FERNANDO’s CORNER ~ Posted April 13th, 2016
I saw the Film Noir “BLACK ANGEL” (1946), a film I have just checked that I had seen pre-viously in 2009 and I had forgotten completely, because I thought I was watching it for the first time. It was for the best because since I did not remember anything about it, I was glued to my seat all the way through and guessing until the very end.
Dan Duryea gives an impressive performance as the embittered and alcoholic musician who was discarded by the egotistical, manipulative, evil and selfish singer Mavis Marlowe. The lovely June Vincent, whom I had never seen before, is very good as Mrs. Bennett.
Constance Dowling (she and her sister Doris from ~ “The Blue Dahlia” “The Lost Weekend” “Bitter Rice”~ were ideally suited for Femme Fatale roles and both went later to make pictures in Italy) in her little screen time is electrifying and magnetic as the deadly Mavis, a true Praying Mantis, we realize after wards.
Peter Lorre and Broderick Crawford are also good, but I was especially pleased to see Wallace Ford, who starred in some Pre-Codes in the early 30s, who here plays a man who takes care of the troubled character played by Duryea. Very good.
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