L'ange des ténèbres

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!

...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.

Frederic March, Merle Oberon, and Herbert Marshall comprise a love triangle in "The Dark Angel," set in the grimness of World War I. Kitty (Oberon) has grown up with both Alan (March) and Gerald (Marshall) and knows the day will come when she must choose between them. She chooses Alan, but before they can be married, he's called back into service. With just a few hours left, she accompanies him to the meeting point for his troop and stays with him at the hotel. When Gerald, in the same troop, finds out that Alan was at the hotel with a woman, he turns against him, believing that he cheated on Kitty. He refuses him leave and sends him into treacherous battle.

Merle Oberon gives a touching performance as Kitty. She's very beautiful and has a lovely presence. Both March and Marshall are very good, March having the more histrionic role.

"The Dark Angel" comes off as dated and there's very much a "stiff upper lip, old chap" feeling about it. It's frustrating to see the Alan character behave as he does, but this of course keeps the viewer interested, and Oberon and the supporting characters infuse the atmosphere with warmth.

Worth it to see these classic stars. "The Dark Angel" is an old chestnut but a worthy one.

'The Dark Angel' had some traps that were easy to fall into at this particular time in film history, fallen into a number of times. Being based on a hit stage play, it could have been very stagy, overly wordy and the story could have been very melodramatic and creaky in pace. Even potentially being of the time and feeling out of date in later years. Still saw it anyway, having liked Merle Oberon, Frederic March and Herbert Marshall in other things and loving a lot of Alfred Newman's film scores.

While not a great film and sadly the traps that films adapted from stage plays are not avoided, 'The Dark Angel' is an interesting one and definitely worth a look. And for more than just curiosity value or for completest sake, with people perhaps being keen to see whether Oberon was deserving of her Oscar nomination, her only nomination in a career spanning four decades (excluding for a second her uncredited early appearances in very small roles).

Although 'The Dark Angel' has a lot of merits, it also has quite a few drawbacks. It is betrayed by its stage origins and has a filmed play feel. Evident in the confined atmosphere, as well as some draggy pacing in the first half, being heavy on a good deal of talk that could have been leaner and some static moments.

Some of the story is a little on the mawkish side, Alan's behaviour frustrates and confuses, and the supporting cast don't have particularly meaty roles and don't stand out massively, the younger cast are actually on the amateurish side. John Halliday gives the best supporting performance as the only supporting character to be interesting properly.

However, 'The Dark Angel' is very much a showcase for the three leads and not only are their characters well defined all three are extremely good in their roles. Marshall does jealousy and conflicted with intensity, while March despite his role not being quite as subtle brings noble dignity and does it with nuance. Despite not having her usual glamorous image, Oberon is quite a revelation, one can see what Gerald and Alan see in Kitty and she is very affecting without being histrionic. The direction is accomodating yet gives enough momentum when the story becomes more complicated.

It looks great on the whole. The sets are simple but have an elegance about them, but it's the handsome photography that catches the eye the most. Newman's score is understated, which is in keeping with the film's intimacy, and beautifully orchestrated. The script is talky but is also very sincere, while the story has some genuinely touching moments (the final scene is a tear-jerker) without generally falling into bathos too much.

Overall, interesting and moving but the stage origins show. 7/10

This remake of DARK ANGEL is worth watching for three things, and those things are the stars: March, Marshall and Oberon. The plot is more than ridiculous, so concentrate on the acting. Marshall, who actually sustained a serious leg injury during WWI, is perfectly cast as a military veteran haunted by a decision that may have taken the life of his childhood friend, played by March. March, who was blinded but not killed as a result of that decision, plays "dead" and assumes a new identity. Oberon is their childhood sweetheart; she planned to marry March but presuming him to be dead, settles for Marshall. The three meet in March's cottage at the climax. Marshall has bearing, Oberon is drop dead gorgeous, and March is wonderfully restrained as the blind putz. The music is gorgeous, the cinematography is crisp. Be prepared to pull out some tissues or a big hankie for the climax. March shot this soon after making DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, which is one of his greatest flicks.