Fallen Angel (1945)
Fallen Angel (1945)
„Fallen Angel“ is a 1945 film noir directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Harry Kleiner is based on the 1945 novel of the same title by Marty Holland. The novel was also published as „Blonde Bombshell“.
Eric Stanton, a well-dressed but down-on-his-luck drifter, feigns sleep but gets pulled off a bus in the hamlet of Walton because he does not have the fare to continue to San Francisco. He finds a low-budget diner called „Pop’s Eats“, where Pop is worried about waitress Stella because she has not shown up for work for days. Ex-New York cop Mark Judd tells him not to worry, and the sultry Stella soon returns. Stanton is attracted to her, but she is unimpressed by his smooth talk.
Stanton cons his way into a job with Professor Madley, a traveling fortune teller and spiritualist. He goes to the large house of Clara Mills, daughter of the late mayor, Abraham Mills.
The townspeople are unwilling to buy tickets to Madley’s „spook meeting“ because Clara Mills, an influential local spinster, disapproves. Stanton gets to Clara through her inexperienced younger sister, June, and persuades them to attend the performance.
Madley stages an entertaining séance, channeling Abraham Mills, the deceased father of Clara and June. Using information secretly dug up by his assistant Joe Ellis, Madley brings up the sisters’ financial problems. The two become upset and leave.
Stanton gets to know Stella, watching her steal from the cash register and go out with men, and falls in love with her. She makes it clear that she wants a man who is willing to marry her and buy her a home, which he agrees to do. To raise the money, Stanton romances and marries June, planning to divorce her as soon as he can. Clara, who has been victimized by a man of Stanton’s type in her past, is unable to prevent their marriage.
Stanton cannot stay away from Stella, even on his wedding night. Instead of sleeping with his wife, he goes to Stella, who has given up on him. He explains his odd scheme to her. She rejects him and he leaves watched by Clara who has followed him. He gets home late and is found by June sleeping on the couch.
The next day Stella is found to be murdered. Judd is asked by the local police chief to investigate. He first tries to beat a confession out of Stella’s latest boyfriend, Dave Atkins, but Atkins has an airtight alibi. Stanton is also a strong suspect, having been seen quarreling with Stella shortly before her death. Judd tells him not to leave town.
Stanton flees, with June, to a seedy hotel room in San Francisco. He tells her all about his drifter’s life of failed schemes. June tells Stanton that she loves him; the next morning, when she goes to the bank to withdraw her money, she is taken into custody for questioning.
Stanton returns to Pop’s Eats, where Judd is waiting for him. Stanton has found evidence of Judd’s relationship with Stella and how he left NY police because of his violence. Stella had decided to marry Atkins rather than wait for Judd’s wife to give him a divorce.
Judd pulls out his gun but Pop wrestles it away. Stanton prevents him from shooting Judd, though a shot is fired into the ceiling. This brings a police officer in, and Judd is arrested. Outside, June pulls up in a car and asks Stanton where they are going. He tells her, „Home.“
Cast:
- Alice Faye – June Mills
- Dana Andrews – Eric Stanton
- Linda Darnell – Stella
- Charles Bickford – Mark Judd
- Anne Revere – Clara Mills
- Bruce Cabot – Dave Atkins
- John Carradine – Professor Madley
- Percy Kilbride – Pop
- Betty Boyd – Bank Clerk
- Leila McIntyre – Bank Clerk
- J. Farrell MacDonald – Bank Guard
- Max Wagner – Bartender
- William Haade – Bus Driver
- Chick Collins – Bus Driver
- William H. O’Brien – Bus Passenger
- George Magrill – Cop at Murder Scene
- Robert Adler – Coroner at Murder Scene
- Paul Palmer – Detective
- Brick Sullivan – Honky Tonk Dance Customer
- Martha Wentworth – Hotel Maid
- Olin Howland – Joe Ellis
- Frank O’Connor – Man at Madley’s Show
- Hal Taggart – Man at Madley’s Show
- Chet Brandenburg – Man in Drug Store
- Franklyn Farnum – Man Leaving Drugstore
- Mira McKinney – Mrs. Judd
- Paul E. Burns – News Vendor
- Hal Taliaferro – Officer Gus Johnson
- Frank McLure – Passerby on Street
- Broderick O’Farrell – Policeman
- Harry Strang – Policeman
- Herbert Ashley – Reporter
- Dave Morris – Reporter
- Gus Glassmire – San Francisco Hotel Clerk
- Horace Murphy – Sheriff
- Matthew „Stymie“ Beard – Shoeshine Boy
- Dorothy Adams – Stella’s Neighbor
- Garry Owen – Waiter
- Jimmy Conlin – Walton Hotel Clerk
- Adele Jergens – Woman at Madley’s Show
- Tiny Jones – Woman at Madley’s Show
„Mord in der Hochzeitsnacht“ (Fallen Angel) ist ein Film noir aus dem Jahr 1945 unter der Regie von Otto Preminger. Das Drehbuch von Harry Kleiner basiert auf dem gleichnamigen Roman von Marty Holland aus dem Jahr 1945. Der Roman wurde auch unter dem Titel "Blonde Bombshell" veröffentlicht.
Eric Stanton, ein gut gekleideter, aber vom Pech verfolgter Herumtreiber, täuscht Schlaf vor, wird aber in der Ortschaft Walton aus dem Bus gezerrt, weil er das Geld für die Weiterfahrt nach San Francisco nicht hat. Er findet einen billigen Imbiss namens "Pop's Eats", wo Pop sich Sorgen um die Kellnerin Stella macht, weil sie seit Tagen nicht zur Arbeit erschienen ist. Der ehemalige New Yorker Polizist Mark Judd rät ihm, sich keine Sorgen zu machen, und die schwüle Stella kehrt bald zurück. Stanton fühlt sich zu ihr hingezogen, aber sie lässt sich von seinen sanften Worten nicht beeindrucken.
Stanton erschleicht sich einen Job bei Professor Madley, einem reisenden Wahrsager und Spiritisten. Er geht in das große Haus von Clara Mills, der Tochter des verstorbenen Bürgermeisters Abraham Mills.