Black Angel (film, 1946)

In Los Angeles , composer Martin Blair ( Dan Duria ) is standing alone at the entrance to the fashionable Wilshere House apartment building. His ex-wife, the popular singer Mavis Marlow, lives in the house, with whom he expects to restore relations on the next anniversary of their wedding. In memory of this event, Martin sends an ex-wife an expensive heart-shaped brooch, which she gave her on her wedding day, and which she returned to him when she parted. However, Mavis does not want to accept the gift and does not want to see Martin. She calls the doorman with instructions to keep Martin out of the house. The doorman at the entrance does not let Martin in, and he leaves, confronting in the doorway a short, effigy-eyed man ( Peter Lorre ), who freely passes to Mavis. A dejected Martin goes on a hike through the bars, and, as often happens with him, gets drunk before losing his memory. His friend Joe finds Martin and, according to tradition, takes him to his house, in a poor room, where the gatekeeper locks him on the heck.

That same night, after midnight, musician Kirk Bennett arrives at Mavis. Seeing that the door to her apartment is ajar, he goes inside, where he hears Martin’s song “Broken Heart” sounding from the gramophone. Looking around in anticipation of the hostess, he enters the bedroom, where he sees the dead Mavis lying near the bed, and next to her is a heart-shaped brooch. Bennet comes out to call the police on the phone, but when he heard a noise in the bedroom, he comes back, where he sees that the brooch is gone. Bennett tries to catch up with the criminal, but he is hiding behind the door. Bennett runs out into the corridor, and at that moment the door to the apartment slams shut. At that moment, the maid Mavis leaves the elevator. Seeing her, Bennett runs up the stairs, but the maid notices and recognizes him.

After some time, police detective Captain Flood ( Broderick Crawford ) comes home to Bennett and his wife, former singer Katie ( June Vincent ), and takes him to the police station. During the interrogation, Bennett claims that he did not kill anyone, but admits that Mavis blackmailed him with evidence of his connection on the side that Bennett was hiding from his wife. The police consider this to be the motive for the murder, and, together with the testimony of the maid Mavis and his fingerprints in the house, finds this sufficient reason to transfer the case to court. As a result, Bennett is convicted and sentenced to death for intentional homicide. Despite the betrayal of her husband, Katie does not believe that he is a murderer and is trying to persuade Flood to continue the investigation, but he says that this requires new compelling circumstances. Then Katie decides to start an independent investigation. In the art cafe, Katie accidentally hears a conversation between actors who suggest that Mavis was killed by her ex-husband Martin, approving of his actions, since, in their opinion, Mavis was a terrible woman. From one of the actors, Katie receives Martin's address, and soon finds him intoxicated in his room.

Martin confirms to her that he was near Mavis’s house that night, after which Katie accuses him of murder. However, Joe comes soon, who confirms that he personally delivered the drunken Martin to his room that night and locked him outside, so that Martin has an alibi, and the police know about it. Apologizing, Cathy leaves, quietly leaving Martin a certain amount of money as compensation. The next day, sober Martin arrives at Katie's home to return her money. Katie tells him of her futile attempts to prove her husband’s innocence. Accidentally seeing a photograph of her husband, Martin tells Katie that Bennett is not the man he saw entering Mavis’s house that night, and they decide to look for the killer together. Looking through Bennett’s things, Katie finds matches with the initials of Mavis, on the back of which is written a phone number that belongs to the Rio nightclub.

Katie and Martin head to this club, where Martin notices the man he saw at Wilshire House. They are the owner of the club, Mr. Marco ( Peter Lorre ). Katie and Martin decide to follow him. A few days later they come to the club to audition, where Marco really likes their musical number. He contracts with the couple for several weeks. In the office, Marco Martin sees a branded envelope with the initials Mavis, which Marco puts in his safe. Soon, Marco calls Katie into his office to give her a present. He takes a case with a brooch from the safe, but, opening the case, Katie sees that this is not the brooch that belonged to Mavis. Katie manages to spy and remember the code from the safe.

The performances of Katie and Martin are becoming increasingly popular, and Marco extends the contract with them. The relationship between Katie and Martin is becoming increasingly warm and trusting. Martin quit drinking and wrote a song dedicated to Katie. Soon a positive review appears in the newspaper about the performance of their duet. The next evening, when Marco leaves with the author of the article for Shostakovich’s concert, Katie calls Flood, convinced that she can get the necessary evidence in Marco’s safe that will allow the investigation to resume. Then she secretly sneaks into his office, opens the safe and tries to open the metal box stored there. Marco suddenly returns, who, he claims, has long guessed who they are. At that moment, Flood and Martin appear in the office. To remove his suspicions, Marco opens a box in which his daughter’s birth certificate is kept. He says that Mavis was blackmailing him, threatening to tell his daughter about his criminal past. Katie tells Flood that Martin was the one who saw Marco entering the evening of the murder at Wilshire House. To this, Flood replies that at that time he patrolled this territory and picked up Marco an hour before the murder occurred.

Katie feels that her last hope to find the real killer and save her husband from death has collapsed. Returning home, she tells Martin that she does not know what else can be done. Martin says you have to put up with the fact that Bennett is really guilty and confesses his love to her. Katie replies that she is grateful to him for the care and help, but she always loved only her husband.

Leaving Katie, Martin goes on a drunken spree, which lasts several days. The night before Bennett's execution, Martin comes to his senses in one of the bars when a woman kindly greets him, in whose dress he sees his brooch in the shape of a heart. When asked where she got it, the woman reminds Martin that he himself gave her this brooch a few months ago. Martin claims that she is lying, which leads to a skirmish with the boyfriend of this lady. Martin is arrested and taken to the prison drug treatment department. Lying tied to a bed, Martin begins to recall the events that occurred on the night of the murder. He recalls how the gatekeeper let him out of the room for a small amount, how he quietly walked past the turned-down doorman to Wilshire House, how he got into Mavis’s apartment, and how, without controlling himself, he strangled Mavis. Martin talks about everything to his narcologist, demanding to immediately contact Captain Flood. When Flood is not in place, Martin escapes from the hospital and arrives at Katie’s apartment, which she is not at home with. Martin calls the police and asks Captain Flood to contact him as soon as possible. Waiting for Flood's call, Martin finds a bottle of whiskey in the locker and cannot resist. When the phone rings, Martin, forgetting himself in a drunken dream, does not hear him. Katie returns home and sees that Martin is sleeping on the couch in her living room, clutching a brooch. Soon Flood arrives, Martin confesses to him and Katie what he did, after which Flood calls the governor asking him to stop Bennett's execution.

• Dan Duria - Martin Blair
• June Vincent - Katie Bennett
• Peter Lorre - Marco
• Broderick Crawford - Captain Flood
• Constance Dowling - Mavis Marlowe
• Wallace Ford - Joe
• Junius Matthews - Dr. Courtney
• Hobart Cavanaugh - Hotel Watchman

The writer Cornell Woolrich was one of the most significant authors in the noir genre. According to his books and scripts, many noir films have been produced, the most significant of which are The Ghost Lady (1944), Deadline at Dawn (1946), Chase (1946), A Thousand Eyes at Night (1948), “ Window ” (1949), “ Not Her Man ” (1950) and “ Window to the Courtyard ” (1954) ^[1] .

Film director Roy William Neal began his directorial career back in 1919, but reached his greatest fame at the very end of his career, between 1943 and 1946, when he directed eleven films about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson at Universal Studios, starring in which was performed by actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce . The best paintings in this series include “ Sherlock Holmes in the face of death ” (1943), “ Crimson Claw ” (1944), “The Spider ” (1944), “ Pearl of Death ” (1944), “ Castle of Terror ” (1945), “ The Chase in Algeria ”(1945),“ Prelude to Murder ”(1946) and“ Night Terror ”(1946) ^[2] .

Dan Duria was one of the “most famous and most impressive movie villains of the first post-war years, specializing in truly unpleasant personalities without the slightest moral decency” in such classic noirs as “ Woman at the Window ” (1944), “ Street of Sin ” (1945 ) and “ Criss-Cross ” (1949) ^[3] . He also played in the noir “ Ministry of Fear ” (1943), “ Theft ” (1948), “ Too Late for Tears ” (1949), and later in “ Cracker ” (1957) ^[4] .

In the 1940s and 1950s, June Vincent played a lot in category B films , among them the film Noir No Crying (1948), detectives “ Trapped by Boston Blackie ” (1948), “ Detective Mary Ryan ” (1949), “The Lone Wolf and His Lady ” (1949), as well as the noir “ Night Without Sleep ” (1952), the plot of which is much like the plot of “The Black Angel” ^[5] . Peter Lorre was one of the most sought-after actors in the horror and noir genres in the 1930s and 40s, playing, in particular, in the films M (1931), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Crazy Love "(1935)," Stranger on the third floor "(1940)," Maltese Falcon "(1941)," Casablanca "(1942)," Mask of Dimitrios "(1944)," Verdict "(1946) and" Three Strangers "( 1946) ^[6] .

The film was received mostly positively. Although critics controversially evaluated the script, they noted Roy William Neal 's quality directorial work and Dan Duria's strong acting work.

Dennis Schwartz called the picture “a low-budget film with tremendous simplicity” and “an excellent psychological study by Dan Duria of his character, who turned him into a complex figure of a black angel” ^[7] . Schwartz singled out three main advantages of the film: “Roy Chancellor’s brilliant script based on the novel by Cornell Woolrich , Dan Duria’s fascinating acting in the rare role of a pretty character for him, and the impeccable production of Roy William Neal” ^[7] . Hal Erickson also noted Roy Chancellor’s skilful screenplay and Dan Duria’s strong play, calling the film “a modest but imaginative film noir.” ^[8] Craig Butler felt that "Black Angel" is not an iconic noir film, but contains several elements that are worthy of attention. Among them are a rather unusual denouement regarding the identity of the killer, as well as a central plot of unrequited love, which is presented with considerable skill ” ^[9] .

For its part, TimeOut called the film “a not-so-pure adaptation of Cornell Woolrich’s novel, because it was partially curtailed by the thought-provoking subjectivity so lovingly preserved in films by poor studios such as“ Fear in the Night “.” According to the magazine, in the end, "there remains a gloomy thriller in the spirit of" Lady Ghost ", beautifully made with the same unassuming skill that Neal brought to the series about Sherlock Holmes with the participation of Rathbone and Bruce " ^[10] .

And Bosley Crowther in The New York Times noted that the film “properly conveys the atmosphere of the bottom itself, but, unfortunately, all its value is lost due to the most unworthy scenario” ^[11] . He writes: “Hollywood authors of detective melodramas annoy tricks with uncertainty, inventing their manipulations with the plot and characters. And "Black Angel" is another vulgar example of such a banal detective script ... Numerous evidence ultimately turns out to be useless before the scriptwriter pulls the solution out of a nightmare dream ... The script itself is an uneven and confusing one that a self-respecting detective detective would not endure for a long time ... The plot lacks drive and suspense, because despite the author’s diligent attempts to hide the killer’s identity, it’s so easy to find out ” ^[11] . According to Crowther, “if the picture looks like a detective story above the ordinary, then for this we must thank the versatile play of Dan Duria in the main role and the ability of decorators to tastefully set up the set” ^[11] .

The focus of the critics was the acting work of Dan Duria , who, after a series of roles of inveterate villains, this time played a relatively nice character. Crowther wrote about his game: “As the rejected husband of the murdered, Dan Duria goes through a couple of drunken bastards in the style of“ Lost Weekend “”, but in a milder form. “And in fact, in his sober moments, for a change, he appears to be a pretty pretty character, and he is even allowed several fleeting tender romantic scenes with June Vincent , who plays a loyal wife with restraining feelings with a tear in her eyes” ^[11] . TimeOut noted that “the authentic noir fragrance provides Duria, magnificent in the unique and attractive role of a tormented musician with an unfaithful wife, who finds a solution to the mystery of her murder, breaking through the alcoholic haze of his memory” ^[10] .

Butler concluded that “the most unusual moment, however, was the invitation of Dan Duria to the role of a very pleasant romantic hero. Although a certain gloominess is required of the role, Duria, who usually plays villains, here appears charming and attractive; of course, the audience will ultimately be for him, although it is somehow awkward to try to push him into the arms of a woman who intends to remain faithful to her falsely accused husband ” ^[9] . Erickson also writes that “usually invited to play the role of villains, Dan Daria issues an unexpectedly impressive game of a touching romantic hero, and undoubtedly the most interesting and handsome character in the film. His game gives a plot twist in the finale, both striking and convincing ” ^[8] .

Butler praised the work of June Vincent , writing that it is “very good, can be slightly detached, as his possible love interest; she really fights the temptation to do more of her relationship with Duria ” ^[9] . TimeOut noted "a very good cast of supporting actors" ^[10] . Crowther adheres to the same opinion: “As usual, supporting actors play expertly, especially Broderick Crawford as a police lieutenant. Wallace Ford is a suspicious clerk of a run-down hotel, and Peter Lorre is the owner of a criminal club ” ^[11] .

• Black Angel at Rotten Tomatoes
• Black Angel at Turner Classic Movies
• Black Angel Movie Trailer on YouTube