By David in TN
friday, december 1, 2023 at 7:34:00 p.m. est
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Roy William Neill’s Black Angel (1946), with Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford, Constance Dowling, Wallace Ford and John Phillips.
Film Noir Guide: “A singer and part-time extortionist (Dowling) is found strangled by one of her victims (Phillips), a former lover. He’s seen leaving the scene and then quickly arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death. His faithful and forgiving wife (Vincent) is determined to find the real killer and clear her husband before his execution.
“A tough homicide detective (Crawford) has already investigated the only other suspect, the murdered woman’s estranged husband (Duryea), an alcoholic pianist and songwriter. Duryea, however, has an airtight alibi: His friend (Ford) locked him in his room on the night of the murder, as is his habit, whenever Duryea is on a particularly nasty binge.
“Hoping to find evidence that will save Phillips, Vincent teams up with Duryea to go undercover as a musical team at a nightclub owned by another of Dowling’s blackmail victims (Lorre).
“Of course, Duryea, who’s trying hard to stay on the wagon, finds himself falling for Vincent, but the feeling isn’t mutual. Based on a novel by pulp writer [unfair] Cornell Woolrich, this intriguing film is notable for its fast pace, enjoyable musical numbers and distinctive performances by Lorre and noir icon Duryea, cast against his usual villainous type.”
David in TN: You've referred to Red Eddie Muller’s choosing “crap movies.” Last week he put on Storm Fear, the worst so-called Noir I’ve ever seen. Eddie, in his outro, blamed it on Cornel Wilde’s inexperience as a director, and admitted to a “misfire,” a considerable understatement.
I would prefer rather to see the movie "White Angel".
ReplyDeleteIf a movie isn't "good," should it never ever be shown? I saw this a long time ago, and yes it wasn't so hot, but it did have an excellent score by Elmer Bernstein, which I extracted to an audio tape before erasing the film. Maybe someone would want to see it for the music, or someone out there is a Cornel Wilde fan, or someone just likes crime-suspense movies (this is NOT A "film noir"). Why not put "David in Tn" in charge and just show the movies HE approves of over and over? -RM
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous 1:44 PM,
ReplyDeleteAs of now the First Amendment is still operative.
TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET is William Nigh's I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes (1948) with Elyse Knox, Don Castle, Charles D. Brown, Regis Toomey, Don Castle.
ReplyDeleteDavid In TN: This is a little-known film from Monogram that isn't in Film Noir Guide, never before on TCM. Nevertheless, this time Eddie Muller has chosen a good one.
Elyse Knox tries to rescue her husband (Castle) from execution after he is wrongly convicted of murder. This one is based on a Cornell Woolrich novel.
Knox was a B-movie actress who married Michigan Heisman trophy winning football hero Tom Harmon when he cne back from the war. She was the mother of actor Mark Harmon.
I saw I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes once before and recommend it.