The Dark Angel

Actress Merle Oberon had seen the original of this film when she was a little girl growing up in the Orient. It was always her favorite film and it was the catalyst in her decision to become a movie star. A bit of trivia - when she came to Hollywood looking for a movie career, her dreams came true when it was announced that she would be in the 1935 remake of "The Dark Angel" along with Fredric March and Herbert Marshall. So, her dream came true and she loved this film!!! The acting is marvelous and Merle was nominated for a best actress Oscar but didn't win! The musical score was really beautiful and went along very well with the story and the events of WWI. "The Dark Angel" did win one Oscar though and that was for best art design and I mean the sets are beautiful! Available on VHS, this is a must see!

Frederic March, Merle Oberon, and Herbert Marshall comprise a love triangle in "The Dark Angel," set in the grimness of World War I. Kitty (Oberon) has grown up with both Alan (March) and Gerald (Marshall) and knows the day will come when she must choose between them. She chooses Alan, but before they can be married, he's called back into service. With just a few hours left, she accompanies him to the meeting point for his troop and stays with him at the hotel. When Gerald, in the same troop, finds out that Alan was at the hotel with a woman, he turns against him, believing that he cheated on Kitty. He refuses him leave and sends him into treacherous battle.

Merle Oberon gives a touching performance as Kitty. She's very beautiful and has a lovely presence. Both March and Marshall are very good, March having the more histrionic role.

"The Dark Angel" comes off as dated and there's very much a "stiff upper lip, old chap" feeling about it. It's frustrating to see the Alan character behave as he does, but this of course keeps the viewer interested, and Oberon and the supporting characters infuse the atmosphere with warmth.

Worth it to see these classic stars. "The Dark Angel" is an old chestnut but a worthy one.

This 1935 film was well produced and directed and had a great cast of dramatic Classic Actors, who were all super stars during the 20's, 30's and into the 40's. Merle Oberon, (Kitty Vane),"Interval",'73, plays a young woman who is really in love with two men in her life, which creates a sort of triangle situation and causes her great mental suffering. Fredric March,(Alan Trent),"The Iceman Cometh",'72 plays a boyhood friend to Kitty Vane and comes home with a great disability which he does not want Kitty to know about. Herbert Marshall,(Gerald Shannon),"Midnight Lace",'60 is also in love with Kitty and the possibility of their getting married is becoming quite certain. This film will keep you interested if you like old time actors and films made in 1935. Enjoy

This remake of DARK ANGEL is worth watching for three things, and those things are the stars: March, Marshall and Oberon. The plot is more than ridiculous, so concentrate on the acting. Marshall, who actually sustained a serious leg injury during WWI, is perfectly cast as a military veteran haunted by a decision that may have taken the life of his childhood friend, played by March. March, who was blinded but not killed as a result of that decision, plays "dead" and assumes a new identity. Oberon is their childhood sweetheart; she planned to marry March but presuming him to be dead, settles for Marshall. The three meet in March's cottage at the climax. Marshall has bearing, Oberon is drop dead gorgeous, and March is wonderfully restrained as the blind putz. The music is gorgeous, the cinematography is crisp. Be prepared to pull out some tissues or a big hankie for the climax. March shot this soon after making DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, which is one of his greatest flicks.

An early soaper from 1935 dealing w/a love triangle circa after the first Word War. Starring Fredric March, Merle Oberon & Herbert Marshall, we find March & Oberon, childhood sweethearts & now adults declaring their love for each other & getting wed right while the Great War is ravaging Europe. March & Marshall go off to war & inevitably as things go in films like this, March is blinded but is believed dead by Marshall who returns home to Oberon where they console each other but March feeling he doesn't want to be a burden to his friends & loved ones, decides to return to his home town (miles from where he used to live) & becomes a sensation as a children's book writer content in his solitude & assured of his justified sacrifice but when paths are crossed (didn't see that coming!), March must face his old life & see if old wounds can be mended. A good story (a remake is not out of the question if someone is up to the task) which is constantly hampered by the stilted approach to the story (the tools of the trade had not been properly honed yet) but to see the genesis of this kind of love story is still an education.