memory swap

Phantom Lady, 1944, Robert Siodmak

‘…The key figure in the film’s development was Joan Harrison (Hitchcock’s trusty and very skilled assistant)…She found Robert Siodmak and freed him from rather trashy horror pictures for his true metier. In turn, Siodmak got Woody Bredell to do the photography - every bit as startling and groundbreaking as their work together on The Killers. This is black-and-white that crackles and shines like a cellophane raincoat. You know if the woman had a scent you could catch, it would be nitrate - deadly nightshade. Of course…it becomes conventional. But along the way it has quite extraordinary scenes - as witness everything involving hophead drummer Cliff Milburn (Elisha Cook Jr)…a noir delight…’