Angel Face (1952)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screenplay) and
Oscar Millard (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 December 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Crime

Tagline:

She loved one man ... enough to KILL to get him!

Plot:

Ambulance driver Frank Jessup is ensnared in the schemes of the sensuous but dangerous Diane Tremayne.

Plot Keywords:

Ambulance | Chauffeur | Murder | Lawyer | Murder Trial

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Frank Jessup
Jean Simmons	...	Diane Tremayne Jessup
Mona Freeman	...	Mary Wilton
Herbert Marshall	...	Mr. Charles Tremayne
Leon Ames	...	Fred Barrett
Barbara O'Neil	...	Mrs. Catherine Tremayne
Kenneth Tobey	...	Bill Crompton
Raymond Greenleaf	...	Arthur Vance
Griff Barnett	...	The Judge
Robert Gist	...	Miller
Morgan Farley	...	Juror
Jim Backus	...	Dist. Atty. Judson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Grandon Rhodes	...	Prison chaplain (scenes deleted)
Charles Tannen	...	TV broadcaster (scenes deleted)
Ralph Volkie	...	Good Humor man (scenes deleted)
Peggy Walker	...	TV girl (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #15993) | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills Fire Department, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

When Robert Mitchum got fed up with repeated re-takes in which the director Otto Preminger ordered him to slap Jean Simmons across the face, he turned around and slap Preminger, asking whether it was this way he wanted it. Preminger immediately demanded of Howard Hughes for Mitchum to be replaced. Hughes refused.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: (00:02:56) The shadow of the microphone at the top of the headboard is visible, right after Mrs. Tremayne says "Someone tried to murder me." Then the microphone (shadow) turns to the left towards another actor.

Quotes:

Frank Jessup: [to Mary] You know something? You're a pretty nice guy - for a girl.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Watching the Detectives (2007)

Soundtrack:

Oh, Promise Me

A haunting theme ... and unforgettable sequences.

"Angel Face", according to one film journal, has become a cult film with a strong repeat-viewer base ... a bit like the children at a scary movie who cover their eyes but continue to peek through fingers just the same. I'm an "AF" fan, too. One of the film's most powerful aspects is the utterly chilling soundtrack score with its turbulent minor-key piano. To my mind, Dimitri Tiomkin never composed a more appropriate theme than this. And during the lonely nighttime scene when Jean Simmons' character revisits the windswept driveway where her parents had met their horrific death, when the wordless chorus swells into Tiomkin's theme, see if you don't agree that this is one of cinema's most memorable moments. Highly recommended to all except young children and sensitive adults for its surprising and shocking imagery.