Black Angel (1946)
What a vigorous, fast, surprising movie. This is a straight up crime film in a noir style, and Dan Duryea holds it up in his indecisive, regular guy kind of way. Duryea always has trouble as the leading man because he often plays a tough guy with a soft heart, and is a little whiny or annoying by design. It's an uncomfortable role to play, not quite sympathetic as the protagonist, not quite evil as the antagonist.
A better B-movie, the budget just had enough room for someone like Duryea, and a small part for both Peter Lorre, who is fantastic (as usual) playing a suspicious night club owner, and Broderick Crawford, who is an oddly subdued detective. The leading woman, June Vincent, is fine in her part as an everyday woman caught up in an effort to save her husband from the death chamber, though she was chosen more for her singing than her acting. She and Duryea sing and play the piano together, and torch song music is central to the feel of the movie. Duryea might not actually be playing the piano but he does such a good job of faking it, he might have pulled it off.
But what makes the film special? First of all, it's fast. The first twenty minutes have enough turns and dramatic climaxes for many entire movies. And then there's the filming, the visuals, which are vigorous and kinetic. The wild zoom in from the street up a tall building and into the room near the beginning is crazy--like low budget Gregg Toland from "Citizen Kane." But this is either cinematographer Paul Ivano, who is an uncredited photographer for part of "Frankenstein," believe it or not, or more likely the special effects guy, David Horsley, who helped with a whole slew of classics, including "Bride of Frankenstein," oddly enough. The scene near the end where Duryea is hallucinating is terrific, with its distortions.
Whatever the faults of the movie (possibly the weakness of the female lead, who becomes the central character) it has so much surprise and velocity it is terrific anyway.
What a vigorous, fast, surprising movie. This is a straight up crime film in a noir style, and Dan Duryea holds it up in his indecisive, regular guy kind of way. Duryea always has trouble as the leading man because he often plays a tough guy with a soft heart, and is a little whiny or annoying by design. It's an uncomfortable role to play, not quite sympathetic as the protagonist, not quite evil as the antagonist.
A better B-movie, the budget just had enough room for someone like Duryea, and a small part for both Peter Lorre, who is fantastic (as usual) playing a suspicious night club owner, and Broderick Crawford, who is an oddly subdued detective. The leading woman, June Vincent, is fine in her part as an everyday woman caught up in an effort to save her husband from the death chamber, though she was chosen more for her singing than her acting. She and Duryea sing and play the piano together, and torch song music is central to the feel of the movie. Duryea might not actually be playing the piano but he does such a good job of faking it, he might have pulled it off.
But what makes the film special? First of all, it's fast. The first twenty minutes have enough turns and dramatic climaxes for many entire movies. And then there's the filming, the visuals, which are vigorous and kinetic. The wild zoom in from the street up a tall building and into the room near the beginning is crazy--like low budget Gregg Toland from "Citizen Kane." But this is either cinematographer Paul Ivano, who is an uncredited photographer for part of "Frankenstein," believe it or not, or more likely the special effects guy, David Horsley, who helped with a whole slew of classics, including "Bride of Frankenstein," oddly enough. The scene near the end where Duryea is hallucinating is terrific, with its distortions.
Whatever the faults of the movie (possibly the weakness of the female lead, who becomes the central character) it has so much surprise and velocity it is terrific anyway.