The File on Thelma Jordon

Robert Siodmak rounded off the most successful period of his career, during which he devoted himself almost exclusively to film noir, in 1950 with the films Deported and The File on Thelma Jordon. After completing the adventure film The Crimson Pirate (1952), he returned to Europe, where he made everything from costume dramas to Karl May adaptations, rarely returning to the noir aesthetic (most notably in the 1957 film The Devil Strikes at Night). The File on Thelma Jordon brought Siodmak together with the queen of film noir, actress Barbara Stanwyck, whom we all know as the femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson from Double Indemnity (1944). Here, too, she plays a mysterious and cunning woman who wraps her male victim around her finger. Her co-star is the underrated Wendell Corey, who, despite his undoubted talent, was condemned to supporting roles for most of his career. Parts of the film were shot in the Los Angeles County Jail and the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana. (mh)