Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysToronto Int'l Film FestivalHispanic Heritage MonthIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
IMDbPro

The Phantom in the House

  • 1929
  • Passed
  • 1h 4m
IMDb RATING
5.0/10
172
YOUR RATING
Ricardo Cortez and Nancy Welford in The Phantom in the House (1929)
CrimeDramaMysteryRomanceThriller

A man is blamed for a murder that was actually committed by his wife.A man is blamed for a murder that was actually committed by his wife.A man is blamed for a murder that was actually committed by his wife.

  • Director
    • Phil Rosen
  • Writers
    • Arthur Hoerl
    • Andrew Soutar
  • Stars
    • Ricardo Cortez
    • Nancy Welford
    • Henry B. Walthall
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.0/10
    172
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Phil Rosen
    • Writers
      • Arthur Hoerl
      • Andrew Soutar
    • Stars
      • Ricardo Cortez
      • Nancy Welford
      • Henry B. Walthall
    • 12User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos3

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast12

    Edit
    Ricardo Cortez
    Ricardo Cortez
    • Paul Wallis
    Nancy Welford
    Nancy Welford
    • Dorothy Milburn
    Henry B. Walthall
    Henry B. Walthall
    • Boyd Milburn
    • (as Henry Walthall)
    Grace Valentine
    Grace Valentine
    • Peggy Milburn
    Jack Curtis
    Jack Curtis
    • 'Biffer' Bill
    Thomas A. Curran
    • Judge Thompson
    • (as Thomas Curran)
    John Beck
    John Elliott
    John Elliott
    • Police Captain
    Larry Steers
    Larry Steers
    • Paul's Attorney
    Henry Roquemore
    Henry Roquemore
    • Butler
    Paul McVey
    Paul McVey
    • Piano Player at Regan's
    • (uncredited)
    Rolfe Sedan
    Rolfe Sedan
    • The Marquis - Dorothy's Suitor
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Phil Rosen
    • Writers
      • Arthur Hoerl
      • Andrew Soutar
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews12

    5.0172
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    4bkoganbing

    At his self sacrificing best

    Some rather stilted acting characterizes this melodrama about a man who confessed to a murder his wife did and got life in prison for it. Henry B. Walthall who played a lot of noble and self sacrificing characters on the silent screen and in talkies was at the top of his game in both those categories. The title of the film is a misnomer because there are no ghostly apparitions here, simply Walthall hanging around his family under an alias. But his daughter Nancy Welford bonds with him and can't explain the connection she feels.

    Walthall was an inventor and his patents were assigned over to his wife Grace Valentine which has made her a most wealthy society dame. She wants a title for Welford to marry and there's some silly English earl played by Rolfe Sedan hanging around probably looking to give some woman his title for her money.

    That's not what Welford wants, she wants to marry earnest young Ricardo Cortez. But Valentine threatens to ruin him if he marries her.

    Into this mess walks Walthall back into their lives, given parole after 15 years. He's traveling incognito at first as the daughter has been given a whole different story about a father who died in the late World War. I won't go any farther except that in the end both the women come to a radical reassessment about things. And Walthall once again thinks of others.

    I doubt we'll ever see a remake of this old fashioned story. The Phantom Of The House was written for a different with different tastes in literature and different ideas about what constitutes a hero. Also it is plain the players were getting used to sound and both Walthall and Cortez did much better work in sound very shortly.

    It's a real museum piece of a film.
    4boblipton

    Close But No Cigar

    This 1929 mystery-tearjerker suffers from all the stereotypical problems of talkies in this year -- a very few works like Mamoulian's APPLAUSE aside -- immobile camera and actors who seem unable to read a line with any naturalism. The sound track sounds poor, too, but that might will be an artifact of a worn print.

    Director Phil Rosen makes a good stab by using short cuts to fake a mobile camera, and it's a pleasure to watch old pros Henry Walthall and Ricardo Cortez exhibit their physical naturalness, but the many poor performances and, by modern standards, decidedly pinheaded plot keep this from being worthwhile as more than a curiosity.
    3scsu1975

    Creaky, stagey, slow-moving drama

    Henry B. Walthall takes the rap when his wife kills a cad. He is sentenced to prison for "the rest of his natural life," which begs the question, what happens if his life becomes unnatural? He is paroled after 15 years and, oddly, has more hair than when he was first incarcerated. Apparently, you can join the Hair Club for Men while you're in stir.

    Walthall returns home, where he meets his grown-up daughter, who believes he was killed in World War I. He pretends he is a friend of her mother's. The daughter is engaged to Ricardo Cortez, but the mother disapproves because she wants her daughter to marry a Marquis. Then the judge who sentenced Walthall is murdered, Cortez is implicated, and Walthall is about to take the rap again (idiot) when the real killer is nabbed.

    Terrible acting by the female leads. Grace Valentine, as the mother, is as horrible as they come in the acting department. No, wait a minute, that's not true. Her daughter, played by Nancy Welford, is as horrible as they come in that department. She made five films. Here, she sings "You'll Never Be Forgotten." Yes you will.

    The Marquis is played by Rolfe Sedan, whom I instantly recognized, being a fan of "The Adventures of Superman." Almost thirty years later, he would play a scientist who would freeze the Man of Steel.

    Walthall is adequate, but this ain't "The Birth of a Nation;" it's more like "The Death of a Career."
    4dbborroughs

    Time has been very unkind to this potboiling melodrama. Viewed today its too static and clichéd

    When a male friend tries to take advantage of a woman she kills him in order to protect her honor. Her husband rushes her way just as the police arrive and ends up taking the rap for her. 15 years later he returns home, his wife rich with the money from his inventions, and his daughter believing he's dead. As he tries to get his life back complications arise which threaten the lives of his wife and child.

    Slow melodrama this film suffers from being made in the early early days of sound. Scenes are often static (though not as static as some other films of the period) with the result the movie feels like its moving at a snails pace. The script isn't bad but it feels more like a mannered play than anything thats real. The dialog is either a pronouncement or an attempt at witticism which more often falls flat. The cast is a mixed bag. To be certain stalwarts like Henry Walthall and Ricardo Cortez show every reason why they had long careers, others clearly were hired because they could speak. This is not the sort of thing one really needs to see unless you are in need of sleep.
    4JoeytheBrit

    The Phantom in the House review

    Not a phantom at all, but a selfless ex-con who poses as a friend of his selfish wife in order to spare his daughter the indignity of discovering the father she believed dead has actually served time for murder. Of course, Dad was innocent, but 15 years inside has left him with some unsavoury acquaintances with names like 'Biffer'. Ricardo Cortez is the headline act, but actually plays support to D. W. Griffith regular Henry B. Walthall in this relentlessly dull drama. It picks up in the final reel, but all interest has evaporated by then...

    More like this

    The Studio Murder Mystery
    5.4
    The Studio Murder Mystery
    Murder at Midnight
    5.4
    Murder at Midnight
    The Death Kiss
    6.0
    The Death Kiss
    The Thirteenth Chair
    5.8
    The Thirteenth Chair
    The Spanish Cape Mystery
    6.1
    The Spanish Cape Mystery
    The House of Mystery
    4.8
    The House of Mystery
    Time to Kill
    6.4
    Time to Kill
    The Vampire Bat
    5.8
    The Vampire Bat
    The Man Who Wouldn't Die
    6.6
    The Man Who Wouldn't Die
    Their Own Desire
    5.8
    Their Own Desire
    The Thirteenth Guest
    5.7
    The Thirteenth Guest
    The Black Raven
    5.5
    The Black Raven

    Related interests

    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Soundtracks
      You'll Never Be Forgotten
      (uncredited)

      Written by Abner Silver and Maceo Pinkard

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 20, 1929 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • O Homem Fantasma
    • Production company
      • Trem Carr Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 4m(64 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.