In Los Angeles, when the singer Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling) is found dead in her apartment, Kirk Bennett (John Phillips) is accused for the murder, since he had been blackmailed by the victim. Kirk's wife Catherine Bennett (June Vincent) believes her husband is innocent and joins to Martin Blair (Dan Duryea),the alcoholic former husband of Mavis, to investigate the crime and try to find the killer. They suspect of Marko (Peter Lorre),the owner of a night-club that was seen in Mavis' place in the night she was murdered, and they try to prove his possible guilty.

I had no information about "Black Angel", but being a great fan of film-noir, I decided to buy the DVD. I have just watched this unknown film, and I can say that it is surprisingly good. The simple and credible story is disclosed in a good pace and the plot point surprised me, since I did not have the slightest guess of who might be the criminal. The performances are very natural, and the black and white cinematography and the work of the camera are excellent, and in the beginning of the movie there is a spectacular traveling of the camera from Martin to Mavis apartment. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Anjo Diabólico" ("Diabolic Angel")

Despite starring the likes of June Vincent and Dan Duryea, this is a surprisingly good film--thanks to good writing and acting. I was particularly happy to see Duryea in the film, as he usually only got supporting roles as greasy heavies--here he's given a chance to do a lot more.

The film begins with a woman named Mavis Marlow being killed. A guy is convicted of the crime, but his wife (Vincent) is convinced he was innocent. So, with the help of Marlow's ex-husband (Duryea) they investigate. For much of the film, they go undercover at a nightclub run by Peter Lorre but fortunately there is a lot more to this story. While the ending might perhaps be a bit hard to believe, it is pretty original and exciting. I won't say more about this, as I don't want to ruin this excellent film noir movie. I particularly can commend the film for doing so much with so little. It proves you don't need big-name actors to make a very good movie--just a lot of talent, writing and style.

Not too many people are going to mourn the passing of Constance Dowling who by all accounts was a two timing blackmailer. John Phillips has drifted into an affair with her and she's making him pay big time. So when she's found strangled and he's nearby suspicion falls on him and homicide cop Broderick Crawford makes the arrest. Phillips is scheduled to die in the gas chamber.

That does not sit well with Phillips's wife June Vincent who is a nightclub singer. She's still working to prove her man innocent and she collaborates with Dowling's former husband, composer Dan Duryea who has a drinking problem to rival Ray Milland's in The Lost Weekend. In fact the last ten minutes of the film are dominated by a very powerful performance by Duryea, very much rivaling what Milland got an Oscar for in The Lost Weekend. I'm betting that's what attracted Duryea to the role.

As singer and accompanist Vincent and Duryea take a job at Peter Lorre's nightclub. Lorre is known to be mobbed up to the gills and the team hopes to find answers there.

Black Angel is a real sleeper of a noir film with great performances all around by a talented group of players. But even with a scene stealer like Peter Lorre exuding the menace he does, the film is dominated by Dan Duryea who is a tragic figure.