Robert Siodmak made particularly dreamlike blends of noir thriller, gothic melodrama, and horror. Ella Raines was his go-to mystery lady.
Director Robert Siodmak and actress Ella Raines both had a hell of a busy 1944, even by workhorse studio-system standards. Raines, a striking, slightly opaque beauty who had made her movie debut just a year earlier, appeared in five features, including the, for which she was billed above the title alongside Wayne.
Though their period of mutual productivity did see the fashionable emergence and recession of film noir, neither Robert Siodmak nor Ella Raines were entirely subject to the ups and downs of a single genre. As mentioned, 1944 alone saw Raines appearing in a screwball farce and a Western; she’d go on to other comedies, dramas, and oaters in her relatively brief career. But it must have become clear on some level that noir was a particularly good fit for her.
Many of Siodmak’s movies have that unpredictable, shapeshifting quality: well-crafted B-pictures that seem like they can snap into a noirish fugue state at any time. This is particularly true of his other three movies with Raines, thrillers that aren’t quite straight-up noir. What differentiates them, especially without the horror elements of a Siodmak movie like, there’s an odd coziness to them, more adjacent to gothic melodrama than the world of detectives, dames, and doomed criminals.
With their collaboration starting so strong and coming to a relatively inauspicious end, it might be tempting to characterize the Raines performances in her later Siodmak movies as a waste of the potential she shows in, where she truly dominates the film. But even the noirs and crime pictures she made without Siodmak don’t tend to cast her as that figure of menace or mystery she seems so well-prepared to play.
That’s characteristic of the groundedness Raines brings to her movies, despite her glamorous countenance and pin curls. In her noirs and thrillers, particularly those with Siodmak, Raines plays notes that should seem contradictory: She’s often approachable while nonetheless playing a figure of elusive, possibly illusory happiness. Her oft-cited “mystery” isn’t overt, or used as a deceptive lure; it’s more to do with playing her feelings a little closer to the vest.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
High school football playoffs ‘24: Bolles, Raines, St. Aug storm into 3rd roundEight local teams in Florida and one in Georgia are still standing in the high school football state playoffs.
Read more »
National signing day notebook: Raines’ Thomas to; Texas it is for FfrenchNews and notables from Wednesday's early football national signing day.
Read more »
Varsity 4 Game of the Week: Raines plows through BK, into state semifinalsThe Vikings triggered a running clock Friday night for the third time in three playoff games. This time, a flurry of turnovers set off a 30-point second quarter in the Varsity 4 Game of the Week as Raines, the top team in the state in Class 3A, routed visiting Bishop Kenny 44-15 in the Region 1-3A final.
Read more »
State semifinal glance: Can Raines, St. Augustine and Trinity Christian reach title games?Three high school football teams are playing in the state semifinals on Friday night and after appearances in next week’s state championships. Here’s a glance at the matchups.
Read more »
High school football playoffs ‘24: Nease, Raines lead first-round winnersThe opening round of the high school football playoffs is in the books, with some history-making wins and some agonizing losses for area programs. Moving on to the second round were 15 teams from the News4JAX Florida coverage area and three from south Georgia.
Read more »
Raines, St. Augustine, Trinity Christian headed to state football semifinalsRaines, St. Augustine and Trinity Christian are the last area teams left standing in the high school football state playoffs.
Read more »