Tuesday's Forgotten Films: The File on Thelma Jordan

This gritty film noir released in 1950 stars one of the all-time femme fatales in the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey as the "fall guy." The dialogue is crisp, the plot turns unexpected, and, at times, I got a little lost in following the storyline. But I enjoyed watching it nonetheless. Corey plays an unhappily married Assistant D.A. of some small California city who falls in love with Stanwyck despite his suspecting that she's not all on the level as she purports to be. Her rich Aunt Vera Edwards is murdered and Stanwyck is arrested for it. As things shake out, Corey is assigned to prosecute Stanwyck at her murder trial while he's madly in love with her. Corey performs his role very low-keyed and smoothly cynical. I've liked his acting in other films; what a shame he died in his mid-50s from alcoholism. Thelma Jordan delivers the goods that fans would expect from an early potboiler, including the ending. IMDb.com goes with 6.8/10.0 which falls a bit short. My score would be a solid 7.5 if just for Stanwyck's gutsy role as the siren who just may surprise you, as she did me.