Here is a noir with murders galore and the wrong man arrested for one of them. Yes, this is the old boss getting in trouble and the secretary in love with him getting him off, but it is different. The reason it is different is that we have a couple of twists along the way, some which make sense, and some which do not.
The police investigation into the murder after it happens is extremely poorly conducted. It seems they decide the husband is guilty until proven innocent and there are more holes in the railroading he gets than in a stale piece of swiss cheese. The actual phantom lady is a piece of mental work.
The biggest hole of all is when the wife is killed, the police detectives never wonder where her purse is. At the end of the movie, we find out the murderer has it. Any half-baked investigator would have wondered why the wife's purse was missing. Especially when the husband does not have it.
It is a good film to understand that a noir can be made well, with a feel good ending, but can have many flaws in the process.
The police investigation into the murder after it happens is extremely poorly conducted. It seems they decide the husband is guilty until proven innocent and there are more holes in the railroading he gets than in a stale piece of swiss cheese. The actual phantom lady is a piece of mental work.
The biggest hole of all is when the wife is killed, the police detectives never wonder where her purse is. At the end of the movie, we find out the murderer has it. Any half-baked investigator would have wondered why the wife's purse was missing. Especially when the husband does not have it.
It is a good film to understand that a noir can be made well, with a feel good ending, but can have many flaws in the process.