Phantom Lady (1942)

by William Irish (Cornell Woolrich)

A New York City stockbroker’s marital troubles come to a head one May evening causing him to storm out of his apartment.  He picks up the first seemingly eligible woman he meets and takes her to dinner and a show.  Hours later he finally deposits her back in the bar where they first met and heads home—to a truckload of trouble.  His wife was murdered at just about the same time he first ran into the phantom lady.  He is arrested because the police cannot turn up anyone who admits to have seen the man’s mysterious companion.  In fact, potential witnesses seem to specifically deny that anyone at all was with him that night.  How can this be?  It’s a frame-up, of course, but how and why was it done?  And, who did it?  Irish/Woolrich takes the reader on a noir-ish roller coaster ride and, depending on how much disbelief a reader is willing to suspend, it’s certainly one heck of a ride.  The twists and turns of the plot somehow remain exciting even after they have become too far fetched for all but the most forgiving readers.  This story is best enjoyed for its overall effect.  Applying too much analysis during and after reading it will only lessen the experience.

Bob Schneider