20th Century Fox's underrated follow-up to LAURA (1944) reteamed director Preminger and leading man Dana Andrews with several of the same crew members (chief among them cinematographer Joseph LaShelle and composer David Raksin). Curiously chosen by the studio's biggest musical star Alice Faye for her 'comeback' role as a dramatic actress (and she is fine in it),unfortunately for her, it collided with Linda Darnell's own stunning "femme fatale" revamp who, even though bumped off halfway through, effortlessly walks away with the film; needless to say, Faye wouldn't make another picture for the next 17 years! Andrews – who would have turned 100 on January 1st of this year had he lived and thus I'll be watching several of his movies throughout this month – plays the anti-hero: a penniless cad who marries Faye (against elder sister Anne Revere's advice) for her inheritance money but lusts after Darnell – as do, understandably, most of the male cast: married detective Charles Bickford (his paradoxical character is a fascinating creation),jukebox salesman Bruce Cabot and Darnell's own employer Percy Kilbride; favorite character actor John Carradine, made up to look like some forbidding Scandinavian pastor, has an amusing bit as a mentalist Andrews hitches up with early on. The routine plot is transformed by Preminger's fluid direction which envelops that formidable cast in expert chiaroscuro lighting. Andrews is eventually reformed through Faye's unconditional love for him but the seedy ambiance of that first half permeates the whole film.

While traveling to San Francisco, the drifter Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) is thrown off the bus late night in Walton for not having the necessary money to buy the complete ticket. He wanders to the "Pop's Eats" diner, where he meets the sexy waitress Stella, an easy woman that uses to date clients after-hours. Eric has a crush on her but the cynical Stella tells that he can not afford to have her. Eric decides to seduce the lonely June Mills (Alice Faye),a wealthy woman that lives with her controller sister Clara Mills (Anne Revere),to have money to move with Stella. Eric goes to San Francisco with June and Clara, and gets married with June. They return to Walton and in the wedding night, Eric sneaks out to meet Stella that has a date. On the next morning, Stella is found murdered and the brutal investigator Mark Judd (Charles Bickford) is assigned for the case. When Eric becomes the prime-suspect, he investigates the murder seeking the identity of the real killer.

"Fallen Angel" is a disappointing film-noir by Otto Preminger. The unreasonable story has only unlikable characters and situations very hard to believe. The conclusion with Eric Stanton resolving the case by distance is awful. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Anjo ou Demônio" ("Angel or Demon")

This is a gritty little film that is very enjoyable to watch and it has a nice ending that works well. The problem, though, is that although there is a lot to like, many of the characters make little sense and it's impossible to understand their motivations. This keeps this Film Noir flick from being among the truly great examples of the genre.

Dana Andrews plays a fast-talking guy who seems to always be on the fine line between good and evil. He blows into a small town and immediately is attracted to the town's "bad girl" (Linda Darnell). However, he's broke and she'll have nothing to do with him until he has money. So, Andrews hatches a plan--make the moves on a rich lady spinster (Alice Faye) and then after marrying her, he can quickly dump her and take up with Darnell! Nice guy, huh?! The problem is that while he does marry Faye, when Darnell unexpectedly ends up murdered, Andrews is the prime suspect. Plus, after seeing the investigator in action (beating confessions out of suspects),he takes off for San Francisco--and his new bride insists on following there.

The problems with the film are motivation. While it seems pretty obvious that Andrews is a jerk, his plan to wed Faye and use this money to catch Darnell seems overly complicated. Plus, he's brand-new in town--why do all this for two women you barely know? As for Faye, she's a real enigma. Why would she ever fall for a man so unlike her and then help him evade the law when he's accused of murder--and it seems likely he DID kill the woman on his very wedding night?! Her devotion is slavish and she seems awfully stupid and tough to believe. Had the plot been hashed out more--allowing far more time to pass in getting to know both women--then it might have made sense. Instead, we are expected to believe that after only one week in a small town, all this occurs!

Now what's to like? Well, the dialog is very snappy and typically Noir. Andrews in particular is fully of snappy one-liners and his attitude is perfect. The cop, Charles Bickford, is also great--being ugly and brutal--a true Noir detective! Really, aside from rushing everything too much, the film's plot was very good. I just can't believe that the famed director Otto Preminger seemed to push this film's pace along far too quickly and not allowing sufficient time to pass to explain Andrews' and Faye's motivations.