ANGEL FACE

Robert Mitchum with Jean Simmons

ANGEL FACE (1952). Produced and directed by Otto Preminger. Colorized.  

Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum) is an ambulance driver who encounters Diane Tremayne (Jean Simmons) when her stepmother, Catherine (Barbara O'Neil), nearly dies due to an "accident" in her home. Although he has his misgivings, as well as a steady date in Mary (Mona Freeman of Shadow of Fear), he is drawn to Diane and eventually becomes her family's chauffeur. Although Frank warned himself not to get involved with the dangerous Diane, he winds up on trial for murder -- along with Diane -- when a terrible accident results in two deaths. The defense attorney (Leon Ames) cooks up a scheme that might free them -- or might not. 

Leon Ames with Simmons

Angel Face is a film that I really enjoy every time I see it, and I find it far more compelling and entertaining than Laura, the film arguably most associated with Preminger. Simmons underplays beautifully throughout the movie, so that you're never quite certain what she's up to, and Mitchum offers his typical rough-hewn portrayal and is equally effective. O'Neil and Herbert Marshall (of Midnight Lace) as her husband and Diane's father are also excellent, and Leon Ames nearly walks off with the show in his incisive turn as the lawyer. Jim Backus as the prosecutor and Kenneth Tobey [It Came from Beneath the Sea] as another ambulance driver are also in good form, along with Freeman as the cast-off girlfriend who can't quite imagine a life with Mitchum at her side. 

Simmons with Robert Mitchum

While it is interesting to muse what Angel Face might have been like had it been directed by the great Alfred Hitchcock, Preminger does a nice job with the picture and keeps things moving (although others have found it slow). Are there improbable moments -- most likely, as is the case in most of these thrillers today and back then, but nothing out of the ordinary. Many have argued that Mitchum's actions at the very end seem rather stupid, but nobody ever said that Frank Jessup was a genius. In any case, Angel Face has a nice score by Dimitri Tiomkin and is well photographed by Harry Stradling, Sr. Apparently Ben Hecht contributed to the screenplay by Nugent and Millard. 

Verdict: Something about this picture ... and it's not just the smash of an ending! ***1/2.