Black Angel

Director: Roy William Neill

Overview

"Roy William Neill's Black Angel (1946), based on the book by Cornell Woolrich, is one of the more obscure thrillers in Universal's library, and the DVD release is a major event. Up to this point, Black Angel had only shown up intermittently on cable and

Product Details

Release Date:	07/06/2004
UPC:	0025192549823
Original Release:	1946
Rating:	NR
Source:	Universal Studios
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:21:00
Sales rank:	34,381

Special Features

Closed Caption; [None specified]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

June Vincent	Catherine Bennett
Dan Duryea	Martin Blair
Peter Lorre	Marko
Broderick Crawford	Capt. Flood
Wallace Ford	Joe
Hobart Cavanaugh	Jake
Constance Dowling	Marvis Marlowe
Freddie Steele	Lucky
Ben Bard	Bartender
John Phillips	Kirk Bennett
Maurice St. Clair	Dance Team Member
Junius Matthews	Dr. Courtney
Marion Martin	Millie
Michael Branden	George Mitchell
Vilova	Dance Team Member
Robert Williams	Second Detective
Florence Auer	Madame
Ralph Brooks	Intern
Dorothy Granger	Woman
Eula Guy	Neighbor Lady
Chuck Hamilton	Man
Mauritz Hugo	Gambler
Ann Lawrence	Girl Clerk
Steve Olsen	Bartender
Pat Starling	Tap Dancer
Dick Wessel	Doorman
Eddy Chandler	Sgt. Baker

Technical Credits

Tom McKnight	Producer
Roy William Neill	Producer

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Main Titles [1:14]
2. Now or Ever [4:00]
3. Got it Bad [2:45]
4. "Heartbreak" [6:23]
5. Convicted [4:01]
6. Where's Marty Blair? [2:43]
7. Playing My Song [5:25]
8. I Need Your Help [5:04]
9. At the Club [3:38]
10. Open Auditions [5:12]
11. "Time Will Tell" [4:23]
12. A Special Occasion [6:23]
13. Be a Good Girl [4:25]
14. Wasted Time [6:06]
15. Only One Man [3:14]
16. The Missing Link [2:52]
17. Murder Relived [6:02]
18. The Wrong Man [6:31]

Menu

Side #1 --
Scenes
Trailer
Languages
Spoken Language: English
Captions & Subtitles
Captions
Captioned for the Hearing Impaired: English
Subtitles
Español
Français
None
Play

Editorial Reviews

Black Angel is not one of the landmarks of film noir, but it has a number of elements worth commenting on. These include a fairly original pay-off in terms of the identity of the killer, as well as a central unrequited love plot that is handled with considerable finesse. The most unusual element, however, is the casting of Dan Duryea as a fairly likeable romantic lead. While the part still calls for a certain darkness to it, Duryea, usually cast as a heavy, comes across as winning and engaging; certainly the audience ends up rooting for him, even as it feels uneasy trying to push him into the arms of a woman determined to be faithful to her wrongly-convicted husband. June Vincent is fine, if a little distant, as the would-be love interest; although she' occasionally too bland, she does resist the temptation to make more of the character's relationship with Duryea. Angel does drag in a few places, and director Roy William Neill could have done more to create tension and atmosphere, but the film is still effective and quite enjoyable.