The File on Thelma Jordon (1950)

Overrated

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Blistering performances.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

For about the first 30 minutes of Paramount's THE FILE ON THELMA JORDAN (aka "Thelma Jordan") you get the impression that it is going to be another love triangle with unhappily married District Attorney Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) having the hots for 'ready for a fling' Thelma Jordan (Barbara Stanwyck). But then the movie begins to find its purpose and turns out to be a splendid noir thriller. Produced for the studio by Hal Wallis in 1949 it was beautifully written for the screen by Ketti Frings and sharply photographed in monochrome by George Barnes. Adding greatly to the picture is the marvellous atmospheric score by the great Victor Young and the whole thing was masterfully directed, in his best noir style, by Robert Siodmak. Siodmak was a exceptional - but inconsistent - director. In 1945 he directed "The Spiral Staircase" one of the finest suspense thrillers ever made. Followed the next year with one of the best noirs ever produced the unequalled "The Killers". But he was prone to surprising diversity too! He could go from these supreme thrillers to directing such things as the entertaining but clownish swashbuckler "The Crimson Pirate" (1952) and the stiff and clunky western epic "Custer Of The West" (1967). Nevertheless he is best remembered today for his ingenious noir efforts.The plot of THE FILE ON THELMA JORDAN has Thelma Jordan (Barbara Stanwyck) being accused of the killing of her aunt (Gertrude Hoffman) and robbing the safe in her grand mansion. Pleading innocence, she sends for her lover Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) to help her. He arrives and commences to divert any blame for the murder away from her. But to no avail she is arrested anyway for the killing and charged. Cleve, as the District Attorney, now plans to prosecute her in court and purposely lose the case so that she will be acquitted. The plan works but to Cleve's chagrin it turns out that she did, after all, murder her aunt and not only that but she also has a husband (Richard Rober) with whom she had planned the whole thing from the beginning. With Cleve now totally dispirited and his career in tatters Jordan, with her husband, go away together to start over but with a change of mind and heart she deliberately causes the car they are in to crash and explode into flames.One of the most tangible aspects of the picture is the musical contribution from the great Victor Young. The main theme first heard over the titles is a gorgeous sweeping melody that becomes a ravishing love theme later. It is one of the composer's loveliest melodic inspirations and gives the lover's early scenes together a tender romantic aura. Then there is the exciting martial cue for the film's terrific set piece as Jordan is being walked hurriedly from the Jailhouse across the street to the Courthouse, flanked by milling press and public, to hear the jury's verdict. The entire pace of this sequence is achieved through the brilliant use of music.THELMA JORDAN is Young's best noir score!Performances are excellent! Stanwyck has rarely been better, doing her powerful devious Femme Fatale bit just as good as anytime before. Excellent too is Wendell Corey! The only actor I know who can deliver lines without moving his lips. An actor who usually played second male lead Corey had heaps of screen presence but was never the ideal leading man. Stanwyck who could be overshadowed quite easily by a stronger male star such as Holden or Ray Milland probably chose Corey for that very reason. She chose him again the following year to play opposite her in Anthony Mann's "The Furies".THE FILE ON THELMA JORDAN is a classic film noir but isn't it a shame that it is not available on DVD. It was on VHS at one time but now I think its about time Paramount gave serious thought to a DVD presentation.

The File On Thelma Jordon turns out to be an extensive one indeed. Had Wendell Corey examined it more fully he might never have gotten into the jackpot he did.A lot of critics compare this film with that other Stanwyck classic, Double Indemnity. There are certainly elements of that story in The File On Thelma Jordon. But I also see a lot of resemblance as well to the Dick Powell-Lizabeth Scott-Jane Wyatt noir film, Pitfall. If you've seen that one it involves a married, but bored Dick Powell casually drifting into an affair with Lizabeth Scott and getting sucked into some criminal enterprise. Joan Tetzel steps into the role of the wronged wife and was every bit as good as Jane Wyatt was in Pitfall.One desultory night as Wendell Corey is working late and getting helped along with a little libation, in pops Barbara Stanwyck to the District Attorney's office to complain about the lack of action the police have been giving to her complaints about someone trying to break into her house where she and her elderly aunt live. Corey's state of inebriation seems to be loosening any moral restraints and Barbara leaves him hooked and begging for more.So when the elderly aunt is in fact murdered, Corey doesn't think like an officer of the court, but instead he's using the gray cells in his male member to make decisions. He winds up prosecuting Stanwyck and paying for high priced defense attorney Stanley Ridges on the side. By the way Ridges is one shrewd article and suspects what's up, but keeps his mouth shut.Paul Kelly is in the Edward G. Robinson role as another member of the District Attorney's office who realizes this case has far more layers to this than originally thought. The film is definitely one that should satisfy Barbara's legion of fans.

The combination of an unhappy man with an ambitious woman is a formula for disaster, as we have seen in a lot of film noir offerings. In this story, Cleve Marshall, and assistant D.A., proves to be the perfect target for what a scheming lady like Thelma Jordon has in mind. From the start, Thelma is too happy to oblige the interest and the passion she incites in Cleve.Marshall is a married man whose wife, Pamela, a society girl, is deeply involved with her parents in social events that are deeply resented by the down to earth Cleve. He drowns his sorrows in drink, something that Thelma knows will help her bring him to her side, although she has other things in mind. When the affair begins in earnest, Thelma gets involved in the murder of her old aunt. Cleve, who has been indiscreet with his phone calls to the old woman's residence, is summoned to help Thelma who stands a good chance to get the maximum death sentence for all the evidence points in her direction. Cleve, who gets the assignment to prosecute Thelma, doesn't know what he is really getting into.This 1950 Paramount release has not been seen much lately. As someone else pointed out, it used to turn a lot in the days of early television. The film is worth a look because Robert Siodmak's direction. Mr. Siodmak, who had worked in his native Germany and in France, had a great eye for detail, as he shows in this story.Barbara Stanwyck was the perfect actress to portray Thelma. She had been successful in other films that involved ambitious women with no scruples. Ms. Stanwyck always gave impressive readings to the characters she played, which is the case of her Thelma. Wendell Corey, another excellent actor, has the sad task to play the man who throws everything away because he is blinded by the intensity of his feelings for an unworthy woman.The supporting cast does wonders to help the film. Best of all is Stanley Ridges who plays Thelma's attorney. Paul Kelly, another good character actor appears as Cleve's boss. Joan Tetzel and Richard Lober also appear in minor roles.The film will not disappoint fans of this genre.

A woman with an unsavory past lures a troubled, married assistant D.A. into an adulterous affair; when her aunt is murdered, she's accused of the crime and her lover tries to sabotage the prosecution's case with tragic results.Dissatisfaction with the suburban American Dream is an undercurrent in a few Films Noir and this one is reminiscent of Andre de Toth's PITFALL in that respect. There's also a doomed romanticism that recalls Siodmak's earlier CRISS CROSS with its all-too-human femme fatale along with a curious, mixed-message moral ambiguity: trying to change what he was cost Cleve Marshall dearly -but when Thelma Jordon tried to change what she was, it proved fatal. Breaking out of private traps is a futility in Film Noir and is shown to good effect here. Barbara Stanwyck's Thelma is a Phyllis Dietrichson with heart and she plays well off the weaker Wendell Corey's Cleve. Authority figure Paul Kelly is always a welcome presence and daddy's girl Joan Tetzel is appropriately sympathetic as Cleve's neglected wife. THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON may be a minor entry in the canon that's not very impressive on a visual or technical level but this Hal Wallis/Paramount production is still worthwhile for those addicted to the genre.