Scott Henderson, the engineer that employs Carol Richman, as his assistant, makes a point to call her "Kansas", whenever he speaks to her. It shows us that Carol, effectively played by Ella Raines, is supposed to be a babe in the woods, as far as the Manhattan of the 40s was concerned. Only a woman, from out of town, would follow the shady bartender to a solitary elevated subway. Even then, only a naive girl could undertake such an adventure.

Robert Siodmak directed this film noir very well. He shows a flair for infusing the story with a lot of raw sex that was surprising for those days. How else could we justify the way the drummer in the orchestra of the musical, where Scott takes the mysterious woman with an unusual hat, makes such an overt pass at a lady on a date? The drummer played with high voltage by Elisha Cook Jr. doesn't hide his desires for any of the ladies who sat in the front row of the hit musical where he plays. It was a real explicit invitation, first to the "phantom woman" of the story, Fay Helm; afterward, Cliff the drummer, insinuates himself very openly to Ella Raines who goes to the theater disguised as the mystery dame her boss had taken originally.

This is a film that will hook any viewer from the beginning. There are things not explained in it, but it holds the one's interest throughout. The killer is not revealed until the end.

Ella Raines with her expressive eyes was an under estimated actress. She holds her own against much more experienced actors. Franchot Tone, a New York stage actor, working in Hollywood, never found in this medium the fame he deserved. He is effective as the accused man's best friend. On the other hand, Alan Curtis, comes across as a man, who when framed, accepts his fate and is saved only by the tenacity of the woman who secretly loved him. Thomas Gomez, as the inspector Burgess, is an asset to the film as a detective who has his doubts the police had caught the man who committed the crime.

This movie will not disappoint.

Scott (Alan Curtis) has a bad marriage and things are about to get a lot worse. Instead of going out with his wife, Scott spends the evening with a lady he's met in a bar. They got to a show together and then he returns home...only to find the cops there! It seems his wife is dead...and Scott is having a horrible time coming up with an alibi. The folks who could prove his innocence say they cannot recall him and the woman he was with cannot be found. Not surprisingly, he's convicted of her murder and he's soon on death row.

His secretary, Kansas (Ella Raines),believes her boss is innocent and spends most of the movie trying to prove it. However, what she doesn't realize is that the man helping her (Franchot Tone) is actually a maniac and he's framed Alan! By the time she's finally realized what's happened...it might just be too late, as he's more than willing to kill EVERYONE who can prove Alan isn't the killer!

This is a really good relatively low budget film. The only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the identity of the real killer is seen way too early and some of the suspense is missing. Still, well done and very enjoyable if you like film noir and suspense films.

By the way, the Brazilian singer you see on stage near the beginning is Aurora Miranda--sister of Carmen. She never even came close to Carmen's fame in America and you wonder if it perhaps could have been since Aurora had much darker skin and looked more black. Sad if it was the case.

Although Franchot Tone does not appear in the film for the first half he rates top billing in Phantom Lady. I'm sure that when he signed for this film he saw he would be playing a part that was different than the roles he got a MGM for the most part.

Ella Raines is the one that carries this film. Her boss and Tone's partner Alan Curtis has been arrested for his wife's murder. She was no loss, from what we learn of her she was cheating right and left. Still murder is murder.

And Curtis's problem is the woman he picked up that night has vanished. She's his alibi witness. Like she was a Phantom Lady.

Even after the conviction Raines is determined to find this woman and she even has an ally in police detective Thomas Gomez who has never felt right about the case.

There's not much suspense and there sure is no mystery here because it isn't hard to figure out and the murderer is identified with 60% of the film done. The suspense is whether Raines can put it together and realize the danger she's walking into.

Besides those already mentioned look for good performances from Elisha Cook, Jr. as a hop head drummer, Aurora Miranda, Carmen's sister playing a Carmen Miranda like entertainer. In fact her outrageous hat like the ones her sister wore is an integral part of the mystery for Raines. Finally there is a really touching performance from Fay Helm in the title role. There is a sad reason why she has seemingly disappeared.

Between this one and Tall In The Saddle with John Wayne I think are Ella Raines's career roles. Both are very good.