I’m no good for any man for any longer than a kiss!
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. As a technical note, references and citations are listed for each show on the site at classicmovierev.com. Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on Film-Noir The File on Thelma Jordon (1949).
This movie dragged a bit at the beginning. It has a great cast, and they did a beautiful job delivering their lines. But, the point man, the point.
This film is rated 6.9 on iMDB.com[1] , and I could see it being lower than that. On rottentomatoes.com, the film has a 73 percent audience approval[2]. I can see that. If you make your way through the entire movie, it will be worth your time.
New York Times film critic Bosley Crowthers said on January 19, 1950:
The perplexing aspects of sacred and profane love, which have troubled both the loved and unloved as well as scenarists, are tough hurdles apparently. For in “Thelma Jordon,” which came to the Paramount yesterday, these amours, which involve a basically fine family man and the designing dame he can’t resist, seem to have stumped the experts who made the picture. “Thelma Jordon” is, for all of its production polish, adult dialogue and intelligent acting, a strangely halting and sometimes confusing work. And, though it is concerned with emotions, great emotional impact is not one of its shining attributes. Under Robert Siodmak’s direction, the pace of this romantic melodrama is generally slow and generates some speed toward a climax which is not too startling.
He concludes with
They all help create a few moods and some suspense, but “Thelma Jordon” takes an awfully long time to point out that the wages of sin are pretty high.[3]
This last part sums this movie up pretty well. You just have a wait a long time for the payoff. Even the directing of Siodmak could not make this a top-flight Film-Noir.
Noiroftheweek.com had a higher opinion of the recent rereleased film saying:
“Director Robert Siodmak completed his amazing run of American noir classics with this underrated and currently grossly ignored gem. The File on Thelma Jordon isn’t a classic on the level of The Killers or Criss Cross but it’s way too close to be gathering dust in Paramount’s vaults largely unviewed, having never been released on either VHS or DVD…”[4]
Variety went right down the middle with their 1949 review, saying:
Scripting [from a story by Marty Holland] is very forthright, up to the contrived conclusion, and even that is carried off successfully because of the sympathy developed for the misguided and misused character played by Wendell Corey.[5]
Actors – The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
Returning
Barbara Stanwyck plays the title character, Thelma Jordon. This great actress was first covered in the tremendous norish western The Violent Men (1955).
Wendell Corey played the role of Assistant District Attorney and tortured family man Cleve Marshall. Corey was first covered in the Christmas film Holiday Affair (1949), and in that film, he had love trouble as well.
Basil Ruysdael, as Judge Jonathan David Hancock, gives an air of solemnity to the court proceedings.
Kenneth Tobey pops up for a moment as the uncredited Police Photographer during the murder investigation.
New
Paul Kelly played Miles Scott. Kelly was born in 1899 in New York City. Kelly grew up in Brooklyn near their family bar. The bar was near Vitagraph Studios, who occasionally borrowed furniture from the bar. Kelly’s mother saw to it that in exchange, her son would get background work in one-reel silent films. Kelly first worked on Broadway at age 11.
Beginning in 1911, Kelly started getting regular work as a tough kid in the films. He also began appearing regularly on Broadway.
Kelly became romantically involved with a woman, Dorothy Mackaye, that was being abused by her husband. The husband was also a friend of Kelly. In 1927, Kelly had a brawl with the husband Ray Raymond, which resulted in Raymond dying from a brain hemorrhage. Convicted of manslaughter, Kelly was sentenced to one to ten. He spent 25 months in San Quentin before he was paroled. After his release, Kelly married Dorothy Mackaye and stayed with her until she died in an accident in 1940.
Kelly resumed regular work on Broadway. Even his film career was revived, albeit he was now in supporting roles. Kelly continued to work in films until his death. His films include The Flying Irishman (1939), The Roaring Twenties (1939), Invisible Stripes (1939), Queen of the Mob (1940), The Howards of Virginia (1940), Wyoming (1940), Flight Command (1940), Mystery Ship (1941), Mr. and Mrs. North (1942), Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942), Flying Tigers (1942), The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), San Antonio (1945), The Cat Creeps (1946), Deadline for Murder (1946), Crossfire (1947), Springfield Rifle (1952), The Steel Cage (1954), The High and the Mighty (1954), and The Square Jungle (1955) He died in 1956.
Joan Tetzel played Pamela Blackwell Marshall, the long-suffering wife of ADA Cleve Marshall. She was only in the film for a bit but served her role well. Tetzel was born in New York City in 1921. A successful star on Broadway and the London stage, Tetzel only had six films. These films include Duel in the Sun (1946), The Paradine Case (1947), The File on Thelma Jordon (1949), and Hell Below Zero (1954). She was married for a long time to actor Oskar Homolka who we mentioned in The Long Ships (1964). Tetzel died in 1977.
Story – The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
Assistant District Attorney Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) returns to his office one night. His friend and co-worker Chief Investigator Miles Scott (Paul Kelly) is on the phone with Cleve’s wife giving Cleve cover by saying he is probably working on a case somewhere.
Cleve continues to drink as Miles listens to Pamela Blackwell Marshall (Joan Tetzel) complain that Cleve is a no show for their anniversary dinner with her wealthy parents. Final Pamela hangs up as her father says Cleve’s behavior is unacceptable.
Miles tries to talk sense to Cleve as Cleve continues to drink. Earlier in the day, Cleve attempted to buy a present his wife wanted for the anniversary. When he got there, the piece had already been purchased by his father-in-law.
Miles leaves to meet a train, but Cleve stays in the office to drink. A little later, Thelma Jordon (Barbara Stanwyck) comes in looking for Miles. Cleve is really rude to Thelma being in his drunken state. Thelma explains that her Aunt Vera Edwards (Gertrude Hoffman) has a problem with burglars, but uniforms upset her. Cleve finally tells that he is not Miles. He then makes a bad pass at Thelma.
Cleve finally regrets being so rude and comments on Thelma’s legs. He follows her out to her car. She has a ticket and is mad. He introduces himself to her. She perks up when he says he is an ADA. He finally badgers her into going with him to get a drink. He gets into the backseat on her side and climbs into the front.
Cleve passes out in the bar after he continues drinking. Cleve and Thelma dance. He is pretty handsy and mauls her a bit. They leave, and he drunkenly kisses her in the car. She takes it well, and they kiss a little more before she leaves. He drives home in a drunken stupor.
Pamela is waiting for Cleve to arrive. She asks him where he has been. He passes out.
The next day Thelma is waiting outside of his Cleve’s office. She has met with Scott, and he is sending out a plainclothes agent. He apologizes for getting a ‘little’ out of hand. She accepts and leaves.
When Cleve gets home, Pamela is packing, and he thinks she is leaving him. Actually, she is leaving early for the summer vacation at the beach, and she is taking the kids. Cleve asks her not to go to the beach this year. She says she is going, and he will drive down every weekend.
Cleve’s secretary says she is going out with some reporters. She gives him a message with a number to call before she leaves.
Thelma is with her Aunt Vera when the call comes in from Cleve, but he has identified himself as Detective Thompson. Thelma is thrilled that Cleve returned her call. She agrees to meet him by the road.
Cleve picks her up, and they head to a nice restaurant. Thelma tells about her background working in hotel hospitality. Everything is going fine until Cleve’s secretary and a reporter come in. Cleve and Thelma duck out the back.
Cleve drops Thelma back at the road where he picked her up. They decide to meet again. As they kiss, a man is watching from inside the garden. When Thelma goes inside, the watcher, Tony Laredo (Richard Rober), hugs and kisses her. She goes to quite the dog and tells Tony to wait.
Another evening, Cleve picks Thelma up at the road. They go to a lover’s lane and learn more about each other. Cleve tells her he loves her. When another car comes in, Thelma puts on her sequined scarf, and they leave. But not before a big old smooch. She blurts out that she is also married to a man named Tony. The other car pulls up, and the man inside writes down some details about Cleve and Thelma.
They go to another lover’s lane, and Thelma continues her story about marrying Tony to get into show business, but he only used her for her money. A car comes into their new location while Cleve and Thelma declare their love to each other. They make plans to go away the next Friday night.
Thelma leaves a note for her Aunt Vera that she has to go away for the weekend. A shutter banging wakes Aunt Vera and she feebly gets up. Downstairs she grabs her .32 revolver and heads to investigate the sounds. As soon as Aunt Vera enters the room, a shot is fired. Just then the phone starts ringing. The butler answers in his room, and it is Cleve calling. Cleve thinks she has arrived when he hears a horn blow and hangs up. It is not Thelma, so Cleve calls back. This time Thelma answers the phone.
Thelma is in a panic and demands that Cleve comes to the road and use the side gate immediately. When he gets there, he says Tony has shown up, and she says no, but I thought of him first as well. Finally, she tells that Aunt Vera has been shot, and an emerald neckless is missing. Thelma says she had written a letter to Tony about the neckless and is worried about being implicated.
He tells her to go in and scream and then tell the butler. Thelma confesses that she has whipped all the fingerprints away incase they were Tony’s. Thelma and Cleve go back to the house and start putting the murder scene back the way it was. Thelma must take care of the note, her coat, and the suitcase. Cleve brings up the will and how it would look if Thelma were the heir. The dog is conveniently at the vet.
The phone rings again, and the butler picks it up. Thelma listens on his end, and the doctor wants to contact Aunt Vera. The butler starts towards the house and Cleve has to exit through the window the burglar came in, and he leaves footprints in the mud.
Cleve goes to the beach to see his family. He is called and asked to return by Miles. Miles tells of the murder of Aunt Vera and requests that he go to Vera and Thelma’s house to investigate. Pamela gives Cleve the business for going to work. Pamela’s parents arrive, and she confesses to Cleve that her father thinks he is fooling around. He admits that there is someone else. He then tells her he still loves her and doesn’t want a divorce.
Cleve makes it to the murder scene, and they are recording his footprints in the garden. Miles is interrogating Thelma. Aunt Vera has made a new will and left Thelma all her money. Kenneth Toby shows up as a police photographer. Miles sends Cleve to talk to Thelma in private. Cleve tells Thelma that Tony called that morning from Chicago, giving himself an alibi. Cleve also tells that Tony and Thelma were never married. Cleve says he will hire a fancy attorney from San Francisco for Thelma.
Miles has talked to Tony, and Tony says he can’t help Thelma because he doesn’t have any money. Miles brings in the butler, and he tells about the mystery man, who they call Mr. X. The butler overhead her saying something has happened and asking Cleve, the unknown Mr. X. to come immediately. Miles arrests Thelma.
District Attorney Melvin Pierce (Barry Kelley) gets an inditement, and they have recovered the jewels. Thelma’s lawyer, Kingsley Willis (Stanley Ridges), arrives. I think he is an evil Perry Mason.
Cleve has secretly recommended to Willis, whom he paid $5,000, to hire Pierce’s brother to force him off the case. Cleve is given the job of prosecuting Thelma. Willis meets with Thelma, and he doesn’t care if she is guilty or not.
Cleve meets with his wife. She has found out that he withdrew $5,000 from their account. Pamela tells that her father has had a detective following him. She says the detective saw her sequined scarf in the distance one night. Miles comes in, and he knows about the affair as well.
When the trial begins, Cleve antagonizes the jury right away and does everything wrong that he can. As the case goes on, the jury has reasonable doubt because there is no information on Mr. X.
Cleve has gotten new evidence on Thelma from Miles. He meets with Thelma and shows the evidence of her being caught in a gambling raid in Florida. She had bleach blonde hair and so must be guilty. Thelma and Tony have left a streak of robbery and blackmail. Cleve says he is going to call her lawyer Willis.
That day in court, Willis refuses to call Thelma to testify. So, Cleve cannot get the new evidence into the case. Willis introduces the transcript where Cleve said the time the murder and says Mr. X may have committed the murder. Tony is in the courtroom. The jury finds Thelma not guilty. Pamela tries to talk to Cleve.
Thelma is released and goes back to Aunt Vera’s former house, which she has now inherited. Tony is there when Cleve calls. She gives Cleve the brush off. Tony says Scott was supposed to be the mark. Thelma says she doesn’t love Cleve, but he is in love with her. Tony was the mastermind behind the murder, and it was just for the jewels. The inheritance will be a bonus.
Cleve shows up at the house and leans on the doorbell. Thelma takes Cleve into the murder room and says she is going away with the man she loves, Tony. Thelma confesses to the killing. Tony comes in and listens to the tale. Cleve and Tony get into a scrap, and Tony clunks Cleve on the head with a pistol butt.
Cleve wakes hours later, and Tony and Thelma are gone.
Tony is driving the car when Thelma asks for a cigarette. She uses the car dashboard lighter to light the smoke. I don’t know if you are familiar with these, but they contain the fires of hell. She smashes the hot lighter to Tony’s head. The car sails over a cliff and explodes in a fiery ball. Thelma is thrown clear but is going to die. Thelma confesses everything to Miles.
Cleve comes in, and Miles tells him that she has not confessed who Mr. X is. Thelma says she loves Mr. X. She finds peace and dies a well light, perfectly made-up death. Cleve talks to Miles, who says he knows that Cleve is Mr. X because of the sequined scarf and that he threw the case for Thelma. Miles tells him he will be disbarred, and he will be reported to the DA. Cleve says he has already confessed to the DA. Miles has called Pamela, and she and Cleve will talk later. Cleve walks away with nothing.
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
It is almost universally accepted that Barbara Stanwyck was the best Femme Fatale ever with her role in Double Indemnity (1944) as Phyllis Dietrichson. Her role in this movie has been described as “…a more complex version of her Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity (1944)”[6].
Stanwyck’s other Film-Noir roles include The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947), Cry Wolf (1947), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), No Man of Her Own (1950), The Furies (1950), Clash by Night (1952), The Violent Men (1955), Crime of Passion (1957), and pre-noir Baby Face (1933).
In my opinion, this makes Stanwyck queen of Film-Noir with all of her other roles in this genre paling in comparison to her performance in Double Indemnity (1944). I believe Double Indemnity (1944) received a nod in this film when she was shown in her arrest picture with bleach blonde hair.
World-Famous Short Summary – If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
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Beware the moors
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041368/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/file_on_thelma_jordon
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/1950/01/19/archives/thelma-jordon-at-the-paramount.html
[4] http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2006/03/file-on-thelma-jordon-1950.html Broken 2023
[5] https://variety.com/1949/film/reviews/the-file-on-thelma-jordon-1200416562/
[6] http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/74871/The-File-on-Thelma-Jordon/articles.html
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