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Phantom Lady is Robert Siodmak’s masterpiece. The style of the film could best be compared to a sustained and very loud drum solo. The story concerns a man who finds himself framed for a grisly murder; his only alibi, a mysterious lady in a black hat, seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. The film is less a whodunit than a collection of brilliant scenes, each and every one of them built on an arresting stylistic device. Phantom Lady created a powerful mise-en-scène of squalor and violence. The story becomes an excuse for the exploration of the underworld, for a series of descending spirals into hell.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St,Berkeley,CA,United States
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