Fallen Angel
June Mills (Alice Faye) and her sister Clara live a quiet life in a small coastal town until Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews), a smooth-talking con man, comes into their lives.
He seems to fall hard for June but Clara believes he’s only interested in the family fortune. Meanwhile, sultry waitress Stella (Linda Darnell) catches Stanton's fancy and thinks he might be her ticket out of town.
The local cop (Charles Bickford) knows more than he's telling about his fellow citizens and their tangled relationships which draw even tighter after a shocking murder.
Member Reviews
Angel doesn't quite fly - CaptainDave
A decent, but not particularly noteworthy film from Otto Preminger during his film noir years. Not really suspenseful and a tad unbelievable, it's still worth waiting for (and I had to wait a long time for Zip to send it to me even though it was near the top of my list) and watching for Dana Andrew's performance.
Andrews is good as the drifting con man, Eric Stanton, who doesn't even realize he doesn't know his own mind or what he wants. He relies on his looks and his charm to get him through as he meanders from one situation to another, always moving and never satisfied. It's this superficially glib but psychologically complex character that makes Fallen Angel interesting.
The rest of the characters are fairly flat: June the "good" girl who wants to settle down and Stella the "bad" girl who... wants to settle down. Caught between these two, it's no wonder poor Eric is confused. Either way, he's gonna have to settle down. And he wants to, but it does take him the whole movie to figure that out. Like I said, he's not too big on inner reflection.Stella! Stella!! - CharleyJames
OK, I'll say right up-front that I'm a big fan of film noire which colours what I say; if you aren't a fan of the genre, you might want to skip my review.
Otto Preminger's "Fallen Angel" brings together a terrific cast - Dana Andrews, Alice Faye and Linda Darnell in lead roles - with his usual deft directing, a thrilling story and tight editing (more on this in a moment) to create a taut tale of murder, love and betrayal.
(Faye didn't think the editing was so deft. Preminger so infuriated her when he cut many of her scenes, she left acting entirely and didn't make another picture for nearly two decades.)
While "Fallen Angel" isn't as good as Preminger's earlier "Laura" - too many bad sets and back lots rather than using locations denies the picture some of the edginess of film noire - it is still a ripe example of the genre that is as entertainly suspensful today as I'm sure it was when it was first released.
Definitely worth Zipping, even if you're not a film noire fan.Good but not great Noir - Gregg
Fallen Angel reunites director Otto Preminger and Dana Andrews from the classis “Laura” and while the results aren't quite as spectacular this time it is still an entertaining Noir.
Andrews plays Eric Stanton a man down on his luck who arrives by bus in a small town where he falls in love with one woman (Linda Darnell as a diner waitress) but marries another (Alice Faye one of a pair of well off sisters) for money.
Dana Andrews delivers a solid performance proving he is an actor very well suited to the genre. Alice Faye who was also a singer and best known for her musicals is effective but it is the very enticing Linda Darnell to whom most of the attention of both Eric Stanton and the audience is drawn.
The films strong supporting cast includes; Charles Bickford, Anne Revere, Bruce Cabot, John Carradine and Percy Kilbride (Pa Kettle).
While this isn’t one of Preminger’s best efforts he is still very effective in establishing a wonderful noir atmosphere. This is definitely a worth while film for fans of genre, the director or the cast.
Alice Faye as a result of a spat with the studio over having her scenes cut would effectively leave her career behind for 17 years, until she returned in State Fair.
Member Reviews
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Angel doesn't quite fly - CaptainDave
A decent, but not particularly noteworthy film from Otto Preminger during his film noir years. Not really suspenseful and a tad unbelievable, it's still worth waiting for (and I had to wait a long time for Zip to send it to me even though it was near the top ...Stella! Stella!! - CharleyJames
OK, I'll say right up-front that I'm a big fan of film noire which colours what I say; if you aren't a fan of the genre, you might want to skip my review.
Otto Preminger's "Fallen Angel" brings together a terrific cast - Dana Andrews, Alice Faye and ...Good but not great Noir - Gregg
Fallen Angel reunites director Otto Preminger and Dana Andrews from the classis “Laura” and while the results aren't quite as spectacular this time it is still an entertaining Noir.
Andrews plays Eric Stanton a man down on his luck who arrives by bus ...