Black Angel

This claustrophobic B featuring the usually unctuous Dan Duryea in the lead is a patient and understated murder mystery. Cleverly laid out it does a fine job of leaving the viewer in the dark until the film's final moments.

Tease, blackmailer, hard on the help, easy on the eyes Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling) is murdered. Kirk Bennett stumbling upon the scene is accused tried and sentenced to death. His wife Cathy (June Vincent) however is determined to prove him innocent and together along with Marlowe's former husband, pianist songwriter Marty Blair (Duryea) they launch an elaborate plan to catch the killer and save Bennet from the chair.

Angel is a gruff film featuring a slew of surly types. Mavis is pure poison, nightclub owner Peter Lorre an unsettling threat, Broderick Crawford a cynical dick, Bennet's husband a worthless bungler and Duryea himself a raging alcoholic attempting one day at a time. Roy William Neil's direction is sober and subtle deftly handling not only the mystery but the romantic implications between Marty and Cathy arriving at denouement without resorting to sensationalism. An impressively handled low key mystery.

"Black Angel" (Universal, 1946) is one of the most entertaining films noir of the 1940s, that era when Hollywood discovered the genre and brought to it a high polish.

In this outstanding dark mystery, based on the novel of the same name by Cornell Woolrich, director Roy William Neill guides stars Dan Duryea and June Vincent through a byzantine plot that begins with murder and proceeds through the arrest and conviction of an innocent person, then finally ends with the true murderer being uncovered.

It sounds simple and straightforward, but Neill keeps the audience off balance throughout. Just when we think one piece of evidence will pay off, it doesn't. When we think another bit of business is benign, it turns out to be a crucial clue to the unraveling of the mystery.

Duryea and Vincent are compelling throughout, and they are supported by two excellent character actors, the always-sinister Peter Lorre and future Oscar winner Broderick Crawford.

And I like to think that with "Black Angel," Universal finally atoned for the fatal mistake it made with another Woolrich thriller, "Phantom Lady," in 1944. In the book "Phantom Lady," written by Woolrich under his pseudonym William Irish, the plot was a tightly woven murder mystery, with the revelation of the culprit coming as a surprise to all but the cleverest readers. But when the story was filmed in 1944, Universal made the outrageous decision to reveal the killer's identity to the audience from the start.

In "Black Angel," the murderer's identity is kept from the public until the end, the suspense is sustained, and the final scenes allow the audience to exhale after an hour and a half of diverting tension.

Now that "Black Angel" is available in VHS, you can enjoy one of the finest examples of American film noir on your own screen.

For noir fans, Duryea is the quintessential "bad guy" and hardly ever the leading man, therefore I was surprised to see him billed as such in this movie.

Turns out, this is a perfect little gem of a noir. The evil femme fatale is Mavis Marlowe (Dowling), as a singer with a penchant for blackmail and who one night meets her fate.

Several men are among her victims and they could all be suspects, including ex-husband, drunkard piano player Martin (Duryea), who is still in love with Mavis.

The police pins the murder on Kirk, who is married with Catherine. She is a devoted wife and willing to forgive her husband's indiscretion, but most of all Cathy will never believe Kirk is a murderer. We know he isn't from the start, but what can Cathy do to prove it, thus saving Kirk from the gallows?

She joins forces with Martin, a character who shows Duryea actually had a range. Martin starts falling for Cathy, but will pursue the search for the real murderer at all costs.

Enjoy the musical numbers and the small role played to perfection by the suavely sinister Peter Lorre.

This is very much the sort of quintessential forties film noir that fanciers of the genre get nostalgic for, with just the right balance of grit and glamor, low-budget ambiance and surehanded Hollywood artistry. Dan Duryea is even better here than in his Fritz Lang films (he's got a better role), Veronica Lake clone June Vincent is refreshingly un Lake-like, and Peter Lorre is utterly adorable as a hard-boiled L.A. nightclub owner with a heart of Viennese schlag.

Don't miss this great Universal film noir mystery! Excellent cast brings to life a gritty story of neer-do-well songwriter, the murder of a dispicable sexy blackmailer, and the death sentence of seemingly the wrong man. Throw in wise guy police inspector Broderick Crawford, sinister nightclub owner Peter Lorre (in a fascinating role reversal from "Casablanca"--this time HE is the club owner)Peter Lorre is ALWAYS a treat!!

What a shame Dan Duryea didn't do more pictures! He's very effective in his role. The beautiful love interest June Vincent is another who should have made more pictures--she's very sweet and believeable.

This is another example of the Film Noir genre which was so popular in the 40s and early 50s--gorgeous photography, mood and plot twists!