Black Angel

... a satisfyingly menacing Peter Lorre, and a bunch of other people I never heard of before. No seriously, you have Broderick Crawford in a very bit part as a cop, but everybody else is pretty obscure. And Universal really had to limp along in that state from 1936 when the Laemmles lost control and took virtually everybody with name recognition working for the studio with them, into the 1950s. And yet this one works.

Martin Blair (Dan Duryea) is a songwriter who has been on a drunken jag since his wife singer Mavis Marlowe found fame and dumped him. One night, on what would have been their wedding anniversary, he attempts to see her, is bounced out of the building by the doorman, gets plastered, and is taken home by his good friend Joe, and locked in his room. After he is thrown out, Martin sees a mysterious character (Peter Lorre) admitted to see Mavis by the doorman. Even later, Kirk Bennett, who has had an affair with Mavis comes up to her apartment to tell her he can't pay her blackmail anymore to keep her quiet about the affair. He finds her body, manages to touch everything, and then panics and leaves but is spotted by Mavis' maid as she returns from her night out.

Bennett is arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to die for Mavis' murder. All the while his cheated upon wife Catherine stands by him. Then - rather late it seems - she goes to confront Martin, whom she thinks is the killer. When she finds that Martin was locked in his room, out stone cold drunk at the time of the murder, she relents.The two oddly decide to pair up, present themselves as a musical team, and try to investigate shady nightclub owner Marko (Peter Lorre) and solve the murder and save Kirk.

The thing is, while Catherine and Martin are posing as a musical team, they actually start making beautiful music together. Martin is on his longest dry stretch in years, and with Catherine rather ambivalent, you can't help but wonder, given Duryea's usual screen persona, is he now that motivated to find the real killer and send Kirk Bennett back to his wife's arms? Watch and find out.

This one has an ending worth waiting for - I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Don't let the somewhat slow middle deter you. Highly recommended.

Don't miss this great Universal film noir mystery! Excellent cast brings to life a gritty story of neer-do-well songwriter, the murder of a dispicable sexy blackmailer, and the death sentence of seemingly the wrong man. Throw in wise guy police inspector Broderick Crawford, sinister nightclub owner Peter Lorre (in a fascinating role reversal from "Casablanca"--this time HE is the club owner)Peter Lorre is ALWAYS a treat!!

What a shame Dan Duryea didn't do more pictures! He's very effective in his role. The beautiful love interest June Vincent is another who should have made more pictures--she's very sweet and believeable.

This is another example of the Film Noir genre which was so popular in the 40s and early 50s--gorgeous photography, mood and plot twists!

When they were in love, Dan Duryea wrote a hit song for his wife, Constance Dowling. Now they're estranged, she won't see him, and he's making a living playing at a gin mill and taking his pay in product. He tries to see her, but she won't let him in. She will let in night club owner Peter Lorre. When Duryea wakes from his latest drunk, she's dead. Suspicion falls on Duryea, but his flophouse buddy, Wallace Ford, locks him in his room when he's that drunk. Despite Duryea's insistence, Miss Dowling's new regular boyfriend, John Phillips, is found guilty of her murder. Duryea and Phillips' wife, June Vincent, go into partnership to prove Lorre did it.

Roy William Neill's last movie before his death later that year at age 59, is a nice little murder mystery. Despite his use of a lot of film noir visual cues, it doesn't feel like one; the world is not corrupt, just wrong. It is full of nice performances, including ones by Broderick Crawford and Hobart Cavanaugh, and it plays well with Lorre's patented creep character.

This claustrophobic B featuring the usually unctuous Dan Duryea in the lead is a patient and understated murder mystery. Cleverly laid out it does a fine job of leaving the viewer in the dark until the film's final moments.

Tease, blackmailer, hard on the help, easy on the eyes Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling) is murdered. Kirk Bennett stumbling upon the scene is accused tried and sentenced to death. His wife Cathy (June Vincent) however is determined to prove him innocent and together along with Marlowe's former husband, pianist songwriter Marty Blair (Duryea) they launch an elaborate plan to catch the killer and save Bennet from the chair.

Angel is a gruff film featuring a slew of surly types. Mavis is pure poison, nightclub owner Peter Lorre an unsettling threat, Broderick Crawford a cynical dick, Bennet's husband a worthless bungler and Duryea himself a raging alcoholic attempting one day at a time. Roy William Neil's direction is sober and subtle deftly handling not only the mystery but the romantic implications between Marty and Cathy arriving at denouement without resorting to sensationalism. An impressively handled low key mystery.

Despite starring the likes of June Vincent and Dan Duryea, this is a surprisingly good film--thanks to good writing and acting. I was particularly happy to see Duryea in the film, as he usually only got supporting roles as greasy heavies--here he's given a chance to do a lot more.

The film begins with a woman named Mavis Marlow being killed. A guy is convicted of the crime, but his wife (Vincent) is convinced he was innocent. So, with the help of Marlow's ex-husband (Duryea) they investigate. For much of the film, they go undercover at a nightclub run by Peter Lorre but fortunately there is a lot more to this story. While the ending might perhaps be a bit hard to believe, it is pretty original and exciting. I won't say more about this, as I don't want to ruin this excellent film noir movie. I particularly can commend the film for doing so much with so little. It proves you don't need big-name actors to make a very good movie--just a lot of talent, writing and style.