The File on Thelma Jordon
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Written by Marty Holland and Ketti Frings
1949/US
Wallis-Hazin
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Thelma Jordon: I wish so much crime didn’t take place after dark. It’s so unnerving.
I will watch anything with Barbara Stanwyck. This film noir did not disappoint.
Cleve Marshall (Wendall Corey) is an Assistant District Attorney. He is dissatisfied with his home life and his domineering father-in-law. His response is to get royally drunk and take his supervisor’s suggestion to find a “dame” to take his mind off his trouble.
A dame finds him in the form of Thelma Jordon (Stanwyck). She is seeking help from the prosecutor’s office with a string of robberies of her elderly aunt’s jewels. She gives a fairly unconvincing explanation of why she will not go to the police with these crimes. But Cleve doesn’t mind too much and the two gradually become an item.
I won’t reveal more except to say that by the end of the movie Cleve will come to regret his infidelity and trust in a big way.
Siodmack sure knew how to direct a film noir. He was assisted here by a strong cast and cinematography by George Barnes. I didn’t think the script was the strongest.
