Fallen Angel (1945)

A slick con man arrives in a small town looking to make some money, but soon gets more than he bargained for.

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Harry Kleiner (screen play), Marty Holland (novel)

Stars:

Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews), thrown off a bus for not having the fare, begins to frequent a diner called "Pop's Eats" , whose main attraction is a beautiful waitress by the name of Stella seems disinterested in Eric, he decides if he had money she would pay attention to his advances. He marries June Mills ( Alice Faye ) for her money, and Stella is mysteriously murdered. Even though June learns of Eric's dishonest plans, she still loves him. It is with her support that he investigates the killing on his own, eventually discovering the shocking identity of the real killer.

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Plot Keywords:

drifter | police violence | deception | small town | con man | 

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Taglines:

The creator of "Laura" does it again!

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 March 1946 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

¿Ángel o diablo?

Filming Locations:

409 N Shaffer Street, Orange, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,075,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While on their date, Dana Andrews and Alice Faye exit a movie theater and walk past a Rexall Pharmacy. Beginning less than a year after the film was released, Faye would co-star on a weekly radio show with her husband Phil Harris, sponsored by Rexall.

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Goofs

Among the works listed on the church reader board for June Mills's upcoming organ recital are a Stabat Mater by Beethoven and a Requiem by Brahms. Beethoven never wrote a Stabat Mater, and the only Requiem by Brahms is a massive choral work, highly unlikely to be played as an organ solo.

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Quotes

Mark Judd: [Walking over to Stella] I knew you'd come back Stella.
Stella: [looks at him from her chair in disdain, rubbing her sore feet] Okay.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits appear on the screen as a series of road signs seen through the windshield of a bus driving at night time.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Paducah
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played during the scene in the San Francisco hotel bar

User Reviews

Sensationally Nuts (But Entertaining)

FALLEN ANGEL so brazenly bowls right through and over a bevy of inconsistencies and implausibilities, it is a surprisingly entertaining ride. It's certainly not better than LAURA or anything approaching "seminal" and does have credibility gaps wider than the Grand Canyon (unusual for Preminger), but I seem to keep coming back to one thing.. this is a satisfying movie!

One significant plus is the performances of the three leads. Diamond- jawed toughguy con artist Dana Andrews dizzily monotones his way through a fusillade of come-ons and take-offs, shucking and jiving his way upwards in a bedroom community with quiet panache and casual menace. Alice Faye (who was so edited out in favor of Linda Darnell that she basically quit the business for the better part of two decades) shines as the closeted church organist with a heart of gold and lust. And Darnell makes the most of her smoulderingly disaffected come hither (but don't touch me) gazes. As bizarre as it is to think men would order lousy food in the greasy spoon dive where Darnell waitresses day after day, year after year in order to be around her, this is about the only thing in the entire script which is remotely plausible.

Don't examine motives, track character arcs or analyze logic and you'll be happier with FALLEN ANGEL. In a movie where the police deputize civilians to beat up witnesses in order to "gather information" and where some individuals' entire character and identity change at the drop of a hat, the charm of this movie is in the gleefully melodramatic yet charming interactions of the love quadrilateral that is Alice Faye, Faye's sister, Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell. In particular, Andrews and Darnell display some good chemistry in their dark and twisted courtship, which in 2004 plays as much like a borderline stalking and attempted rape as it does romance. It must have been particularly racy in 1945.

Not believable for a second, but enjoyable for more than an hour, FALLEN ANGEL is worth a look for hardcore fans of crime drama, noir, and Dana Andrews / Linda Darnell. Possibly the definitive example of "bad boy meets bad girl, bad boy marries good girl to steal her money to get bad girl, bad boy blamed for bad girl's murder, bad boy ends up with good girl thanks to bizarre and ridiculous deus ex machina ending" out there. Like Andrews' irrational love for Darnell, the less you analyze it, the more hidden charms you may find to appreciate. Seven bullets out of ten.