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The File on Thelma Jordon

  • 19491949
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
Assistant district attorney Cleve Marshall falls for the mysterious Thelma Jordon when she seeks help solving robberies of her aunt's estate.
Play trailer2:17
1 Video
48 Photos
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Film-Noir

Assistant district attorney Cleve Marshall falls for the mysterious Thelma Jordon when she seeks help solving robberies of her aunt's estate.Assistant district attorney Cleve Marshall falls for the mysterious Thelma Jordon when she seeks help solving robberies of her aunt's estate.Assistant district attorney Cleve Marshall falls for the mysterious Thelma Jordon when she seeks help solving robberies of her aunt's estate.

IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Robert Siodmak
  • Writers
    • Marty Holland(story)
    • Ketti Frings(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Barbara Stanwyck
    • Wendell Corey
    • Paul Kelly
Top credits
  • Director
    • Robert Siodmak
  • Writers
    • Marty Holland(story)
    • Ketti Frings(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Barbara Stanwyck
    • Wendell Corey
    • Paul Kelly
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 43User reviews
    • 18Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:17
    Official Trailer

    Photos48

    Mary Gordon in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Barbara Stanwyck in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Stanley Ridges in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Barbara Stanwyck and Geraldine Wall in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Stanley Ridges in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Barry Kelley in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Gertrude Hoffman in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Richard Rober in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Paul Kelly in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Wendell Corey in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Joan Tetzel in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
    Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey in The File on Thelma Jordon (1949)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Barbara Stanwyck
    Barbara Stanwyck
    • Thelma Jordonas Thelma Jordon
    Wendell Corey
    Wendell Corey
    • Cleve Marshallas Cleve Marshall
    Paul Kelly
    Paul Kelly
    • Miles Scottas Miles Scott
    Joan Tetzel
    Joan Tetzel
    • Pamela Blackwell Marshallas Pamela Blackwell Marshall
    Stanley Ridges
    Stanley Ridges
    • Kingsley Willisas Kingsley Willis
    Richard Rober
    Richard Rober
    • Tony Laredoas Tony Laredo
    Minor Watson
    Minor Watson
    • Judge Calvin H. Blackwellas Judge Calvin H. Blackwell
    Barry Kelley
    Barry Kelley
    • District Attorney Melvin Pierceas District Attorney Melvin Pierce
    Kasey Rogers
    Kasey Rogers
    • Dolly - Cleve's Secretaryas Dolly - Cleve's Secretary
    • (as Laura Elliot)
    Basil Ruysdael
    Basil Ruysdael
    • Judge Jonathan David Hancockas Judge Jonathan David Hancock
    Jane Novak
    Jane Novak
    • Mrs. Blackwellas Mrs. Blackwell
    Gertrude Hoffman
    Gertrude Hoffman
    • Aunt Vera Edwardsas Aunt Vera Edwards
    • (as Gertrude W. Hoffman)
    Harry Antrim
    Harry Antrim
    • Sidneyas Sidney
    Kate Drain Lawson
    Kate Drain Lawson
    • Claraas Clara
    • (as Kate Lawson)
    Theresa Harris
    Theresa Harris
    • Estheras Esther
    Byron Barr
    Byron Barr
    • McCaryas McCary
    Geraldine Wall
    Geraldine Wall
    • Matronas Matron
    Jonathan Corey
    • Timmy Marshallas Timmy Marshall
    • Director
      • Robert Siodmak
    • Writers
      • Marty Holland(story)
      • Ketti Frings(screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Assistant District Attorney Cleve Marshall, depressed about marital troubles, is drowning his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey when the mysterious and alluring Thelma Jordon walks in to report an attempted burglary. The two become romantically involved and not long afterwards there is a burglary and murder at Thelma's aunt's house. Cleve is drawn further and further into defending and covering up for Thelma. It soon becomes clear that this road will only lead to disaster. —B.A. Black
    • five word title
    • alcoholic
    • alcoholism
    • drunkenness
    • drunkard
    • 124 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • ...SHE'LL LIE...KILL OR KISS HER WAY OUT OF ANYTHING! (original print ad - all caps)
    • Genres
      • Crime
      • Drama
      • Film-Noir
      • Mystery
    • Certificate
      • Passed
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The children acting as Wendell Corey's children in the film are actually his real-life children.
    • Goofs
      Cleve Marshall sits down at the desk opposite Miles Scott and says "Can't talk 'til I have another drink." Scott picks up the whiskey bottle and pulls out the cork before handing it to Marshall. Marshall picks up the bottle and again pulls out the cork.
    • Quotes

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

    • Connections
      Featured in The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender (1997)

    User reviews43

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Stanwyck and Siodmak conspire to create a dark highlight of the noir cycle
    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.
    helpful•48
    12
    • bmacv
    • Oct 21, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 20, 1950 (Mexico)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Dosije o Telmi Džordon
    • Filming locations
      • Los Angeles County Jail, Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Wallis-Hazen
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Related news

    Oscar-Nominated Film Series: 'Devil' Movie Questions Definition of Madness
    May 11Alt Film Guide
    ‘The File on Thelma Jordon’ lacks originality but gets away with murder anyhow
    Apr 25SoundOnSight

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