She looks like an angel, but she's a devil
DVD Collector, cult film connoisseur, Lover of quirky, unique films, admirer of great storytelling
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APR
17
2008
Robert Mitchum stars as a cool guy who gets in way over his head when a rich vixen (Jean Simmons) sets her cap for him in the film noir thriller Angel Face.
This is a movie from the old familiar RKO Studios, headed up by Howard Hughes. He used to put beautiful starlets under contract and try to romance them meanwhile blocking their career advancement unless they "played ball," so to speak. Jean Simmons, a British import, was one who didn't so her career languished nearly seven years as she staved off Howard's advances. Finally, nearing the end of her contract, Hughes realized he had to give her a role so, with his typical fiendish ingenuity he borrowed Otto Preminger from Fox and gave him full producer and director control because he knew that would be the most uncomfortable position he could put the poor girl in, other than of course having to withstand more of Howard's advances.
The story is one where you might recognize the thread that later brought us The Jagged Edge, Fatal Attraction, and all those other sick love thrillers. In this one, Jean Simmons is a spoiled rich girl who falls for ambulance driver Robert Mitchum, who comes to the mansion to resuscitate her mother, whom Jean, incidentally was trying to gas.
Simmons immediately lures Mitchum to break his standing date with his girlfriend and spend the time with her. The next day she sets up a meeting and tells the girl (Mona Freeman) what they did, putting the lie to Mitchum's excuse that he went home and went straight to bed after work.
Things continue to escalate but Mitchum displays his usual passivity and fails to get a clue. Simmons finally rigs the mothers' car to wreck and inadvertently kills both her parents. She had an unnaturally strong affection for her father and is hurt, but as long as Mitchum is under her control, she can take it. The accident points to Mitchum, now the family chauffeur, who was known to be going into the mechanic business and his motive is assumed to get at the family money to finance his venture. Both Mitchum and Simmons are put on trial, and the lawyer (Leon Ames) is beyond a doubt one of the slimiest and best played shysters ever put on celluloid.
I will not give away the ending because I was quite flabbergasted and found myself rubbing my eyes - did I just see what I thought I did?
Jean Simmons is really a great femme fatale showing a lot of acting chops and Robert Mitchum plays his typical cool guy persona but he never can keep up with Simmons' character who is about three steps ahead of him all the way.
Otto Preminger had to eschew some of his continuous camera moving-through-the-action style due to the miniscule budget allotted him for getting the film in the can. He made up for it in provoking a great performance out of Simmons and a creditable one out of Mitchum and there were several gem like supporting parts like the bravura performance I mentioned from Leon Ames.
A final kudo must be sent to composer Dimitri Tiomkin, who composed a very suitable piano score that really intensified the viewing with out being intrusive. I don't remember him showing such superb restraint in any other score but this one he knocked out of the park.
The Warner Bros DVD is presented in 1.33:1 theatrical format in black and white and running 91 minutes. There is a worthwhile commentary by film historian Eddie Muller as an extra.
Last edited on Apr 18, 2008
Angel Face is recommended by GeorgeChabot
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