that she bypassed the police because `My aunt is eccentric, and uniforms upset her'). She tells her tale to an inebriated assistant D.A., Wendell Corey, who's drinking to escape his embittered marriage. Stanwyck lends a sympathetic ear, and they start seeing one another on the sly.

When the aunt, inevitably, is found shot, Stanwyck calls not the police but Corey, and in a tense and extended scene of panic, he helps her cover up evidence that may incriminate her. When she emerges as the prime suspect, he also arranges for his boss to be disqualified, so he can sabotage the prosecution. Stanwyck (after a beautifully orchestrated processional from jail to courthouse) is acquitted. But her past has begun to catch up with her, complete with a shady lover who keeps turning up – and who shoves the compromised Corey out of the picture. But never trust a duplicitous woman, particularly if she's within easy reach of a dashboard cigarette lighter....

Siodmak (with Ketti Frings, who wrote the screenplay) starts the movie so slowly that it looks like it's going to shape up into a routine, adulterous triangle. But he's just laying his groundwork. He keeps Stanwyck behind ambiguous veils, too, stripping them off one by one. Corey proves just right as the dupe, the fall guy (as Fred MacMurray proved right in Double Indemnity); a skillful character actor who always submerged his own personality in the roles he played, he tended to look a little pallid in leading-man roles he took next to the female stars against whom he was pitted.

Siodmak may be the most ruminative of the great noir auteurs – he eschews flash for solid, patient construction. But when it's time for the big set-pieces (the nocturnal panic in the dark old mansion, the perp walk, the shocking flourish of violence at the end courtesy of Stanwyck and that cigarette lighter), he does them full justice. The File on Thelma Jordon falls just short of the summa-cum-laude distinction of his The Killers, and maybe of Criss Cross and even Christmas Holiday, too. But with Stanwyck's drawing upon the full fetch of her talents, it's an indispensable moment in the noir cycle.

From her first entrance, Stanwyck kept me captivated by her performance in this film. There is something about her that draws you in and holds you. You know there is more to her than meets the eye - but you're not sure what exactly.

I have always admired Stanwyck. She was born Ruby Stevens, a Brooklyn girl that worked for a phone company and then became a chorus girl, before finally going to Hollywood to chase her dreams. She was nominated 4 times for an Oscar for Best Actress ("Stella Davis", "Ball of Fire", "Double Indemnity", "Sorry ,Wrong Number") but never won - except for an Honorary Oscar near the end of her life. She was considered a gem to work with for her serious but easy going attitude on the set (unlike many of her contemporary peers). This makes me like her even more!

I thought the cinematography in this film was outstanding. I loved the elaborate sets and and set decorating.

The plot kept me intrigued as well. Corey plays the perfect fall guy for Stanwyck. His average looks and dull exterior tend to make you feel sympathetic for this guy. Some have commented that they didn't have much chemistry together. I agree that they are an unlikely couple, but it helps you see how he could get so caught up in her and be willing to sacrifice so much. She was obviously outside his league.

There are some nice twists and turns in the plot that will keep you interested - especially at the end. It's worth a watch.