Sunday, January 3, 2010

Black Angel (1946)


Director: Roy William Neill
Universal Noir Collection DVD

Even though I guessed what was going to happen at the end, I really enjoyed watching this noir based on a Cornell Woolrich story and directed with style (one shot up a building a through a window is particularly impressive) by Neill. He made over a 100 films during his career including several of the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films. Dan Duryea is well cast as a co-dependent, alcoholic, who's estranged wife has been murdered, that teams up with a woman, who's husband has been convicted of the murder, to find the real killer. They set their sites on Peter Lorre and go to work for him to try and find evidence to back up their theory. Broderick Crawford is also along for the ride as the homicide cop investigating everyone. It's not nearly as cynical as some others of the genre, but could have been if the ending had been played differently. The disc is good but has no features.

8/10

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