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Black Angel (Universal Noir Collection) | 
 enlarge | Director: Roy William Neill
Actors: Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford, Constance Dowling
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $3.62
You Save: $11.36 (76%)
New (35) Used (18) from $2.83
Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 8476
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 81 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 25498
ISBN: 1417011599
UPC: 025192549823
EAN: 9781417011599
ASIN: B00023P4G0
Theatrical Release Date: August 2, 1946
Release Date: July 6, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: factory sealed ships first class~
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Product Description
When a beautiful hard-boiled black-mailer is murdered in her swank apartment there are any number of men who might have done it. There's Martin Blair (Dan Duryea) the drunken husband she's dumped; there's shady nightclub owner Marko (Peter Lorre); and there's Kirk Bennett (John Phillips) who was cheating on his wife with her.It's Bennett who was spotted at the crime scene and it's his long-suffering wife Catherine (June Vincent). Who sets out to save him from being executed. Suspecting Marko she teams up with Blair to perform in Marko's club and investigate. Suspense and romance - follow this taut murder-mystery winds its way through a maze of clues to a first-rate surprise ending.Strong performances and stylish atmosphere result in edge-on-you-seat entertainment and one of "the 25 most memorable cult films" (Andrew Sarris Village Voice).System Requirements: Runing Time 71 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 025192549823 Manufacturer No: 25498
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Glossy and Involving Noir January 5, 2009
Bobby Underwood (Bakersfield, California United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This Universal crime noir benefits greatly from a beautiful score by Frank Skinner and some glossy production values from Roy William Neill, who added some nice directorial touches as well. An excellent cast of noir regulars and lovely June Vincent keep us interested. While the tension of a wronged wife remaining true to a cheating husband, attempting to save him from being executed for the murder of his lover, doesn't have the nail biting tension it should, it is still quite engrossing.
Dan Duryea is Martin Blair, the songwriter husband of beautiful Mavis Marlowe, whose penchant for blackmail gets her strangled to death in 1940's Los Angeles. Discovering her body when he arrives for a rendezvous, Kirk Bennett flees the scene and soon finds himself on death row. June Vincent is excellent as his wife; a woman of quality made for good times and bad. She is at a dead end trying to clear him when she overhears Martin's name in connection with Mavis. He has been on a drinking binge since her death but sobers up long enough to convince her he wasn't the killer either, giving the sweet Cathy just one more false lead. But when he comes to return money she had slid under his door and sees her husband's picture, he realizes he wasn't the man he saw going into her apartment that night.
Blair feels sorry for her and the two hook up to find a broach that will prove it was someone else who kept Mavis from singing. Peter Lorre is fun to watch as Marko, the nightspot owner Blair and Cathy believe is the killer. Teaming up as a piano player and songstress, they get in close and bide their time to get the evidence. But Broderick Crawford as detective Flood isn't quite the shoddy investigator they'd thought, and Marko isn't so dumb either. A sudden twist derails them and the viewer, leaving both to wonder--just who did kill Mavis? As the day for execution grows nearer, both must know the truth. Complicating matters are the feelings of Blair, who has found in Cathy someone who is everything Mavis was not.
The viewer is sucked into Cornell Woolrich's story right from the start, Roy Chanslor's screenplay played out by a fine cast. Duryea, who usually played the heavy, gets a shot at the romantic lead for a change and makes it believable. June Vincent looks lovely and wholesome even when the studio's Vera West glams her up during the club scenes, and makes Catherine's devotion nearly believable as well. Both are so good in fact, the viewer almost wishes for a different ending. To say anything further would ruin the experience for anyone seeing this glossy noir for the first time. Fans of the genre will find all the trappings here for a good time at the movies.
A great film noir movie December 12, 2008
H. Shaw
This movie is now one of my personal favorites in the category of film noir. I had never seen the movie before and I absolutely loved it. All of the actors were great. I especially enjoyed the actress that played the accused man's wife. I would highly recommend this movie to the "die-hard" film noir fans out there.
 Laugh your way through the cliches! November 20, 2008
Mary M
This is one for the books...very enjoyable noir. Let other reviews cover the unlikely-to-say-the-least plot. Just enjoy Duryea's hair, Lorre's hanging fag, and "Catherine"s forehead...along with, of course, some classic lines of your choosing. A strong 3-stars!
 Below Average Mystery October 12, 2008
Acute Observer (Jersey Shore)
The film opens on a street in Los Angeles at night. Miss Mavis Marlow has banned her ex-husband Martin Blair from her apartment house. Marty plays the piano and composes songs; his friend Joe guides him home. A visitor finds Mavis isn't talking to anyone. Her maid sees a man going down the stairs. The police look for Kirk Bennett (who carried a pistol). His fingerprints are in the apartment. Bennett is found guilty. The case is closed unless new evidence is discovered. Mrs. Bennett finds a clue about Mavis' ex-husband. But he has a perfect alibi. Catherine Bennett continues to search for clues. Was this a case of mistaken identification? Bennett and Blair visit "Rio's" to follow a clue. "Carver and Martin" become successful entertainers. The songs pad out the story and provide entertainment.
Is there a secret in Marko's safe? Catherine gets friendly with Marko. Martin will warn Catherine with a song. But the drama heightens with Marko's early return. Who will be disappointed? Martin visits bars and finds a woman with unique jewelry. Will there be a flashback that solves the crime? Will an innocent be saved from execution? Did people leave their doors unlocked in those days? Suppose somebody walked in to make a telephone call? Is there any drama in the ending?
This film suffers from a plodding script that should have been better. This film isn't so much bad as it is not good. During WW II American films were not exported to Europe. After 1945 many films that dealt with dark subjects like murder were named "film noir" by the French, a label that stuck. Yet many films from the 1930s had similar stories.
A Real Noir Gem February 1, 2007
William Hare (Seattle, Washington)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The period immediately following World War Two produced a treasure trove of great film noir efforts. Many of these passed quickly from the scene at the time without making the kind of splash they deserved, enhanced by the fact that so many films were being made as Americans flocked to theaters and spent their money freely in the glittery economic period that followed a tumultuous conflict.
Roy Neill, who directed some of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, turned in a gem of a film with the 1946 noir mystery "Black Angel." Stunning blonde June Vincent demonstrates in this film how wrong Hollywood was not to give her more starring assignments.
When Vincent's husband is arrested for a crime he insists he did not commit, the death of blackmailer-singer Constance Dowling, June turns detective in an effort to prove her husband's innocence before he faces an impending execution at San Quentin Prison's gas chamber.
The basic plot is very much like that of another great noir film of the forties, "Phantom Lady", when secretary Ella Raines seeks to prove that her boss and the man she loves, Allen Curtis, is innocent of the murder charge that leaves him awaiting execution at New York's Sing Sing Prison.
The similarity is not surprising in that each film was adapted from a Cornell Woolrich novel, as was also Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." Roy Chanslor turned in a screenplay containing the admirable story twists and turns that result in great mystery.
When Vincent, in her detective endeavor, seeks help from deceased Dowling's former husband, her former pianist and songwriter, played by Dan Duryea, the plot takes all kinds of interesting plot turns that keep viewers guessing until the film's final scene.
Duryea suspects that nightclub boss Peter Lorre, who was involved with Dowling, might be the guilty party. As a means of obtaining an opportunity for Vincent to gain evidence to use against Lorre, Duryea breaks Vincent in as a singer and gets a job for both of them at Lorre's club.
One moment the onus of suspicion points toward Lorre, and the next in a different direction that astounds Vincent. Meanwhile dogged police investigator Broderick Crawford, a few years from his Oscar winning appearance in "All The King's Men," continues to search and ask questions.
The suspense never lets up and thankfully "The Black Angel" in this new age of film noir appreciation is getting the credit that it so rightfully deserved.
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