Black & White World

Black Angel (1946)

Dan Duryea and June Vincent star in this odd little film that’s barely saved from being a standard B-noir for two reasons:  one, Peter Lorre as the bad guy.  Movies like this are often only as strong as their actors, particularly the antagonist, and Lorre is subtly menacing.  It’s weird; when you watch Lorre, he’s never really doing anything particularly creepy.  He just is.

The second thing that saves it from being standard B-noir is the ending.  As usual, I don’t really traffic in spoilers, but I will say this:  when you’ve watched as many movies from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s as I have, you start to see how they’re going to end by the mid-way point.  Some of this was because of the Hays Code—you’d never see a criminal triumph over the law, for example—but mostly it’s just proven formulas.  So it’s super-surprising to come across a movie like Black Angel and it doesn’t adhere to any formula.  Even if the ending stinks, at least it’s different and unexpected.

Dan Duryea is a favorite of mine and I always enjoy watching him work, and he’s in fine form here (a rare lead).  June Vincent is kind of a dud romantically, but she has a pretty voice.  Robert’s right, though—the songs stink.

1. So what’s the verdict, Stennie? How noir was it? Didn’t those tunes suck?

   Posted by  on  01/01  at  07:25 AM

2. The songs did suck, but quite an unusual movie for its time.  I really hope to getting my reviews caught up in the next couple of days.

   Posted by  on  01/02  at  12:40 AM

3. Take your time…
   If I were pressed to classify thid, I would put it among the “bad musicals” before I would call it noir, though I did enjoy the end, starting from the moment that Dan started nagging June to forget about all of it and run away with him. (That’s when I guessed the ending, though I still enjoyed watching it come.)

   Posted by  on  01/14  at  02:56 PM
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