It's always great to see characters in a film that are as smart if not smarter than the audience. That's the biggest impression Angel Face left on me as I watched it again. It's an excellent femme fatale story that begins when paramedic Frank (Robert Mitchum) meets Diane (Jean Simmons) on a call to her house. Diane's step-mother almost died from an accidental (?) gas leak. Diane becomes smitten with Frank so she follows him and insinuates herself into his life. She finds out that Frank has a girl, she tries to scare her off, used to be a driver, she gets him a job as a chauffeur, and wants to open his own garage, so she tries to get a loan for him. Frank goes along with most of it but never buys in completely like a chump. Diane is just able to pull him in in such a way that he can't escape. To give away too many more details would take away from the enjoyment of the film, but I will say that I loved how everything that would normally be kept a guessing game to the audience is spelled out for us and we're still captivated on what will happen next. The final act ventures into The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) territory but not in a distracting way. Top notch film making from Mr. Preminger. The single disc is from Warner is no longer in print but it is still available as part of the Robert Mitchum Collection Box Set.
9/10
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