Monday, October 28, 2019

Arrow Video Restores Director Roy William Neill’s Black Angel For Blu-ray Release On Jan. 28


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new film restoration of prolific director Roy William Neill’s 1946 film adaptation of Cornell Woolrich’s 1943 novel, Black Angel, in the works for delivery as a Blu-ray edition in the New Year … Jan. 28 to be exact.

The legendary Sherlock Holmes film series in the mid-40s starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce were often the work-product of filmmaker Roy William Neill who, astonishingly, delivered 11 in the series for Universal Pictures between 1942 and 1946.   After Dressed to Kill finished the series in 1946 (Rathbone wanted to move on, so Universal decided against a replacement and called an end to the series), Neill turned his attention to the post war film phenomenon of film noir with the production of Black Angel.   It would be his last film … he died shortly after the film’s completion of a heart attack.

Dan Duryea, who had just come off of Frit Lang’s Scarlet Street, stars as washed-up songwriter Martin Blair, who is still married to, but not living with, popular songstress Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling — Boston Blackie and the Law, Gog, etc.).   As the film opens he attempts to see her, but is turned away at her up-scale apartment building by the doorman, only to the see the little weasel Marko (fittingly played by Peter Lorre) granted admission.   

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyAs a result of the rebuff, Martin does the only sensible thing and gets drunk again!!    Smashed, he is finally taken home by his old buddy Joe (Wallace Ford), who has him locked up is his apartment so that he won’t do any harm to either himself or others.  

Meanwhile, Kirk Bennett (John Phillips), a musician, arrives at Mavis’ apartment late that same evening and finds her dead.   He thinks about calling the police, changes his mind and takes off.  During the investigation it is revealed that he was being blackmailed by Mavis.   With nothing more than that, he is arrested, tried and sentenced to death for her murder.

Bennett’s wife, Cathy (June Vincent — The Climax, Trapped by Boston Blackie, The Creeper), desperately turns to Martin for help and he tells her that it was Marko, not her husband, that he saw going up to Mavis’ apartment.   The police, headed by Captain Flood (Broderick Crawford), aren’t buying it, case closed, move on.   So they decide to go after Marko themselves.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
The clues we have, as the audience, are as follows.    A missing brooch, the record playing when Kirk Bennett found the body, “Heartbreak” and the discovery by Cathy and Martin (who have gotten jobs as a musical act at Marko’s Rio nightclub) that Mavis was a serial extortionist, who was also blackmailing Marko.    

During the amateur investigation Martin sobers up and falls in love with Cathy, but that’s a problem as the date is drawing ever nearer for her husband’s execution.   Oh, and there is one other problem, the obvious suspect, Marko, was in police custody when the murder took place.    So who killed Mavis?   

Black Angel is a solid mystery/thriller with film noir overtones that comes complete with a twist ending … and enough red herrings to keep you guessing.

Bonus features include a newly-prepared commentary by author and film scholar Alan K. Rode (“Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film,” “Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy,” etc.), the featurette titled “A Fitting Ending” and extensive gallery of stills and promotional materials associated with the film.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey


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