PHANTOM LADY / THE RECKLESS MOMENT

ABOUT THE EVENT:

7:00pm | Introduction

7:10pm | PHANTOM LADY

8:40pm | Intermission

8:50pm | Introduction

9:00pm | THE RECKLESS MOMENT

Start times are approximate.

ABOUT THE FILMS:

PHANTOM LADY, Dir. Robert Siodmak, 87 Min, Universal, USA

Originally released January 28, 1944

Loyal and lovely Ella Raines is “one hep kitten” as she high-heels her way through the noir demimonde, searching for the one woman who can save her boss from a murder rap. Director Robert Siodmak and DP Woody Bredell wring every juicy bit of shadowy mystery from the novel by master of suspense Cornell Woolrich. The film is famous for Elisha Cook Jr.’s manic interlude as a wigged-out jazz drummer in orgiastic frenzy! Producer Joan Harrison (once Alfred Hitchcock’s protégé) announced herself as the most creative female producer in the business with this sleeper hit, a seminal suspense classic that helped launch the noir movement in Hollywood.

FORMAT: DCP

THE RECKLESS MOMENT, Dir. Max Ophüls, 82 Min, Paramount, USA

Originally released October 13, 1949

Joan Bennett gives a compelling performance as Lucia Harper, a suburban housewife who covers up for her teenage daughter when she accidentally kills her caddish lover, a blackmailing Lothario. When the dead man’s partner in crime (James Mason) starts sniffing around, the noose tightens around Lucia’s neck. Can she manage all her domestic and familial duties during the Christmas holiday—while avoiding blackmail, scandal, and arrest? Max Ophüls’ direction is enthralling and elegant, turning a perfectly realized screenplay into a masterpiece of suspense. The wonderful art direction by Cary Odell and Frank Tuttle is enhanced by Burnett Guffey’s supple camerawork, which evokes the sun-burnished light of Balboa, California, as well as the dark corners of the oceanside paradise.

FORMAT: DCP