Fallen Angel (1945)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Marty Holland (novel)
Harry Kleiner (writer)

Release Date:

5 December 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

The creator of "Laura" does it again!

Plot:

Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews), thrown off a bus for not having the fare, begins to frequent a diner called "Pop's Eats" ...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Diner | Small Town | Waitress | Drifter

Cast

Alice Faye	...	June Mills
Dana Andrews	...	Eric Stanton
Linda Darnell	...	Stella
Charles Bickford	...	Mark Judd
Anne Revere	...	Clara Mills
Bruce Cabot	...	Dave Atkins
John Carradine	...	Professor Madley
Percy Kilbride	...	Pop

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #10940)

Filming Locations:

Orange, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Alice Faye, married to Phil Harris and raising two young daughters, then tiring after nearly a dozen years of hectic moving-making, and disappointed with the outcome of this release, chose to leave Twentieth Century-Fox before her contract expired. Eventually, she would return to work at the studio once, playing the mother role in a bland filming of Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair (1962). Originally, Miss Faye had turned down the band-singer part in the more satisfying 1945 version.

Quotes:

Joe Ellis: Get in.
Eric Stanton: I'm not going.
Professor Madley: Not going? What's wrong?
Eric Stanton: Nothing. You go ahead. I'll meet you.
Professor Madley: But Eric - we need you for the advance publicity. San Francisco's a tough town on spooks.
Joe Ellis: Come on! hit 'em like the earthquake!
Eric Stanton: When I feel like it. I made it clear to you when I took this job. You can't tie me down. Cramps my style. I always work best when a certain feeling comes over me, and right now I haven't got it.
Joe Ellis: [under his breath] Genius!
Professor Madley: Eric my boy, you're an artist. You have my sympathy. And a bus ticket on the firm.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Linda Darnell: Hollywood's Fallen Angel" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Slowly

This should be a hotly pursued video

There is so much to say about the way Otto Preminger directs a movie. His previous success, "Laura" (1944), was a blockbuster, but lacked the murky influence of film noir that was so popular during this time. Sure there was some film noir technique employed in "Laura", but not enough. However, "Laura" still holds it's own even by today's standards and the media, along with the marketing people, have done us all a favor (this time!!!) in keeping this classic alive and popular.

Needless to say, "Fallen Angel" redeems Preminger's ability to present a film in the classic noir of it's time and because of this is competitive with Billy Wilder's "Lost Weekend" (1945) and "Double Indemnity" (1944), both huge successes with audiences. But what about "Fallen Angel"?

Despite the cinematography and the super cast, "Fallen Angel" went to the chopping block via the critics. The critics rated this film as mediocre and audiences stayed away. Alice Faye, in her only dramatic role, left the movies in disgust partly because of what the critics did to this film. Why?

From beginning to end, the viewer is treated to some of the best cinematography that this art form had to offer. The way sluttish Linda Darnell is depicted before the camera is a treat for the eye and enhances her sexuality. The way Percy Kilbride is smitten with Darnell throughout the movie, up to the climax is an essential link to the continuity of the movie as well as with the novel by Marty Holland. The way Charles Bickford sits behind the lunch counter, slowly sipping his coffee sending a message to the viewer that something deep inside him is simmering, ready to explode. We all know that Bickford, along with Kilbride, Dana Andrews and Bruce Cabot all are victims to the whims of the dark Darnell.

And the way the blonde, good and virtuous Faye is contrasted with the dark, bad and selfish Darnell is more proof that this film should be marketed for the masses. The plot is strong, the camera work of Joseph LaShelle and, especially the film direction by Preminger rates this movie as one of the best of it's time.

Yes, this film rates up there with "Laura", "Double Indemnity" and "The Lost Weekend"; all three super classics from this era and available on VHS and DVD. Why not "Fallen Angel"?