Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 16-July-06
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Black Angel (1946)

For a genre movie to succeed, it's gotta have heart. Take a comedy like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," which rises above the average dumb-guys-and-horny-girls flick because the hero is genuinely sweet. Or take a western like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," where a friendship between tough guys creates an indelible charm. Laughs or action have more meaning when they're grounded to emotions that everybody can understand and admire. It's comforting to note that this holds true even for the most hard-boiled of genres, film noir.

The definition of film noir depends on whom you ask, but I think it's safe to say that the murder-fueled plot and grim tone of "Black Angel" make the label stick. This is a perfect example of how the human touch (courtesy of great writing) can elevate a film. "Black Angel" contains all the hallmarks of a melodramatic walk on the wild side. It opens with the strangulation of a gold-digging hussy and the arrest of her married lover (John Phillips), who is soon after sentenced to death. Despite his infidelity, his wife Cathy (June Vincent) sets out to find the missing piece of evidence that can keep him from the gas chamber. With a bewitching combination of matronly resolve and blonde ambition, she commandeers the deceased's ex-husband, an alcoholic piano player named Martin (Dan Duryea), and together they investigate a shady nightclub owner who was present at the scene of the crime (Peter Lorre).

True to form, the movie dangles titillating ideas about the attraction between Cathy and Martin, like whether it will last and whether it's driven by lust or the influence of a good woman over a fallen man. (Viewers are invited both to wonder at and approve of her uxorial loyalty, since we see enough to know that her dopey spouse didn't do it.) But what really scores with the picture, in addition to the fine performances, is that the main characters are all defined by their devotion to somebody else; it's what motivates them to do both noble and questionable things. Thus they become dramatic types to whom we're able and willing to relate as people. This key element of "Black Angel" is emphasized by a secondary character who, when the truth comes to light, can almost be said to have caused the murder out of selfish, petty greed. It's small guys like this (and Cathy's husband) who bring the world crashing down around poor schmoes who get lost trying to do the right thing. And that's veritably, even deliciously noir.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.