Phantoms, Inc. (1945)

Short film made with the help of the Sundance Film Institute and serving as a proof-of-concept for the subsequent feature film.

A con man who is on the run from law enforcement in the U.S. travels to Cambodia to collect his share in an insurance scam but discovers more than he bargained for.

A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.

Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.

An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.

A family man – desperate for a job – latches onto a friend who encourages him into being a criminal.

A Philadelphia gang member becomes a drug kingpin and starts a feud with vicious rivals in his quest for the American Dream.

At a desert diner, the lives of five strangers become linked through a single twenty-dollar bill. Shot for $20,000 and starring Philip Baker Hall, the short premiered at Sundance and later inspired Anderson’s debut feature Hard Eight (1996).