It must be a good thirty years since I read Cornell Woolrich's The Black Angel, but I've only just caught up with the film noir based on the book and directed by Roy William Neill. I can't remember much about the original story after such a lapse of time, but I'm pretty sure that it differs significantly from the movie version (and apparently the book was in fact a reworked version of two short stories) but it makes for good watching and at eighty minutes or so in length doesn't outstay its welcome.
The film opens in the apartment of Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling), glamorous but unpleasant to her maid (never a good sign) and unkind to her former husband Martin (Dan Duryea), whom she refuses to see despite his obvious if inexplicable yearning for her. We see Peter Lorre skulking around in a sinister way, and then another chap turns up, only to find that Mavis has been murdered. Taking stupidity to remarkable levels, he leaves traces of his presence at the scene before rushing off, only to be spotted by a witness. He's duly arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death.
His luckless wife Catherine (June Bennett) is convinced of his innocence, and sets out to save him. After several false starts, she comes across Martin, a songwriter who has a serious drink problem but is at heart really a decent guy. They become suspicious of Lorre (he plays a shady nightclub owner called Marko) and form an elaborate if improbable plan to prove his guilt.
Various pleasing plot complications ensue, and the race against time (a familiar Woolrich trope) adds a degree of tension. The story is well-paced, and in this respect, Neill, whose final film this was, sets a good example to many present day directors of film and TV shows. It's not quite as good as Phantom Lady, which is probably my favourite Woolrich story, but I'm not sure why Woolrich himself was dissatisfied with Neill's effort. I'd say this is a film noir that deserves to be better-known.
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