Main Cast: Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford, Wallace Ford
Release Year: 1946
Country: US
Run Time: 80 minutes
Plot
With an ingenious script by Roy Chanslor, this modest, but imaginative film noir is notable for the strong performance by lead actor Dan Duryea Alcoholic musician Martin Blair (Duryea) becomes the prime suspect when his cheating wife is murdered, until it is determined that he was "sleeping one off" at the time of the killing. Another man (John Phillips), who was being blackmailed by the murdered woman, is sent to prison for the crime. The condemned man's wife (June Vincent) believes in her husband's innocence and sets about to prove it, enlisting the aid of Blair, who has flashes of memory about the night of the crime. Recalling that he saw a stranger leave his wife's apartment, Blair endeavors to track down this stranger. The real murderer is revealed in the film's last moments...to everyone's surprise, including the guilty party! Black Angel was based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich. Normally assigned to villainous roles, Dan Duryea gives a surprisingly impressive performance as an affectingly romantic character and is by far the most interesting and sympathetic character in the film. His performance makes the plot twist at the end, both startling and believable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Black Angel is not one of the landmarks of film noir, but it has a number of elements worth commenting on. These include a fairly original pay-off in terms of the identity of the killer, as well as a central unrequited love plot that is handled with considerable finesse. The most unusual element, however, is the casting of Dan Duryea as a fairly likeable romantic lead. While the part still calls for a certain darkness to it, Duryea, usually cast as a heavy, comes across as winning and engaging; certainly the audience ends up rooting for him, even as it feels uneasy trying to push him into the arms of a woman determined to be faithful to her wrongly-convicted husband. June Vincent is fine, if a little distant, as the would-be love interest; although she' occasionally too bland, she does resist the temptation to make more of the character's relationship with Duryea. Angel does drag in a few places, and director Roy William Neill could have done more to create tension and atmosphere, but the film is still effective and quite enjoyable. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Martin Obzina - Art Director, Jack Otterson - Art Director, Vera West - Costume Designer, Charles S. Gould - First Assistant Director, Roy William Neill - Director, Saul A. Goodkind - Editor, Frank Skinner - Composer (Music Score), Jack Brooks - Songwriter, Jack Pierce - Makeup, Paul Ivano - Cinematographer, Tom Knight - Producer, Roy William Neill - Producer, Russell A. Gausman - Set Designer, Edward Ray Robinson - Set Designer, Bernard B. Brown - Sound/Sound Designer, Roy Chanslor - Screenwriter, Cornell Woolrich - Book Author
