Angel Face (1953)

US 91m, B&W
Director: Otto Preminger; Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Mona Freeman, Herbert Marshall

A former race car driver, turned paramedic, falls under the influence of a cold calculating young woman who will stop at nothing to get her way. A deliberate and slow-paced drama, the film is punctuated by an unexpectedly violent car “accident” in which foul play is suspected by authorities. Notwithstanding a well-worn premise which sees the couple involved in a courtroom case of double homicide, the film’s extraordinarly dark conclusion sets this production apart from most contemporary film noir (Klaus Ming June 2014).