Black Angel | Dan Duryea, June Vincent

Black Angel | Dan Duryea, June Vincent | Loads of fun

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Black Angel

	Black Angel Dan Duryea, June Vincent Universal Studios, 1998 average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Real Noir Gem

The period immediately following World War Two produced a treasure trove of great film noir efforts. Many of these passed quickly from the scene at the time without making the kind of splash they deserved, enhanced by the fact that so many films were being made as Americans flocked to theaters and spent their money freely in the glittery economic period that followed a tumultuous conflict.

Roy Neill, who directed some of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, turned in a gem of a film with the 1946 noir mystery "Black Angel." Stunning blonde June Vincent demonstrates in this film how wrong Hollywood was not to give her more starring assignments.

When Vincent's husband is arrested for a crime he insists he did not commit, the death of blackmailer-singer Constance Dowling, June turns detective in an effort to prove her husband's innocence before he faces an impending execution at San Quentin Prison's gas chamber.

The basic plot is very much like that of another great noir film of the forties, "Phantom Lady", when secretary Ella Raines seeks to prove that her boss and the man she loves, Allen Curtis, is innocent of the murder charge that leaves him awaiting execution at New York's Sing Sing Prison.

The similarity is not surprising in that each film was adapted from a Cornell Woolrich novel, as was also Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." Roy Chanslor turned in a screenplay containing the admirable story twists and turns that result in great mystery.

When Vincent, in her detective endeavor, seeks help from deceased Dowling's former husband, her former pianist and songwriter, played by Dan Duryea, the plot takes all kinds of interesting plot turns that keep viewers guessing until the film's final scene.

Duryea suspects that nightclub boss Peter Lorre, who was involved with Dowling, might be the guilty party. As a means of obtaining an opportunity for Vincent to gain evidence to use against Lorre, Duryea breaks Vincent in as a singer and gets a job for both of them at Lorre's club.

One moment the onus of suspicion points toward Lorre, and the next in a different direction that astounds Vincent. Meanwhile dogged police investigator Broderick Crawford, a few years from his Oscar winning appearance in "All The King's Men," continues to search and ask questions.

The suspense never lets up and thankfully "The Black Angel" in this new age of film noir appreciation is getting the credit that it so rightfully deserved.

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Loads of fun

This cult classic (which is what lesser-known noir films get to be called) offers a juicy setup in its opening scenes, revealing just enough to the audience to show that the man who will take the fall for the murder of a shallow beauty was not the person whodunnit. The film picks up his wife (played by the excellent June Vincent) trying to dig up new evidence to save her husband from execution. At this point in Hollywood history, black and white cinematography had reached its most expressive; the film's evocation of the posh rich and seedy poor is equally creepy. The film this reminded me of the most is PHANTOM LADY (1944, Robert Siodmak), especially in its detailed portrayal of reconstructing a hidden crime. Dan Duryea gives a bravura "lost weekend" performance, possibly influenced by Ray Milland's in the 1945 Billy Wilder Oscar winner. As he did in THE MALTESE FALCON, Peter Lorre plays a homosexual with a sadistic streak (he strikes a match across the back of his put-upon strong-arm man). However, everyone in the film seems a bit twisted; a janitor even forces Duryea to pay a quarter to get out of his room after a bender. The script is bold enough to butt heads with the Production Code, which didn't permit the central relationship between Vincent and Duryea to develop. The film proves that director Roy William Neill was capable of more than Holmes and Watson programmers.

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Excellent noir touches

Right from the opening sequence we know we're in real deal noir territory: it's night in a large city, the busy street, two men waiting ominously in a car, the ambulance racing by with the siren blasting, the classy camera work as it goes from the street up the side of an apartment building and in through a window high up off the street - all classic noir touches. The murder mystery turns out to be pretty routine and involves a nightclub singer (June Vincent) who tries to clear her husband of a murder rap he didn't commit (though he was having an affair with the dead woman, which makes it a little difficult to understand her desire to set him free; perhaps she thinks the gas chamber is too severe a punishment for unfaithfulness - but this is a film noir, don't forget, where such evil thoughts are typical). The real murderer is finally tracked down using a brooch and a hospital ward confession to get to the truth. Nothing spectacular occurs in all of that, but the noir touches are obvious and well done. Fans of the genre will enjoy this picture.

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"That's What You Get When You Set Love So High. . . . ."

"Black Angel" is an unjustly forgotten film noir based on Cornell Woolrich's novel. Dan Duryea, tagged in the preview as "he's no angel again!", adds yet another complex, dark portrayal to his gallery of ambiguous bad guys as Martin Blair, the estranged husband of murder victim Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling). Mavis is a devious singer who is blackmailing her married lover, Kirk Bennett (John Phillips). Her immaculately decorated apartment, haunting song "Heartbreak" playing in the background, her sheer black gown highlighting what a bad dame she is. Her blackmailer is shrewd, unscrupulous and will stop at nothing to get her way; Dowling's career never fully took off, most likely because of her unconventional screen presence and her independent mind (coincidentally, her sister, Doris Dowling, also appeared in a similar role in another noir of the same year, playing Alan Ladd's unfaithful lush wife in "The Blue Dahlia"). Since Mavis has made so many enemies for herself, it's not surprising that she ends up murdered. As he had the most apparent reason of anyone to want her dead, Bennett is arrested, charged and convicted (on rather circumstantial evidence) and sentenced to death. His loyal wife, Catherine (June Vincent, another under-appreciated talent), vows to clear her husband and enlists the help of Blair, who had passed out drunk after he last saw Mavis, and the pair team up to investigate nightclub owner Marko (Peter Lorre, exceptional performance), posing as a singing act. However, as with many film noirs, there are many red herrings, and things are not what they appear to be. The ending is a surprise and the killer's identity will keep you guessing to the film's conclusion.

I don't know why this movie is barely remembered. There should have been records of the haunting vocal music. June Vincent, the only surviving cast member, retired from show business relatively early, and it's a shame that she did not progress to more roles like this in A pictures.

The DVD looks very good, although it shows faint signs of wear (which is to be expected for a film of its age), and the only extra included is the original theatrical trailer. Any fans of film noir should enjoy this one.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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