Black Angel (1946)

That was an excellent one.

Let's be realistic.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I hate to carp, but this mostly watchable film, Roy Neill's last, is not film noir at all, although it has elements of mystery and crime drama combined. A weak and wayward script introduces Duryea arriving on a gritty Wilshire Blvd and then leaves him out of the film for twenty minutes; dispenses with the most interesting character of the film, singer Mavis Marlowe (wonderfully played by Constance Dowling) after ten minutes; presents a completely new character, Kirk Bennet, without any introduction or setting, as the husband of still another unknown character, a Mrs Bennet (June Vincent), who turns out to be the central female role; and even presents us with a completely anonymous character who seems to be central to Duryea's Martin Blair -- a wavering tippler- turned-songwriter -- who flits in and out of the film like a jack-in- the-box without explanation or rationale, but seems very concerned about Blair's well-being (is he his agent? his manager? a liquor salesman? We'll never know.) Neill directs this ambivalent script with occasional flair, like the sweep up from street-level Wilshire Blvd to Mavis Marlowe's flat on an upper floor of the apartment building across the street, which we then enter via a crack in the Venetian blinds. But much of the film is wasted on unnecessary moments like Bennet's trial, or Bennet being grilled by an almost-svelte Broderick Crawford playing the hard-boiled police captain (complete with an early version of what today is called good cop-bad cop.) I didn't like the film but Paul Ivano's photography is captivating and the film-score is unique: many popular songs found in big studio B&W's from this period (just before and just after WW II) can be banal and lifeless, but the three songs featured in Black Angel are well-crafted and complex songs in the popular idiom of the day. They are well-integrated into the plot, well-sung, and with stirring and original Jack Brooks lyrics and subtle melodies from Edgar Fairchild. Frank Skinner's score is also stirring and grand. BTW, June Vincent is not singing and Duryea is definitely not playing piano, for those curious: his fingers remain taut and straight throughout his first number, and in pianism the hand must be slightly arched if it is going to strike keys; but both he and June Vincent are well-mimed. This is good B entertainment, but contains about three plots in one: who did the murder, will the Duryea-Vincent match-up work out, and will the Duryea character ever recover from his alcohol addiction? Actually a fourth story line, will the Kirk Bennet character be saved from the gallows, is thrown in for good measure. Worth watching for the good acting, the unique pairing of Duryea-Vincent, the good photography, and Lorre's thinly-scripted but always-nearly-sadistic characterization of Duryea's nemesis.

I first saw Duryea long ago in Ministry of Fear where his bit dialing a phone number with a pair of scissors got my attention, and over the years his bad boy characters enlivened many a film. While not a deliberate scene stealer, he had a presence that took the spotlight away from the stars he supported, such as in the riveting final scene of Criss Cross. But in Black Angel HE is the star and that's what makes this film special. We first meet him at his worst, drunk and disorderly, a man drowning his sorrows after being dumped by his gorgeous, nasty wife, who has since been murdered. But when Duryea meets June Vincent, he shapes up and love blooms. We root for Vincent and Duryea to find the murderer so Vincent can divorce her cheating husband, marry Duryea, and live happily ever after in her cozy home in the suburbs of L.A. How very likable and nice are Vincent and Duryea. And how nice it is that neither of these likable people, mutually attracted as they are, acted on their feelings which, kept in check by the demands of sleuthing, are simmering just beneath the surface. However, the film's attempt to blend the story of a drunk reformed by love with a murder mystery does not quite succeed. But the schizophrenic screenplay does give Duryea the opportunity to deliver a star turn and he gives a dynamite performance. Black Angel is not considered a classic by the cognoscenti, but it's numerous virtues make it worthy of repeat viewing, especially when you're in the mood to spend quality time with Duryea and company.

Not too many people are going to mourn the passing of Constance Dowling who by all accounts was a two timing blackmailer. John Phillips has drifted into an affair with her and she's making him pay big time. So when she's found strangled and he's nearby suspicion falls on him and homicide cop Broderick Crawford makes the arrest. Phillips is scheduled to die in the gas chamber.That does not sit well with Phillips's wife June Vincent who is a nightclub singer. She's still working to prove her man innocent and she collaborates with Dowling's former husband, composer Dan Duryea who has a drinking problem to rival Ray Milland's in The Lost Weekend. In fact the last ten minutes of the film are dominated by a very powerful performance by Duryea, very much rivaling what Milland got an Oscar for in The Lost Weekend. I'm betting that's what attracted Duryea to the role.As singer and accompanist Vincent and Duryea take a job at Peter Lorre's nightclub. Lorre is known to be mobbed up to the gills and the team hopes to find answers there.Black Angel is a real sleeper of a noir film with great performances all around by a talented group of players. But even with a scene stealer like Peter Lorre exuding the menace he does, the film is dominated by Dan Duryea who is a tragic figure.

What's lacking here is a great director,someone like Robert Siodmak ("Phantom Lady" ) or Mitchell Leisen ("No man of her own").Who says Truffaut?("the bride wore black").Even flawed ,"Black Angel" is far better than the two Truffaut movies (the second being "La Sirene Du Mississipi" ) cause only an American can feel the desperate atmosphere of Cornell Woolrich's (aka William Irish)best novels and short stories.Generally the character who experiments tragedy is a woman ;such is not the case here.Martin is the loser,the unfortunate expiatory victim who is looking for a second chance.Some people won't accept the fact that half of the action is based on a wrong track:it's necessary to make us feel Martin's growing hope.His moonlight sonata is not only a warning,it's also a love message (look at his face when he is playing ) When Cathy tells him there can only be one man in her life ,he's got no reason to live anymore.Hence this ending a la "lost weekend" (which was released the precedent year) and these words of Martin when he says he is happy now.William Irish's novel was arguably not his best :the story is too close to that of "phantom lady" and Cathy becoming a singer overnight is not very plausible. But it's Dan Duryea's hope against hope and his face longing for happiness and peace of mind that will haunt you after watching this good film noir.