Der Weg im Dunkel

In classic Enchantment, Four Feathers, and Casablanca glory, The Dark Angel is a wartime romance that pins Fredric March and Herbert Marshall against each other for the hand of Merle Oberon. As children, the three grew up as close friends, with young Merle desperately in love with Freddie. Once they grow up, of course, hormones kick in and both men fall in love with their younger playmate. Then, with WWI breaking out, Merle makes the choice to follow her heart, but with unforeseen consequences. . .

My mom always roots for Herbert Marshall's character when she watches this movie, but I think it's just because she's partial to him in other movies. There's nothing wrong with Fredric March's character, and it really does feel like he loves Merle just as much as Bart. But, just in case you prefer Bart, you'll be in good company.

Personally, I like Enchantment and the 1978 version of Four Feathers better, but there are some cute moments. It gets a little far fetched towards the end, but isn't that what old movies are for? A little tears, a little romance, and a little melodrama over a wartime setting. If you agree, check out this classic.

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

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!

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.

...and apparently was one of the least popular "A" stars during the golden era - I've never seen her listed in any of the box office polls, even those that go up to nearly 100 names (she's not on 1941-42 list when she top-lined three big pictures while 52 other women are - including Judy Canova, Ruth Hussey, Priscilla Lane, and Brenda Joyce, as well as allegedly plummeting stars like Norma Shearer and Kay Francis). But I digress.

This was her Hollywood film and apparently Goldwyn pull out the works to make her a star, and she somehow managed to get a Best Actress nomination for this soaper where she basically does nothing but pose for the camera (she never really seems to interact with her costars Fredric March and Herbert Marshall, just waiting for her chance to recite her lines and pose in flattering angles for the camera (this movie has an absurd number of closeups of her "reacting" with smiling, tears, worry - but never with sincerity, only the desire to look good.) She's not that terrible I suppose but there's certainly nothing in her performance that suggests it's award worthy

Oberon plays a girl who grows up near cousins March and Marshall and loves them both, though always just friendship for Marshall and a total crush on March. World War I breaks out and she and March become engaged but plans to marry during the war are thwarted and eventually he is presumed dead but is actually blind in an enemy hospital. Transferred to a hospital for the British troops, he refuses to give his real name and be reunited with his family, not wanting to be a burden to Oberon.

Meanwhile, three years pass, Oberon and Marshall become engaged and March becomes a children's book author. The movie is a typically gorgeous Goldwyn production but pretty dull and with plenty of "mush" as the kid's from the era used to say. March is quite good (and the picture gets better when Oberon is out of it as March learns to adjust to his condition with the help of some children and a young widow who runs the inn he's living at) but it's pretty absurd at times and misses the boat in it's attempts to be moving.