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Angel Face (1952)
Mar. 15th, 2007 08:31 amSometimes the old Hollywood studio system was able to produce movies that are shockingly weird or perverse, and this low-key film noir directed by Otto Preminger is certainly a good example. As with Morocco (1930) and Peter Ibbetson (1934), the ending was so over the top that I found myself laughing uncontrollably as it faded to black. The reaction was simultaneously WTF?! and Of course! Then I had to watch the whole thing again (with the commentary by Eddie Muller) to digest it a bit better.
Preminger is definitely playing with the Hollywood conventions in this one, which is in many ways a re-examination of the premises of the noir classic, Out of the Past (1947). Robert Mitchum plays the same cool, manly man who seems to be in control but is actually completely in over his head, torn between the homey comforts of the good blonde girl (who in this movie actually has some spine and vinegar, unlike in Out of the Past) and the allure (some of it financial) of the gorgeous, crazy, murderous dark-haired femme fatale (played by the angel-faced Jean Simmons). One of the deep ironies of the story that Muller points out is that the femme fatale here is the only one who really exhibits a conscience. Another sign that Preminger is almost teasing the conventions comes in the courtroom scene, where the pompous district attorney (played by Mr. Magoo, Jim Backus) and the oily defense attorney both have the story behind the crime utterly wrong, one intentionally and the other not. There is no truth here. Hard to believe that the Production Code let that little jab at the justice system get by. Perhaps the enforcers of the Code were more focused on making sure that crime doesn't pay, but, man, the way it doesn't pay in this movie is a huge pay-off in the ending.
Muller says that at some point in the '70s Godard listed this movie as one of the top ten Hollywood films of the sound era. He probably liked the sly subversiveness, or perhaps the almost total formal control that Preminger shows over how to structure a cinematic narrative. Muller keeps emphasizing how efficient the story-telling is. It slips between the ribs with a smooth, painless precision. Then while you're wondering where the blood's coming from, the pole-axe hits you. Brilliant!
Preminger is definitely playing with the Hollywood conventions in this one, which is in many ways a re-examination of the premises of the noir classic, Out of the Past (1947). Robert Mitchum plays the same cool, manly man who seems to be in control but is actually completely in over his head, torn between the homey comforts of the good blonde girl (who in this movie actually has some spine and vinegar, unlike in Out of the Past) and the allure (some of it financial) of the gorgeous, crazy, murderous dark-haired femme fatale (played by the angel-faced Jean Simmons). One of the deep ironies of the story that Muller points out is that the femme fatale here is the only one who really exhibits a conscience. Another sign that Preminger is almost teasing the conventions comes in the courtroom scene, where the pompous district attorney (played by Mr. Magoo, Jim Backus) and the oily defense attorney both have the story behind the crime utterly wrong, one intentionally and the other not. There is no truth here. Hard to believe that the Production Code let that little jab at the justice system get by. Perhaps the enforcers of the Code were more focused on making sure that crime doesn't pay, but, man, the way it doesn't pay in this movie is a huge pay-off in the ending.
Muller says that at some point in the '70s Godard listed this movie as one of the top ten Hollywood films of the sound era. He probably liked the sly subversiveness, or perhaps the almost total formal control that Preminger shows over how to structure a cinematic narrative. Muller keeps emphasizing how efficient the story-telling is. It slips between the ribs with a smooth, painless precision. Then while you're wondering where the blood's coming from, the pole-axe hits you. Brilliant!
