Ella Bella

She's one of the forties film beauts
Is stunning in formfitting suits
Impeccably dressed
When trekking out west
With guns drawn, she'll floor you in boots!

Ella Raines in Phantom Lady and Tall in the Saddle (both 1944). We hope you've enjoyed our tribute to actress Ella Raines, and we'll return to her films soon. But starting tomorrow is our annual Countdown to Halloween.

The Hills Have Thighs

Way out west some girls kiss in saloons
But they're dressed like some sissy who swoons
This gal's rough, she'll attack you
Give her guff and she'll smack you
So don't pester this miss, cowboy goons.

Randolph Scott and William Bishop separate Ella Raines and John Ireland in The Walking Hills (John Sturges; 1949).

The Man from Uncle Harry

Poor Harry, as men go, is weak 
Not daring, he's henpecked and meek 
Not the sort for romance
But thwart his one chance
A terrible vengeance he'll wreak.

George Sanders in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945).

Harry Plotter

Sis Lettie will not let him go

She mettles and plots don't you know 

She'll keep and enjoy him

Or bleeping destroy him
She's getting the hots for her bro. 

Geraldine Fitzgerald gives a chilling performance as Lettie, controlling sister of Harry (George Sanders) in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945). 

Crappy Ever After

They struggled a lot with the ending
Some mugs thought the plot needed mending
From the stalls came a scheme
"Let it all be a dream!"
With a shrug, this was shot. Condescending.

David Cairns

George Sanders and Ella Raines pretend to be thrilled that the studio changed the ending to The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945). From David Cairns: "Test audiences of TSAOUH were offered six endings to choose from, and opted for perhaps the worst. The best solution is to pretend the last scene isn't there. The penultimate one is the true climax to the story." Not only did they run the above admonishment over the end, but in the new closing scene someone made Raines wear that ridiculous hat.

The Trouble With Uncle Harry

Consider the strings on this mope
From a sister who clings to a hope
She's a brat and he blames her
For fratricide frames her
And insists that she swings from a rope.

In The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945), George Sanders feels trapped by his sister Geraldine Fitzgerald.

Say Uncle

The sister, conniving and cruel
The miss, so alive and so cool
At stake is the brother
One will make him, one smother 

There's a twist: who survives this film duel?

Geraldine Fitzgerald and Ella Raines in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945).

I'm Just Wild About Uncle Harry

No fella can hope to resist her
He fell at the moment he kissed her
To cherish and wed
And share a warm bed
With Ella, you dope, not your sister!


Ella Raines, George Sanders, and Geraldine Fitzgerald form a twisted triangle in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945). Title by wild man David Cairns.

Western Schwing

When Ella, her guns drawn, is winking
The swells in this one-horse get thinking
Her shorts have such shape
They down quarts as they gape 
This belle star's hot buns lead to drinking.

David Cairns

Ella Raines in a publicity shoot for Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin; 1944).

Calamity Raines

Where she dwells there's no Gucci or furs
No rich swells there to smooch, no monsieurs
Just musty old garments
On crusty old varmints
So Miss Ella goes butch and wears spurs. 

David Cairns and Surly Hack


Ella Raines plays Arly Harolday in Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin; 1944).

Even Cowgirls Get to Choose

With each kick of her heels sharply spurring
The depiction of 'female' she's blurring
In plains drifter gear
Miss Raines would appear
And wicked strange feelings start stirring. 

Ella Raines portrays a very sexy tomboy in Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin; 1944).

Hard Raines

In boots and chaps dressed no gal's greater
Galoots way out West want to date her
"Can't stand 'em!" she'll say
"Ride tandem? No way!"
First shoots and asks questions much later.

Ella Raines comes out shooting in Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin; 1944).

Wife Sentence

Uxoricide! Something is rotten
Abhorrent, and coming from Laughton
His wife is downstairs
Sans life, but who cares?
He adores this new chum that he's gotten.

David Cairns

Henpecked Charles Laughton falls in love with Ella Raines in The Suspect (Robert Siodmak, 1944).

Prim Suspect

Though her love is exceedingly strange
Seems this husband is needing a change
Their "affair" is platonic
So it's fairly ironic
Wife-murder he speeds to arrange.

Edwardian noir? Why not. Henpecked by his wife, bank teller Charles Laughton falls in love with Ella Raines in The Suspect (Robert Siodmak, 1944). Like he needed an excuse to fall for Ella Raines.

Casting Grouch

The brush-off: some studio bore
When rushes are viewed, starts to roar
Seems the Paramount "brains"
Find their star, Ella Raines
Too lush to exude "girl-next-door."

David Cairns

Ella Raines and Eddie Bracken in Hail the Conquering Hero (1944). From David Cairns: "Director Preston Sturges put up with pressure to recast Raines' role in Hail the Conquering Hero. Luckily for us, he refused."

Ella Raines Supreme

This knockout surprises on screen 

An ocular prize in each scene 
When Ella's in color
All else will seem duller
Her sockets hold eyes vivid green.

Above: Ella Raines in Singing Guns (John Sturges; 1950). Top: A glamour publicity photo. August 6th, 2020, marks the centennial of the birth of actress Ella Raines.

Franchot Tone Poem

Tone muses on hands and their powers
The bluesman just stands there and cowers
It's all wrong, dark and bleak
From the strong to the weak
And on cue Franchot stands up and towers.

David Cairns



This is what happens when Ella Raines isn't around. Franchot Tone and Elisha Cook Jr in Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak; 1944).

Saddle Champ

You slackjaws had better skedaddle
This crack shot rides tall in the saddle
A tomboy in chaps
She dominates saps
Her backside John Wayne wants to paddle.



Pistol-packin' Ella Raines and John Wayne co-star in Tall in the Saddle (1944).

Drum-Sticky

His zeal at the skins is insane

The appeal of her pins makes him strain
He sure works up a sweat
Cause the jerk is all wet
What he feels as he grins is quite plain. 

David Cairns

Elisha Cook Jr. excitedly beats his drums in Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak; 1944).

Sex Cymbals

This drummer's propelling the beat
He's crummy, but Ella's all reet
She's hep to the jive
And adds pep to his drive
Is it summer? He swells from the heat.



Ella Raines spurs on Elisha Cook Jr's frenzied drum solo in Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak; 1944). Title by sexy David Cairns.

Out of the Pasta

This sicko with mood-swings will wrangle
For kicks, dripping noodles he'll dangle 
When he knows all are fed
It goes to his head
Coming quickly unglued he will strangle.


Franchot Tone, Thomas Gomez, and Ella Raines enjoy a lighter moment in Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak, 1944).

The Phantom Lady Menace

Till closing she sips in saloon
Gets cozy with hipster jazz goon
Playing dick on a trek
She sticks out her neck
Exposed to the grip of a loon.


Franchot Tone and Ella Raines in Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak; 1944). #ellaraines100