Fallen Angel (1945)
I love this movie! Directed by the fantastic, envelope-pushing Otto Preminger, and starring the eclectic group of Dana Andrews, Alice Faye, Linda Darnell, and Charles Bickford, you don’t immediately know what you’re getting. Take it from me, you’ll get a great movie. This is one of my favorite film noir films, and as an old movie aficionado, that’s quite a compliment.
Dana Andrews arrives in a small town, literally kicked off the bus because he can’t afford to continue to the next stop. He has one dollar in his pocket, and while he’s immediately drawn to the low-class, loose diner waitress, Linda Darnell, he also pursues the high-class, innocent Alice Faye for her money. Alice has an overprotective sister, Anne Revere, and Linda has other admirers, including diner owner Percy Kilbride and married ex-policeman Charles Bickford. Only a fast-talking cad can juggle both girls at once, and thanks to Harry Kleiner’s script and Dana’s unsympathetic performance, we’re treated to an antihero we love to hate.
Otto Preminger is a known envelope-pusher. Whenever you watch one of his movies, some boundary, whether racial, social, or sexual, will push its way past the Hays Code and shock audiences. Even today, audiences are shocked, not by the material itself, but that he was able to get away with showing it! Fallen Angel is extremely steamy. There’s never any room for interpretation, and the expressions on Dana’s face let the audience know exactly what he’s thinking and feeling. The best I’ve saved for last: Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell share a very open-mouthed kiss, which was a huge no-no according to the Hays Code. Kisses had to be close-mouthed, and if they lasted longer than three seconds, they were sometimes censored. This kiss, captured in a tight close-up, completely violates the code. I’ve never seen a kiss like that in a pre-Code movie, even in Some Like It Hot, the film credited with destroying the Code.
Kisses aside, I also love Otto’s attention to detail. Dana rents a cheap room, and rather than filming a close-up of the threadbare window curtains with holes in them, Otto shows Dana sleeping, and the breeze illuminates the condition of the curtains. Audiences will have to look to that side of the frame, but if they do, they’ll see curtains with holes in them.
This was Alice Faye’s last film before her sudden retirement, reportedly because she was unhappy with her amount of screen time versus Linda’s and her quality of scenes. When you watch Fallen Angel, her complaint doesn’t make any sense because she’s clearly the lead with more screen time and more difficult material to act through. Alice didn’t usually get meaty roles like this, so why did she leave Hollywood? We’ll probably never know the reason, but I highly recommend this movie for Alice Faye fans.
Linda Darnell fans will also love this movie, since her beauty and sultry appeal oozes off the screen. And since I’m a fan of all the leads, you can imagine I’m a very happy camper whenever I pop in my copy of Fallen Angel. Lastly, but certainly not least, David Raksin, of Laura fame, wrote an incredibly advanced theme showcased in the opening credits. It doesn’t sound like it was written in 1945, and the music that was 10-15 years before its time is very tense, complex, and enjoyable.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Alice Faye movies here!
Dana Andrews arrives in a small town, literally kicked off the bus because he can’t afford to continue to the next stop. He has one dollar in his pocket, and while he’s immediately drawn to the low-class, loose diner waitress, Linda Darnell, he also pursues the high-class, innocent Alice Faye for her money. Alice has an overprotective sister, Anne Revere, and Linda has other admirers, including diner owner Percy Kilbride and married ex-policeman Charles Bickford. Only a fast-talking cad can juggle both girls at once, and thanks to Harry Kleiner’s script and Dana’s unsympathetic performance, we’re treated to an antihero we love to hate.
Otto Preminger is a known envelope-pusher. Whenever you watch one of his movies, some boundary, whether racial, social, or sexual, will push its way past the Hays Code and shock audiences. Even today, audiences are shocked, not by the material itself, but that he was able to get away with showing it! Fallen Angel is extremely steamy. There’s never any room for interpretation, and the expressions on Dana’s face let the audience know exactly what he’s thinking and feeling. The best I’ve saved for last: Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell share a very open-mouthed kiss, which was a huge no-no according to the Hays Code. Kisses had to be close-mouthed, and if they lasted longer than three seconds, they were sometimes censored. This kiss, captured in a tight close-up, completely violates the code. I’ve never seen a kiss like that in a pre-Code movie, even in Some Like It Hot, the film credited with destroying the Code.
Kisses aside, I also love Otto’s attention to detail. Dana rents a cheap room, and rather than filming a close-up of the threadbare window curtains with holes in them, Otto shows Dana sleeping, and the breeze illuminates the condition of the curtains. Audiences will have to look to that side of the frame, but if they do, they’ll see curtains with holes in them.
This was Alice Faye’s last film before her sudden retirement, reportedly because she was unhappy with her amount of screen time versus Linda’s and her quality of scenes. When you watch Fallen Angel, her complaint doesn’t make any sense because she’s clearly the lead with more screen time and more difficult material to act through. Alice didn’t usually get meaty roles like this, so why did she leave Hollywood? We’ll probably never know the reason, but I highly recommend this movie for Alice Faye fans.
Linda Darnell fans will also love this movie, since her beauty and sultry appeal oozes off the screen. And since I’m a fan of all the leads, you can imagine I’m a very happy camper whenever I pop in my copy of Fallen Angel. Lastly, but certainly not least, David Raksin, of Laura fame, wrote an incredibly advanced theme showcased in the opening credits. It doesn’t sound like it was written in 1945, and the music that was 10-15 years before its time is very tense, complex, and enjoyable.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Alice Faye movies here!