The File on Thelma Jordon (1949) User Reviews

Thelma and Cleve

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 25 June 2020]

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

The Past of Thelma Jordon

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 22 August 2017]

The Assistant District Attorney Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) has an unhappy marriage with his wife Pamela Blackwell Marshall (Joan Tetzel) due to the interference of her father, Judge Calvin H. Blackwell (Minor Watson). He decides to drink in his office after hours instead of going to the birthday party of Pamela. Out of the blue, a woman named Thelma Jordon (Barbara Stanwyck) arrives at the office looking for Cleve's boss to report an attempt of robbery of her wealthy Aunt Vera Edwards (Gertrude W. Hoffman) and she ends the night drinking and dancing with Cleve in a restaurant. Soon they have a love affair and Cleve falls in love with Thelma. But he does not know anything about the past of the mysterious Thelma. When Aunt Vera is murdered at home, Thelma calls Cleve to help her since she would be the prime suspect of shooting her aunt. He covers up the evidences that might link Thelma to the death becoming her accomplice and is assigned to be the prosecutor of her judgment. What will happen to Thelma and Cleve?

"The File on Thelma Jordon" is a fine film-noir directed by the master Robert Siodmak. Barbara Stanwyck performs the typical femme fatale, seducing the assistant DA Cleve Marshall and destroying his life. The moralist conclusion could have been better but the film is worthwhile watching. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Confissão de Thelma" ("The Confession of Thelma Jordon")

Another Great Unavailable Noir.

[jpdoherty · 7/10 · 11 May 2010]

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.

Turns out she was a Dame with a conscience

[PudgyPandaMan · 7/10 · 12 December 2008]

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.

Hooked And Begging For More

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 19 August 2008]

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 X man

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 6 August 2008]

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.

Barbara Nails Thelma

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 12 December 2007]

This was probably the tail end of the first great Noir cycle but even if it does tend to flag a little it's still worth anyone's time. Stanwyck is on best scenery-chewing form and Paul Kelly is fine in a lower-billed role. Wendell Corey was, of course, prime lumber and wisely Siodmak doesn't give him anything difficult to do - like acting. The Stanwyck role is a first cousin to the one she played so brilliantly in Double Indemnity i.e. a femme fatale who uses her wiles on some poor sap who is a necessary means to her end whilst all the while there is another guy in the background. Siodmak was no slouch at noir or film-making in general and his professionalism keeps you watching to the bitter end. Definitely worth a look.

Always ask yourself...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 27 November 2023]

.... What is a pretty lady doing here in the middle of nowhere all alone, interested in a married man with middling prospects?

Assistant DA Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) feels misunderstood and unappreciated. His wealthy father-in-law keeps interfering and showing up on important and rather private occasions such as wedding anniversaries and doing things that indicate that Cleve is held in only medium esteem by said father-in-law. So one night he is getting drunk at his office over this situation when previously mentioned pretty lady (Barbara Stanwyck as Thelma Jordan) comes into the office and asks for the other assistant DA, Miles Scott (Paul Kelly), but he isn't there, so Thelma tells her problems to Marshall.

Marshall acts disinterested in the reason she came in - break-ins at her wealthy aunt's secluded home. He flirts with her. He gets even more drunk and obnoxious, then kisses her. And yet the next day she returns and gets even friendlier with him. But Cleve never asks that question - Why unavailable me who did not exactly put my best foot forward last night? They start seeing each other when they can and then something happens that makes it awfully convenient for Thelma to know somebody in the DA's office - Her aunt is murdered and her safe robbed one night, and she looks like a suspect.

Stanwyck and Corey made one other film together - "The Furies", and I thought they had good screen chemistry, which I would have never believed until I watched this. Paul Kelly gives a good supporting performance as the other assistant DA. He goes hard on a murder suspect when doing the questioning, shooting out sarcastic remarks. That's rather ironic when you realize Kelly served two years in prison for manslaughter during the late 1920s, something that apparently had no impact on his acting career. Also note that the two kids playing Wendell Corey's children actually are Wendell Corey's children.

Last but not least, kudos to Victor Young for his wonderful score. He really made looking for a pencil in the dark seem suspenseful.

I don't think of him anymore because of you.

[lastliberal-853-253708 · 8/10 · 15 November 2013]

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.

great tale that keeps twisting nicely

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 9 March 2009]

Perfectly decent noirish outing with excellent performance from Barbara Stanwyck, even if she has done much the same before. Small argument in my house where both my son and wife reckoned that the only problem was that they couldn't see the attraction of the femme fatale herself! I certainly beg to differ and feel most drawn to the feline duplicity of her sinister assuredness, but there we go. Even so a great tale that keeps twisting nicely so that even though you know she must be a baddie, the ever turning tale, especially when we get to court keeps you guessing. Wendell Corey is impressive as the assistant DA if not as a lover, but that's just me.

Stanwyck and Siodmak conspire to create a dark highlight of the noir cycle

[bmacv · 9/10 · 21 October 2002]

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.

I'm no good for any man for any longer than a kiss!

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 15 July 2018]

The File on Thelma Jordon is directed by Robert Siodmak and written by Ketti Frings and Marty Holland. It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Paul Kelly, Joan Tetzel, Stanley Ridges and Richard Rober. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography by George Barnes.

Assistant district attorney Cleve Marshall (Corey) falls for Thelma Jordon (Stanwyck) after she seeks help solving a problem with prowlers and burglars. But is there more to Thelma than meets the eye?

Probably due to availability issues in home viewing formats, this appears to be one of film noir legends Siodmak and Stanwyck's under seen pictures. Which is a shame, for although it is often tagged as something of a lesser value Double Indemnity, it's a noir that noir lovers can get great rewards from.

As we are in noirville the plot isn't at all surprising. Stanwyck fronts up for what we expect is femme fatale duty, Corey looks to be on course for being a hapless loser dude, Kelly is up for some tough copper portrayal, while Rober stalks the edges of the frame as bad news bloke. A despicable crime is at the core of the story, and characterisations are straight out of the dark alleyway (Thelma has murky secrets and ideals, Wendell is unhappily married with a drink problem). Running at 100 minutes in length, the pic does feel a touch too long, especially given that the first thirty minutes is focused on building the principal players, where they are at in their life and the build up of their relationship. This asks for faith in staying with the piece, in hope it rewards for the following hour plus. Thankfully it does.

As the crime arrives, we are treated to noir nirvana as per style of film making. It's the middle of the night in a house menaced by shadows as the wind bashes an open window shutter. For a good twenty minutes, prior to - during - and post the crime, the house is a scary monstrous place, perfect for a dark deed to be enacted. The great Siodmak (The Killers, The Spiral Staircase, Criss Cross) is in his element on this, where aided by the superb photographic skills of Barnes (Rebecca, Force of Evil), the staging of scenes and the visuals enhance the moody machinations of the plot. As does Young's dramatic musical score. So with acting performances comfortably on par for the good, the tech credits are high.

Irks come with that drawn out first third of film, and the ending poses some question marks as well. Personally I would have liked it to have finished five minutes earlier, but as it stands there's a sort of double whammy with the finale. Some will find it contrived, others will applaud the ultimate outcome since it doesn't cop out. Either way, this is a noir film worthy of seeking out for the like minded purveyors of such things. 7/10

Good Stanwyck, pallid Corey, fair film noir...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 22 September 2006]

BARBARA STANWYCK was fast becoming the mistress of film noir, especially after her scintillating turn as the deceitful woman who sets a trap for Fred MacMurray in DOUBLE INDEMNITY.

Here she sets a similar trap for WENDELL COREY, an unhappily married man who is trying to forget his wife and children with booze and self-pity. When Thelma strolls into his office asking for help, he can't resist the temptation to give her all his attention--and then some.

It's standard film noir material again for Stanwyck, and she handles it like a pro. But there's an almost predictable way the script toys with its main characters and you can almost see the ending is not going to give Stanwyck a chance to get away with her schemes, which include murdering her rich aunt and getting rid of her lover.

It's directed in almost too leisurely fashion by Robert Siodmak who fails to make it the taut, tense mystery it could have been. As it is, it holds the attention firmly during the last twenty minutes but there are a lot of lapses in the screenplay that cause some dull spots.

As the romantic lead, WENDELL COREY doesn't have the star power that Fred MacMurray had and that's part of the trouble. But since it's Stanwyck's film all the way, it's not that much of a drawback.

Once a dame, always a dame.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 7 April 2014]

Barbara Stanwyck had some great lines during her lengthy film career, but one stands out that describes practically every character she ever played. "Maybe I am just a dame and didn't know it", she tells the D.A. (Wendell Corey) whom she has convinced of her innocence in the murder of her aged aunt (Gertrude Hoffman) and has fallen in love with in spite of being involved with a no-good jewel thief (Richard Rober). While that line here is used pretty much as a throw-away, the way Stanwyck says it makes it stick. She's obviously setting him up for further use, having discovered him drunk in his office while reporting an attempted robbery at her aunt's gloomy mansion.

Thelma Jordan, like "Double Indemnity's" Phyllis Diedrickson and the titled character in "The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers", is tough on the outside and just as calculating, but unlike the evil Phyllis and the doomed Martha, she has just a bit more conscience as she faces trial for murder and finds that underneath her own desires is someone who wants more than what life has given her. Yet, how can you escape what has been molded into you after years of wanting more without heading down that road towards doom that Barbara Stanwyck's film noir dames always seemed to be driving towards. Corey is married to daddy's girl Joan Tetzel, and becomes involved with Stanwyck only after realizing that his seemingly perfect domestic life bores him to bits.

Wendell Corey was never one of the more exciting leading actors. He was acceptable as Joan Crawford's husband in "Harriet Craig" because it was obvious that she could cuckhold him into doing her bidding. He was also believable as Kirk Douglas's right-hand man in "Desert Fury" because there was an underlying sense of devotion with slightly obvious gay overtones. Opposite Stanwyck in "The Furies", he may have been her leading man, but was secondary to the fury between Stanwyck and her on- screen father (Walter Huston). Here, he's bland enough to be believable as the local assistant D.A., but as the subject of Stanwyck's passion, that never becomes believable.

This is a film noir where characterization is the most important element of the plot, and there, it is Stanwyck's film all the way. Even though it is obvious that she went out of her way to get the crime she's accused of committed, there's also a sense of reluctance and regret which only Stanwyck could infuse into a character like this. The screenplays for "Double Indemnity" and "The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers" were excellent, but "Thelma Jordan's" is simply just average, made better by Stanwyck's presence in it. Gripping photography, editing and music also help, but somehow, it lacks in becoming the classic it could have been had more thought gone into the other characters rather than just Stanwyck and Corey's.

Paul Kelly is excellent as Corey's boss, involved in political upheaval in the D.A.'s office that is not fully developed, but the way in which Kelly's character deals with the outcome shows an understanding character who must be tough and ruthless in the courtroom even though he's much more aware of human frailties through dealing with his own. The lack of screen time for the aged Hoffman as the aunt/victim doesn't develop a true motive for her murder other than robbery, unlike Judith Anderson's domineering matriarch in "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers". Hoffman, who had some great moments in the women's film prison drama, "Caged", needed at least one meaty scene to establish why a woman near death's door anyway had to be killed in such a violent way. Tetzel's wife and mother to Corey is too good to be true, especially when she learns of her husband's infidelity. This had the potential to become a film noir classic, but is missing the one key ingredient that completes it on its psychological journey. Still, it's a missed opportunity that should not be missed for film noir fans and for Stanwyck aficionados like myself.

part noir, part courtroom drama

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 24 August 2019]

"The File" is a classic noir, complete with lust, paranoia, calculation and betrayal. So far so good - at least for people fond of noirs, like myself - but for some reason or other the movie did not entirely please me. I think this had to do with the emotional core of the movie. All movies have an emotional core and here this core sounded either hollow or false, especially near the end.

By which I do not mean to say that the movie is entirely worthless. There were some interesting psychological undercurrents, such as the dynamic between the male protagonist (an assistant D.A.), his spouse (a homemaker) and his father-in-law (a judge). The said spouse is an immature child-woman who clings to her father for guidance and advice. Meanwhile the domineering father is convinced that his son-in-law is a philandering idiot who does not deserve his precious treasure ; he even has him followed by a private detective, hoping to catch him in full adultery. The dysfunction can be cut with a knife...

The movie also contains a marvellously filmed sequence in which an old lady, awakened by an unusual noise, sets out to discover the origin of the noise. Watch her as she moves from one dark room into another, torn between resolve and fear : now THIS is a masterclass in tension.

The female costumes, with their clean but elegant lines, are remarkably handsome. They are also remarkably modern.

That Room/ The Smell of Death

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 20 January 2008]

Barbara Stanwyck, (Thelma Jordon) plays the role of a woman exactly like the one she played with Fred MacMurray in " Double Indemnity" where she has some very dark secrets in her past. Wendell Corey, (Cleve Marshall) plays the role as an Assistant District Attorney and Thelma meets up with Cleve in his office late at night and Cleve has been drinking a lot of booze because he has problems with his wife and he becomes very involved with Thelma who needs a lawyers assistance. Cleve gets romantically involved with Thelma even though he has a wife and children. Thelma's aunt who is very rich is murdered and she does not report her death right away and seeks Cleve's help in trying to take the blame off of her. Thelma complains to Cleve that she hated the room where her aunt was murdered and it smelled of death and she lost her sense of self-control. This film will keep you guessing how this film will eventually end and who actually committed these murders. This is a great mystery story from 1950.

Very good Film Noir, though it isn't among the best of the genre

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 20 January 2008]

THE FILM ON THELMA JORDON is a very good example of Film Noir and it's extremely reminiscent of Barbara Stanwyck's earlier success in DOUBLE INDEMNITY. In both films, she plays a lying and conniving femme fatale that is able to wrap a man around her finger in order to get what she wants and by the end of the film, both are ruined. However, instead of her target being an insurance investigator, in THELMA JORDON, she pursues an assistant district attorney (Wendell Corey).

The film begins with Corey having an argument with his wife and he's getting drunk and feeling very sorry for himself. Soon Barbara Stanwyck's character appears and before long they're having a sleazy romance--as both are married. It's very hard to care about either one of them at this point and it's not hard to guess that Stanwyck is just plain bad! Where exactly the film goes from there, I'd rather not say--after all, it would spoil the film's many nice twists and turns. At the end, there is a nice little twist in particular that probably will satisfy many, though to me it just didn't ring true. After all, a REAL femme fatale would NEVER have a pang of conscience!

Overall, it's a very interesting and well acted film. I really have no severe complaints, though at times the film was a tad predictable--so much so that you just have to assume that Corey's character is an idiot!! Still, a decent representation of the genre.

Terrific craftsmanship, weaker storytelling; still better than not

[I_Ailurophile · 6/10 · 8 February 2023]

The plot takes its good time to meaningfully show up, about forty minutes. Once it does, the scene that follows is such a flurry of dialogue, movement, and somber themes in the music that I feel like the reasoning of the beat gets lost, such that we can only take the kickstart at face value. All that while, Ketti Frings' screenplay gives us some choice lines, and I observe dependable strength in Robert Siodmak's direction, George Barnes cinematography, the production design and art direction, hair and makeup, and wardrobe - all smart and fetching, a real treat as a viewer. I'm also a big fan of Victor Young's score that lends tremendously to the tension. I'm less fond, however, of the narrative itself as penned by Marty Holland. It's great in the broad strokes, but it struggles at no few times with the details; I think too much of the length passes a little blithely to start - then, more significantly, passes elsewhere without wholly, convincingly laying the groundwork for the distinct story beats. Male protagonist Cleve is decidedly indiscreet, for example, but is never called on it; the more details that Holland adds, building convolution, the flimsier the plot feels, and suspension of disbelief becomes difficult to maintain.

Thankfully the movie is indisputably strongest where it matters most; at almost exactly the one-hour mark, at another particular turn in the narrative, the prime beating heart of the tale finds its legs and advances unswervingly for (almost) the entirety of the remainder. I still see the same issues: the minutiae of the film's craft is superb; the minutiae of the storytelling is less pristine. Those issues are substantially lessened, however, as the ferocity of the feature swells, and they become more forgettable by comparison. In that last act especially, the cast give excellent performances, above all Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey as the titular character and the beleaguered prosecutor Cleve. I surely would like to see more pictures of both, and that might say more than anything else.

So I'm disappointed, then, that after 'The file on Thelma Jordon' roars to life, it nevertheless concludes with a sad whimper. To whatever extent Holland's story is less sturdy in the finer points earlier in its runtime, the last several minutes make me second-guess my praise. In theory the ending is fine, a resolution for the tale and these characters that we've seen elsewhere, and will again, not least in film noir. In practice, I don't think there's been any meaningful establishment of the character arcs in the first place - no progression - so that when Thelma and Cleve's paths reach their destination before credits roll, that destination feels inauthentic, an invention of Movie Magic. I rather wonder if Holland had initially written a different ending, and Paramount executives or censors required a rewrite for this or that reason without revising the preceding length. Whether true or not, that's how out of place the last moments feel to me of the two chief characters' stories.

I do like 'The file on Thelma Jordon,' but I think it's noticeably uneven. At its best it's fantastic, an exemplar of the genre; at its worst, it's also highly demonstrative, but to opposite ends. On the balance I certainly believe this is better than not, but again the value of the craftsmanship, and of the storytelling at its best, must be weighed against the weaker facets of the storytelling that are peppered throughout. Whether one wishes to pin the blame on Holland or on screenwriter Frings for failing to pick up the pieces, this simply isn't as solid as it could and should have been. Granted, it's possible that I'm being too harsh as it is. I just know that I anticipated an absorbing story and a good time, and that's more or less what I got - but incompletely. 'The file on Thelma Jordon' remains worth exploring if you have the chance to watch, but there are also many other pictures (in film noir alone) that are more immediately deserving of one's time.

Another classic film from the film noir era

[yardbirdsraveup · 8/10 · 6 March 2007]

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.

Tepid film noir that was once a local-TV staple

[Handlinghandel · 6/10 · 18 January 2008]

When I was a kid and local television showed movies from the forties and fifties, there were two I always confused. Both always intrigued me but eventually lost my interest. One was "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers." This was the other.

I guess their polysyllabic titles made them seem similar. So many noirs have short, terse titles.

This has a promising plot and its director did some fine work elsewhere. But "Thelma Jordon" (an alternate title) seems to me to move very slowly.

The supporting players are OK but they don't have the zing that's required of this sort of endeavor. And here is the main problem, in my view: There is no real chemistry between Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey.

She was marvelous in so many movies, spanning the decades. Of course, this invites comparison to "Double Indemnity." There, we really believe that Fred MacMurray is crazy about her and that she is at least doing her best to draw him in. Those two sizzle. These two don't quite fizzle but they dawdle.

Tense, Downbeat & Gripping

[seymourblack-1 · 8/10 · 18 November 2013]

One night, two seemingly unhappily married people meet under unusual circumstances and embark on an affair that proves to be disastrous for both of them. Falling in love with the wrong person leads to the gullible man's life being propelled into a devastating downward spiral and not being able to control her strong feelings , proves to be the Achilles heel of an incredibly duplicitous woman whose criminal plan is eventually undermined by her own powerful emotions.

"The File On Thelma Jordon" is a gripping melodrama that features a couple of interestingly flawed characters whose adultery is just the prelude to their involvement in burglary, murder and perverting the course of justice. It takes a little time for the complexities of the two lovers to become fully apparent and the fact that this is done so successfully is attributable to the sheer quality of the script (by Ketti Frings) and Robert Siodmak's sure-footed direction.

Assistant District Attorney Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) is alone in a colleague's office late one night and drinking heavily. It's his wedding anniversary but he can't face being at home on yet another occasion which he knows will be totally dominated by the presence of his overbearing in-laws. Thelma Jordon (Barbara Stanwyck) is a confident and attractive woman who comes into the office to see his colleague to report a number of attempted break-ins at her aunt's mansion. Cleve isn't able to help but the couple go out for a drink together and the following day meet again for dinner. Thelma tells Cleve that she's separated from her husband Tony Laredo (Richard Rober) and is currently living with her wealthy aunt.

One night when Thelma doesn't meet Cleve at the arranged time, he telephones her and she pleads with him to come to the mansion immediately. There she explains that her aunt has been shot dead and her valuable jewels have been stolen. She claims to be cleaning up the crime scene because she suspects that her husband is the culprit and Cleve readily helps her to take the necessary steps to avoid incriminating herself.

Cleve is later called in to assist with the investigation and Thelma is soon identified as the prime suspect. In order to protect her, Cleve pulls a few strings to ensure that he's assigned to prosecute the case and then does everything possible to weaken the effectiveness of the charges against Thelma. The developments that then follow are quite unpredictable but also deeply shocking and extremely tragic.

"The File On Thelma Jordon" is a fascinating, gritty and enjoyable movie that's extremely tense throughout. Its visual style is dark and gloomy and contributes strongly to its very downbeat atmosphere. Barbara Stanwyck excels as the exceptionally strong and manipulative Thelma who has to come to terms with the vulnerability that she experiences when her feelings for Cleve overwhelm her and Wendell Corey is marvellous as the ultra-passive fall guy whose infatuation with Thelma costs him so much.

I'm harmless and I'm lonesome

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 20 January 2008]

***MAJOR SPOILERS*** Much like her big 1944 film noir classic "Double Indemnity" Barbara Stanwyck in the lead, and films title, role of Thelma Jordon is about as manipulative and cold blooded as they come but, unlike in "Double Indemnity" she has a conscience. That conscience on Thelma's part makes up for all the harm that she does to her lover in the movie Assistant District Attorney Cleve Marshall, Wendell Corey. But sadly it also cost the foolish and love-sick, for Thelma, man his career and possibly his marriage to his long suffering wife Pamela, Joan Tetzel.

Not expecting to find the totally drunk Cleve Marshall to be in the D.A's office, Thelma actually wanted to talk to the D.A himself Niles Scott (Paul Kelly), Thelma soon realizes that he can help her with a pressing problem that she has in regards to her old and wealthy Aunt Vera, Gertrude Hoffman. Aunt Vera has been worried that someone is trying to break into her home and steal her valuable jewelry locked in her living-room safe.

Having Cleve think that she's in love with him Thelma has him slowly trapped in a sinister plan that she concocted with her gangster boyfriend Tony Laredo, Richard Rober, to rip off Aunt Vera of her jewelry. It turns out that Aunt Vera somehow gets wind of what's going on and one evening when she hears some noise in her house and investigate, with her bedside firearm, Aunt Vera is shot and killed, off camera, by the unseen burglar. Thelma who was sleeping upstairs hears the gunshot and comes running down to find Aunt Vera dead and the safe opened,I'm not quite sure if the jewelry were in the safe and taken, and immediately calls Cleve, feeling that she'll be the prime suspect in Aunt Vera's murder, for help.

Being the good friend, as well as Thelma's secret lover, that he is Cleve does everything to clear Thelma of anything that has to do with her Aunt Vera's murder. Cleve goes so far in covering up Aunt Vera's death that he actually, in his secret lover affair with Thelma, implicates himself in the killing! Walking a tight rope Cleve is now in the unenviable position, by being appointed as the state prosecutor, of both trying Thelma for murder and at the same time by purposely blotching the case in his very obvious, to his boss D.A Scott, attempt in getting her off Scot-free!

The missing piece of this very strange and complicated puzzle is Thelma's estranged boyfriend Tony Lerado. Tony is always seen snooping around Thelma's home as well as in the courtroom as if he's in some way trying to either blackmail or intimidate, with his gangster friends, her. It's only much later in the movie, after Thelma's trial, that the truth comes out about just what the relationship is between the two, Thelma & Tony. This comes as a complete shock to the by then very relived, in the jury verdict, Cleve Marshall who's ready to leave his wife and family for, the playing him for a sucker, Thelma Jordon!

It's just too bad that in 1950 the code of morality, or Hayes Commission, had full control of Hollywood , not foreign, released films. Making the movie have a tragic yet feel-good ending spoiled everything that was both interesting and realistic about "The File on Thelma Jordon".

Despite that major fault, which was really no fault of the movie's screenwriters, "The File on Thelma Jordon" ranks right up there with film noir classics like the aforementioned "Double Indemnity" and "Out of the Past", two movies that were also hampered by the Hollywood morality code, as one of the best of it's kind even though nowhere, the film is rarely shown on TV, as popular.

Wendell Corey: No Vincent Bugliosi.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 19 August 2008]

Not entirely without interest, this is a rather dark story of Wendell Corey, an Assistant D.A. alienated from his wife and two children, who bumps into Barbara Stanwyck by accident and falls for her. They have a secret affair. Then Stanwyck's wealthy old auntie is shot and killed during a burglary and the evidence all points to Stanwyck, who is brought to trial. It seems like an easy case for the D.A.'s office except that the records show that Stanwyck has been receiving phone calls from a man who continually identifies himself by different names, although he never says, "Is Miss Jordon there? This is Wendel Corey". Corey's boss, Paul Kelly, names the mysterious caller "Mister X", and worries that the defense may introduce reasonable doubt using Mister X as the fomenter.

Now, Corey is in an uncomfortable position, to say the least. He's assigned to try the case, convict his lover, and send her to the gas chamber. But he has all kinds of problems. Not only is he devoted to her, not only is HE the mysterious Mister X, but he believes Stanwyck when she tells him she's innocent. He winds up sending her notes, advising her on who to hire as defense counsel, and he sends her five thousand bucks to manage expenses. Corey also decides to bungle the case in as nuanced a way as possible.

I ask you, the experienced viewer of old black-and-white crime dramas, is she innocent or is she setting up Corey as the fall guy? Stanwyck is set free. And Corey discovers there is another man in the picture. There have probably been OTHER men, as well. If he is Mister X, there was first a Mister A, then a Mister B, and then .... Mister n. (That's the way you denote a finite string of variables of unknown length in statistics.)

Stanwyck spills the beans to Corey. This is known as "cooling out the mark". But she does a very clumsy job of it, leaving Corey in a state of humiliation and despair. Stanwyck has shown no remorse so far. But as she is driving away towards a new life with her Greaseball boyfriend behind the wheel, she decides to coagulate his eyeball with the car's red-hot cigarette lighter and, well, there is a fiery plunge off a cliff, and she winds up dying on a hospital bed. After she makes her final confession to Paul Kelly, she passes away peacefully, the vehicular catastrophe not having disfigured her in any way, her hair and make up impeccably done. Not even her false eyelashes have been disturbed.

This movie must have been made after "Double Indemnity" because it follows the same trajectory, more or less. I much prefer the original, or even the remake, of "Double Indemnity," but this isn't an insulting copy, only a less original one. Use caution, though. You have to sit through a sappy soap opera for the first half hour, directed at a glacial pace and completely lacking in conversational sparkle.

The File on Thelma Jordan review

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 28 June 2020]

Barbara Stanwyck revisits Double Indemnity territory in a tale of adultery and murder that seems stuck in second gear for a good half-hour before finally taking off. Wendell Corey's an unhappily married Assistant DA who finds himself prosecuting his lover for a murder he's not entirely sure she didn't commit. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Ketti Frings creates well-rounded characters and handles the more sensational aspects of the story with refreshing maturity. Stanwyck, as always, is flawless, but Corey only sporadically rises to the challenge of playing opposite her.

The File on Wendell Corey

[marcslope · 7/10 · 23 May 2023]

He was a dull, dull leading man; he's dull with Stanwyck again in "The Furies," a year later. But as a troubled, alcoholic DA who falls in with the conniving lady of the title, he generates interest, and even a little heat in his love scenes, of which there are many. There are many because, and the screenwriters didn't iron this out adequately, he loves Thelma, but he also loves his wife, a restrained Joan Tetzel, and we're not sure why he'd seek other pastures. He's really pretty rotten to the wife and the kids (played by Corey's own kids), and it's hard to entirely buy the path he takes when (deliberately badly) prosecuting Thelma for murder. Stanwyck's her usual sinuous self, and there's some wonderful moody noir photography, and a Victor Young score that's rather too pretty for the seamy goings-on. It doesn't entirely add up, including HOW would Thelma survive what happens to her at the end, but it's a pithy noir with a.sizzling femme fatale.