ELLA RAINES (August 6, 1920 - May 30, 1988)
Sometimes lost in the shuffle of better-known noir beauties like Lizabeth Scott, Gene Tierney, et al., Ella Raines nevertheless should be better remembered today. She's astonishing in Phantom Lady (1944), her first noir, in which she portrays a Midwestern innocent thrust into a corrupt and dangerous Manhattan. When Ella's straight-laced character pretends to be a party-loving floozy in order to gather information which will clear her boss from a murder rap, she's positively incendiary. Other notable noir films included Brute Force (1947) with Burt Lancaster and Yvonne de Carlo; and Impact (1949) with Brian Donlevy and Anna May Wong.
Raines' cinematic output slowed down considerably in the 1950's; she only appeared in a handful of films, none distinguished; and also starred in her own short-lived television series, Janet Dean: Registered Nurse (1954). Ella Raines retired soon after, and lived a life of quiet normalcy until her death in 1988 from throat cancer.
Ella Raines! She should have been a bigger star. Ella with George Sanders in "The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry" is a must see. Ella is the modern woman who sweeps George off his feet, but the problem is his sister Letty (Geraraldine Fitzgerald) is jealous because SHE very clearly wants to sleep with her brother! The theme caused problems for the studio and copies are hard to find.
ReplyDeleteIn her films Ella was the "new" World War II woman, Rosie The Riveter with nice gams. In "Impact" she's a mechanic, in Phantom SHE saves her man in distress, in Uncle Harry she's the boss and the "top" in that relationship, even taking George on a date to see a Women's Baseball League game. (Was women's baseball shown in any other film at the time those leagues were playing?) I suspect what really did Ella's career in was the end of WWII, the men coming home and women were supposed to meekly retreat to the home. The characters Ella Raines excelled at were too, well, butch for vacuuming in pearls and being a conniving dame was too subtle and indirect.
I just wish she'd made more films.