Angel Face (1952)
Directed by Otto Preminger

Film Review

If Angel Face had been directed by anyone other than Otto Preminger it would almost certainly have ended up as a routine film noir crime drama, its barely credible plot (taken from a novel by Chester Erskine) doing its damnedest to strain the credulity of anyone who has to watch it.  One of the true maestros of film noir, Preminger was never one to let a far-fetched plot get in the way of a good film, as he had previously demonstrated on Laura (1944) and Fallen Angel (1945), two of his best films.  With its implausible plot twists and hard-to-fathom characters Angel Face is a more challenging proposition, but somehow Preminger takes it and fashions it into a chilling study in evil and manipulation, the result being one of the most devious and unsettling of all films noirs.

Looking like a man who has had his fill of playing doomed noir heroes, Robert Mitchum brings an unmistakable blend of cynicism and detachment to his performance as bad girl Jean Simmons attempts to lure him into her web of murderous intrigue.  It's the familiar noir set up but somehow the subtlety of the performances and Preminger's hypnotic mise-en-scène make it fresh and dangerously exciting.  With her gamine looks Simmons appears too naive and unsophisticated to pose a real threat.  Mitchum appears too worldly wise and sarcastic to be taken in by a rich girl's fanciful hokum.  But these are only surface impressions.  In truth, Mitchum is far more vulnerable than we think and Simmons proves to be much deadlier than we dare imagine.  This is why the film constantly takes us by surprise and leaves us gasping with disbelief and horror in at least two hard-to-forget sequences.

Angel Face is more than just a study in evil, it is one of classic film noir's most skilful attempts to unpick the human psyche and show what evil really is - not an aberration in a diseased mind but something that exists within us all, a destructive impulse that feeds on the baser motives, such as the yearning for things we desire but cannot possess by legitimate means.  Mitchum's character is far less innocent than he pretends and, far from being a passive victim, he becomes an active participant in his downfall, consciously or subconsciously drawn to Simmons by hopes of exploiting her family's wealth.  Simmons is hardly your classic film noir temptress - she seems barely able to comprehend what she is doing and seems to be entirely driven by subconscious impulses.  The hidden forces that motivate both characters, already blurred to frustrating opacity, become indecipherable once the crime has been committed and the protagonists end up being dragged through a mockery of a trial.  As the drama enters its final act, some deft lighting and camerawork serve to create a harrowing sense of confinement and we quickly realise that there is no way out.  The trap has been sprung and there is a horrible, almost mathematical inevitability about what ensues...

Film Synopsis

The Tremaynes, Charles and Catherine, are a wealthy couple who live with their daughter Diane at their hilltop estate in Beverley Hills.  One evening, Catherine Tremayne narrowly escapes death by gas inhalation and suspects that someone attempted to kill her.  Ambulance driver Frank Jessup, a member of the medical team which came to Mrs Tremayne's aid, notices a visibly unsettled Diane and attempts to comfort her.  They meet up later that evening and have dinner together, although Charles is uncomfortable about having to lie to his girlfriend Mary.  Diane persuades Charles that her stepmother is a cruel woman who mistreats both her and her father, a failed writer who has become financially dependent on her.  Reluctantly Frank decides to give up his present job to work for the Tremaynes as a chauffeur, hopeful that Mrs Tremayne may give him a loan so he can buy a garage.  Shortly after Frank tells Diane that he intends leaving her to resume his old life her parents are killed when their car drives over the edge of a cliff.  Diane wants to confess to the double homicide but her lawyer advises her that to do so would also incriminate Frank...