- editor rating
-
3
- user rating
- flags
-
- Suitable for Children
- genres
- sub-genres
- category
- Feature
- directed by
- countries
- USA
- released
- 1946
- run time
- 80 min.
- produced by
- UN
- released by
- Universal
(1946)
3
Craig Butler
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.
Black Angel on AllMovie
Black Angel (1946)
