Tonight's Movie: Angel Face (1952) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The RKO film noir classic ANGEL FACE (1952) was just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

I've long been interested in this film, which is packed with actors I enjoy, but despite its availability on DVD I've held off all this time in hopes I might have my first opportunity to see it at a film noir festival.

To date that hasn't happened, and with the movie's release on a beautiful new Blu-ray it was time to finally check it out! I was not disappointed.

Robert Mitchum plays Beverly Hills ambulance driver Frank Jessup, who answers a call one night for a gas poisoning case at an estate in the hills.

The patient (Barbara O'Neil) recovers, though she strangely believes someone tried to kill her. But who? Surely not her husband (Herbert Marshall) or stepdaughter Diane (Jean Simmons)...

Diane becomes fixated on Frank and immediately offers him a job as chauffeur along with deviously breaking up his romantic relationship with Mary (Mona Freeman), a nurse.

Diane also has a Daddy complex and resents her stepmother. One day she arranges for her stepmother to have significant car trouble, but nothing from that point on goes as she expects...

To say more would be to spoil some truly magnificent twists and turns over the course of the film's 91 minutes. The good script was by Frank S. Nugent and Oscar Millard, with uncredited work by Ben Hecht, based on a story by Chester Erskine. The script, incidentally, contains some surprising innuendo for the era. I found it a well-paced, enjoyable film despite -- or because of? -- its darker aspects.

Otto Preminger (LAURA) directed the excellent cast. Simmons, gorgeous at 23, lives up to the title description. At first she seems like a dream girl -- pretty, enthusiastic, and with buckets of money -- but the viewer quickly realizes something is amiss.

The scene where Diane, who has barely met Frank, invites Mary to lunch evolves into something quite chilling as we quickly realize the abnormal depth of her obsessive behavior.

Something I loved, though, is that Freeman's Mary is no pushover. She not only realizes that Diane is attempting to manipulate her, she doesn't stand for it, and she continues to demand to be treated appropriately and respectfully throughout the movie. I'm on Team Mary!

We also pretty quickly realize that Mitchum's cool, handsome Frank is not a good guy, as he casually dumps his dinner date with his steady girl Mary -- who has cooked for him! -- when someone better (richer?) comes along.

Frank has just enough ethics to eventually wake up to Diane being bad news, but boy, does he look bad when he then tries to win Mary back. Thankfully Mary points out she'd never be certain of his loyalty again -- and she's got a better option, too, in his pal Kenneth Tobey, whose previous film was the sci-fi classic THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951).

The excellent score by Dimitri Tiomkin accents the action from the opening credits. And speaking of music, by movie's end Diane's piano playing in her first scene takes on new meaning...watch for it.

Leon Ames is outstanding as an attorney; I tend to think of him as a beloved father figure (MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS and more), but between this and DIAL 1119 (1950) I'm realizing he was equally good at playing unethical characters.

The cast also includes Theresa Harris, Bess Flowers, Jim Backus, and Griff Barnett.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray is a "new 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the best preservation elements." It's lovely and does a great job showing off the fine black and white cinematography of Harry Stradling (Sr.). Sound quality is also excellent.

Extras consist of a trailer and a commentary track by Eddie Muller which was imported from the film's 2007 DVD release.

Recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from the Amazon Warner Archive Collection Store, Movie Zyng, or from any online retailers were Blu-rays are sold.

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