No, not TV's "Bewitched," but this truly unnerving little shocker from 1945 in which Phyllis Thaxter plays a heroine who may or may not be a murderous (and very slutty) psychopath. Yikes. Tackling the concept of split-personality decades before the likes of "Psycho," we meet Joan, a sweet young heroine possessed by a dark inner voice named - are you ready for this? - "Karen." Oh here go hell come, as they say, and in this case, hell do.  If you're like me and love the heavy shadowed film-noir look from the 1940s, this movie delivers the goods - and how. Yet it also possesses a haunting, dreamlike quality which makes Joan's mental struggle feel visceral. Directed with smashing visual style by Arch Oboler, who got his start as a playwright and lauded horror radio show producer, "Bewitched" unspools in a swift 70 minutes, and for me, remains an essential hallmark of early film-noir. More than that, it's just plain fun, and though it ...

DJ Li'l Scratch and I will be back with "Manor Music Monday" after Memorial Day, but in the meantime, I urge you to make time this week for "Blonde Ice," an underrated little film-noir from 1948 in which we're introduced to  Claire Cummings (played to perfection by Leslie Brooks), a high-society columnist with an voracious appetite for money and power and anything else she can get her paws on, like jewels, baby. jewels.  Unlike the typical femme fatale heroine who manipulates men into committing crimes, Claire is fatale in the most literal sense. Why? Because she does all the dirty work herself. A deliriously compelling  pathological predator,  she's surely one of the most ruthless female characters ever put on film. Directed with grimy film-noir assurance by Jack Leonard, it's a small miracle that this joyous, decidedly heartless B-movie programmer even got made. Enjoy! Art Credits: Film Classic Inc./Classic Flix