Best movie ever!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

(Flash Review)The protagonist, Eric, should enter politics as he can sweet talk anyone, make falsehoods quickly believable and be so persuasive and persistent that people go along with his desires. By chance Eric ends up in a small town and is short on money....an honesty. While attempting to pursue an attractive waitress, he concocts a plan to acquire a large financial sum and escape town with her and start a new chapter in his life. Eric later finds himself trying to tap dance out of his scheme as new wrenches are thrown into the mix. How many lies will he tell and how many people will he mislead? Will his ultimate scheme workout or will he be lucky to get out of town? This was a quality Film Noir that clipped along at a nice rate with a clever screen play and quality acting. Entertaining to see how the story plays out with amusing period dialog.

Moody, dazzlingly directed film noir. Preminger in marvelous form. Long takes, fluid camera-work, shadowy lighting and dramatic angles re-enforce its bizarre, nightmarish atmosphere.The visuals abound in symbols and contrasts, all of which re-enforce the suspenseful film noir mood. Preminger's expertise is capped by a remarkable long take as Faye is waylaid by the police, the camera spinning around with the cop car to a most effective dolly in on witness Andrews, standing on the kerb. Acting is particularly strong for a Preminger picture. Andrews perfectly cast as the surly, conniving anti-hero. Linda Darnell gives her most impressive performance ever. The same might be said for Charles Bickford and certainly Percy Kilbride. Solid cameos from Olin Howlin, John Carradine and Bruce Cabot. Easy to recognize Jimmy Conlin as a hotel clerk, but gone are his usual funny voice and panhandling mannerisms. Although her part is not as large as we would expect from her top billing, Alice Faye is thoroughly convincing as the demure miss who falls for sinister Stanton. The light opposed to dark Darnell. The support cast, music, photography, art direction (locations in Orange, California), film editing are inspired, making the taut script derived from Marty Holland's 1945 thriller even more tingling with tension and atmosphere. (The script doesn't cheat on the identity of the real killer either).Definitely one for the permanent collection, "Fallen Angel" is a movie that repays multiple viewings.

The Post-War Years had finally Arrived and Film-Noir, and the Seedlings Planted in the previous 10 Years, started to become Fully Formed and the Pure Film-Noir became more Abundant and the Crop bore Fruit for a Full 5 Years before the Genre would be increasingly Watered Down with Police Procedural, a more Friendly Style with the Conservative 1950's."Fallen Angel" was Directed by the Dictatorial Hand of Otto Preminger who Found Breakout Success with the Popular Murder Mystery "Laura" (1944).This Movie Suffered On-Set Strife and the End Result was a Work in Progress, Changed on the fly, and it Shows. Never quite Cohering the Plot Points and the Style Wavered with the Parts Better than the Whole.Details about the Making Of and Behind the Scenes Stuff can be Found in the more Gossipy and Biographical Oriented Elsewhere.The Film has a Good Cast Playing some Good Characters and at times it Sparkles with Flourishes Framing an Intriguing Story with an Edge of Pulpy Seediness. The Dialog is Gabby with a "Paperback" Profundity. Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Alice Faye Star.Overall, Dense with Drama as the Movie Unfolds. The "Diner" is a Film-Noir Icon and here it Uses its Low-Brow Environs where the Characters Gather to Drink Coffee, Expose Their Personas among a Background of a Jukebox and the Ring of the Cash Register Adding an Atmosphere where Desperate Characters have Dreams of the Good Life but Temptation and Human Weakness have a Way of Getting in the Way.

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")