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Staring: Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford, Constance Dowling
Director: Roy William Neill
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Product Details
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: DURYEA,DAN
EAN: 9781417011599
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
ISBN: 1417011599
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2004-07-06
Running Time: 81
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1946-08-02

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Editorial Review
Product Description
No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 6-JUL-2004
Media Type: DVD

Customer Reviews

Glossy and Involving Noir, 2009-01-05
This Universal crime noir benefits greatly from a beautiful score by Frank Skinner and some glossy production values from Roy William Neill, who added some nice directorial touches as well. An excellent cast of noir regulars and lovely June Vincent keep us interested. While the tension of a wronged wife remaining true to a cheating husband, attempting to save him from being executed for the murder of his lover, doesn't have the nail biting tension it should, it is still quite engrossing.

Dan Duryea is Martin Blair, the songwriter husband of beautiful Mavis Marlowe, whose penchant for blackmail gets her strangled to death in 1940's Los Angeles. Discovering her body when he arrives for a rendezvous, Kirk Bennett flees the scene and soon finds himself on death row. June Vincent is excellent as his wife; a woman of quality made for good times and bad. She is at a dead end trying to clear him when she overhears Martin's name in connection with Mavis. He has been on a drinking binge since her death but sobers up long enough to convince her he wasn't the killer either, giving the sweet Cathy just one more false lead. But when he comes to return money she had slid under his door and sees her husband's picture, he realizes he wasn't the man he saw going into her apartment that night.

Blair feels sorry for her and the two hook up to find a broach that will prove it was someone else who kept Mavis from singing. Peter Lorre is fun to watch as Marko, the nightspot owner Blair and Cathy believe is the killer. Teaming up as a piano player and songstress, they get in close and bide their time to get the evidence. But Broderick Crawford as detective Flood isn't quite the shoddy investigator they'd thought, and Marko isn't so dumb either. A sudden twist derails them and the viewer, leaving both to wonder--just who did kill Mavis? As the day for execution grows nearer, both must know the truth. Complicating matters are the feelings of Blair, who has found in Cathy someone who is everything Mavis was not.

The viewer is sucked into Cornell Woolrich's story right from the start, Roy Chanslor's screenplay played out by a fine cast. Duryea, who usually played the heavy, gets a shot at the romantic lead for a change and makes it believable. June Vincent looks lovely and wholesome even when the studio's Vera West glams her up during the club scenes, and makes Catherine's devotion nearly believable as well. Both are so good in fact, the viewer almost wishes for a different ending. To say anything further would ruin the experience for anyone seeing this glossy noir for the first time. Fans of the genre will find all the trappings here for a good time at the movies.

I love movies..., 2009-08-29
... where you can see how much contempt the law has for justice. If it did, people getting rid of blackmailers should not be prosecuted, but decorated (unless, of course, blackmailers are regarded as an endangered species and therefore should be protected, which just proves my point).

Aside of that, R.W. Neill, having completed the Sherlock Holmes series, really made a very fine job with this one -very good story, fine cast- just got me regretting his heart attack prevented him from making more of this caliber.

A great film noir movie, 2008-12-12
This movie is now one of my personal favorites in the category of film noir. I had never seen the movie before and I absolutely loved it. All of the actors were great. I especially enjoyed the actress that played the accused man's wife. I would highly recommend this movie to the "die-hard" film noir fans out there.

Laugh your way through the cliches!, 2008-11-20
This is one for the books...very enjoyable noir. Let other reviews cover the unlikely-to-say-the-least plot. Just enjoy Duryea's hair, Lorre's hanging fag, and "Catherine"s forehead...along with, of course, some classic lines of your choosing. A strong 3-stars!

Noir Angel, 2009-02-27
BLACK ANGEL (1946): Not the best film noir you'll ever experience, the plot being the weakest element. But if you are a Dan Duryea fan (as I am), then add a star; it becomes a must see. Duryea gets a lot of screen time, which is unusual for him. Lorre fans may be a little disappointed as the character of Marko is a little underwritten and understated.

It is directed by Roy William Neill; his last film. Neill is perhaps best known for his directorial work on the Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes series. In fact, a later pub-crawling scene reminds me of a sequence in SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (1943).

THE PLOT:
A blackmailing beauty is murdered: suspects abound. Is it Martin Blair (Duryea), her drunken, jilted husband, or perhaps Marko (Peter Lorre), a fellow who was seen entering the building to see her? Whoever it may be, Kirk Bennett (John Phillips) has been found guilty of the crime. Can his wife Catherine (June Vincent) save him from execution? She goes undercover with Blair, as a nightclub act in Marko's clip-joint, to find out.

It is easy to see how BLACK ANGEL could achieve a cult standing. Stylish atmosphere and noirish sequences highlight the film. Unfortunately, I found the DVD image quality a little grainy. If I had known this earlier, I probably would have just hung on to my VHS copy. The only extra on the disc is a film trailer. I am happy though, just to have seen this film released on DVD, and look forward to a future restoration.

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