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

The $25,000 left of the Mills estate would equate to over $333,000 in 2017.

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Goofs

The windows of the San Francisco Bank and Trust Co. advertise "Safety Deposit Boxes". The correct terminology is Safe Deposit Boxes.

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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 ...

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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

Dark Lustrous Gem

Sure, 'Fallen Angel's' plot is full of holes and improbabilities - but what noir isn't full of them?! Indeed much of the appeal and frisson of the genre stems from its tales' and characters' nightmarish, inexplicable irrationality.

The almost always underrated Dana Andrews is superb here in a brilliantly understated performance: by posture, tilt of head, and deft deployment of his eyes he communicates more than most actors manage to tell with their whole scenery-chewing bodies; and Alice Faye kept me guessing: was her June the "still water runs deep" character whodunit? Most of all there's 'Fallen Angel's peerless camera-work and direction that raise it a notch or two above the rather overrated 'Laura' - whose plot sometimes drags and which is chiefly rescued by the literate, finicky presence of Clifton Webb; and Gene Tierney's mannered, diffident, and albeit mysterious Laura isn't half the hard-boiled noir femme fatale that Linda Darnell's Stella is in 'Fallen Angel.' There's another lovely, understated effort here from Bruce Cabot and still another from Percy Kilbride; but in the supporting cast Anne Revere stands out for moving the plot along, for creating tangible suspense, and for two solid moments of palpable nape-prickling foreboding.

'Fallen Angel' is just one of the most underrated noirs. Period.

Just one question I'd like to put: when Dana Andrews enters the hotel auditorium during the spook show, is the blonde woman, seated on the aisle one row behind the brunette (Adele Jergens, uncredited) woman Andrews asks to shift over, his future 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' co-star Virginia Mayo? She sure looks like Mayo.

By the way, the recent 'Fallen Angel' DVD release commentary track by noir maven Eddie Muller is gracefully enhanced by his pairing with with Dana Andrews' daughter Susan Andrews.