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The File on Thelma Jordon
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Wikipedia article
'The File on Thelma Jordon' is a 1950 American film noir drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey. The screenplay by Ketti Frings, based on an unpublished short story by Marty Holland, concerns a woman who pretends to fall in love with an assistant district attorney and uses him to acquit her of the murder of her elderly aunt.
Plot
Thelma Jordon shows up late one night in the office of the district attorney to report a series of attempted burglaries at her Aunt Vera's home. The district attorney, Miles Scott, is out, but she meets the assistant district attorney, Cleve Marshall, a married man, who would rather get drunk than go home. He asks her to join him for a drink and she agrees. Before Cleve can stop himself, he and Thelma are involved in a love affair. But Thelma is a mysterious woman, and Cleve can't help wondering if she is hiding something.
When her rich aunt is found shot dead, Thelma calls Cleve rather than the police, and he helps her cover up evidence that may incriminate her, but he believes her story that an intruder killed the aunt. When the district attorney arrests Thelma as the prime suspect, Cleve is in a unique position to help her due to his job. He arranges to prosecute the case and persuades the jury that a "reasonable doubt" exists due to evidence of an elusive "Mr X" (which he believes is Thelma's estranged husband). Thelma is acquitted. Her past, however, has begun to catch up with her.
Tony, her former lover, materializes again. She tells him she has successfully manipulated Cleve. She does not love him but he loves her. Their conversation reveals that it was Tony who conceived the scheme for Thelma to commit the murder and inherit Vera's jewels and money.
Cleve comes to the house and Thelma acknowledges that there is a relationship with Tony. Tony hits Cleve over the head, knocking him out so the two can escape. Unable to deal with her guilty conscience, Thelma causes a car accident that results in her accomplice's death and her own fatal injury. As she lies dying, she confesses the truth to the district attorney. However, she does not incriminate Cleve, saying she cannot reveal his name because she loves him. The district attorney tells Cleve that he will be disbarred for his actions, but he tells Scott that he was already confessing to his complicity when he heard about the car accident. He walks away to his new life.
Cast
* Barbara Stanwyck as Thelma Jordon
* Wendell Corey as Cleve Marshall
* Paul Kelly as Miles Scott
* Joan Tetzel as Pamela Marshall
* Stanley Ridges as Kingsley Willis
* Richard Rober as Tony Laredo
* Gertrude W. Hoffmann as Aunt Vera Edwards
* Basil Ruysdael as judge Jonathan David Hancock
* Kenneth Tobey as Police Photographer (uncredited)
Wendell Corey's real-life children Robin and Jonathan played non-speaking roles as the daughter and son of his character in the film.
Production
The project was filmed and marketed under the title 'Thelma Jordon'. It was the ninth film noir to be made by director Robert Siodmak. Principal photography took place between February 14 and March 29, 1949. Location filming was held at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana, California, and at the Los Angeles County jail.
Release
Though the film carries a copyright date of August 1, 1949, it had its premiere in New York on January 18, 1950. It grossed $51.5 million in adjusted domestic box office receipts.
Critical reception
'Variety' praised the film, writing: "Thelma Jordon unfolds as an interesting, femme-slanted melodrama, told with a lot of restrained excitement. 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".
'Time Out' gave the film 5 out of 5 stars, comparing it favorably to the classic film noir 'Double Indemnity' in which Stanwyck also stars. It singles out Corey's performance as "the nondescript assistant DA she drives to the brink of destruction. The part is played (remarkably well) by Corey, whose haunted, hangdog persona as a perennial loser is echoed so perfectly by the deliberately slow, inexorable tempo of Siodmak's direction (not to mention George Barnes' superbly bleak lighting)". 'Radio Times' also lauds the direction and Corey's performance as "a hapless assistant DA, played to meek perfection by Wendell Corey", and writes about Stanwyck: "In these thrillers Stanwyck has a terrific, deadly allure and the moody lighting and the music conspire with her, keeping the men fluttering around her like moths to a flame".
'The New York Times' gave a mixed review, stating: "'Thelma Jordon' is, for all of its production polish, adult dialogue, and intelligent acting, a strangely halting and sometimes confusing work". The review criticized the slow pace of the film and the not-unexpected climax, but gave credit to Stanwyck for "handling a complex assignment professionally and with a minimum of forced histrionics".
Adaptations
The script was adapted for a 1950 radio drama on 'Screen Directors Playhouse'.
References
Sources
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