Angel Face (1952)

Frank Jessup:  I’d say your story was as phony as a three dollar bill.

This is another great noir I’m catching up on late.  Not only does the female lead put the “fatal” in femme fatale, but it has a fascinating production history.

Diane Tremayne (Jean Simmons) is a confused rich girl.  She idealizes her father (Herbert Marshall) and hates her wealthy stepmother (Barbara O’Neill).  Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum) is a working stiff who can’t win.  His troubles begin when the ambulance he drives is called to the Tremayne house because of a gas leak in Mrs. Tremayne’s bedroom.  Frank consoles the weeping Diane and when she follows him to a coffee shop he steps out on his girlfriend Mary with her.  So begins the cycle that lands Frank on trial for a murder rap and married to pathologically lovelorn Diane.

I enjoyed this very much.  It features uniformly good acting, wonderful cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr., a nice pace, and an awesome ending.

I love my DVD commentaries and this one contained the very juicy back story to the film.  Jean Simmons left England to be with beau Stewart Granger.  Howard Hughes was smitten with her, so RKO bought up her seven-year contract with the Rank organization.  Hughes was interested in more than a professional relationship and creeped Simmons out so much that she sued RKO to get out of the deal.  The case settled with Simmons agreeing to make three movies for the studio.  Since Hughes was famous for dragging out productions indefinitely, the settlement specified that the three movies had to be made within three years.  Eighteen days were left on the settlement when production on Angel Face began.

Hughes borrowed Preminger from Fox because he was known for being able to work fast. Preminger brought the equally speedy Stradling with him.  Before shooting started, Hughes attempted to change Simmons hair style so many times that she cut her hair short and wore wigs throughout the filming.  There is a scene where Mitchum slaps Simmons to snap her out of hysterics.  Preminger made the actors do the scene over and over until Mitchum hauled off and slapped Preminger.  Preminger rode Simmons so hard that Mitchum finally had to threaten to walk off the project.  The commentator opined that this conflict probably got a more engaged performance out of Mitchum.  Simmons, who was only 23, gave a wonderful performance despite her travails.

Every commentary I hear about Hughes’ years at RKO makes me like him less.

Trailer