therealfuster Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 ..Twice Shy! Coming up on the TCM schedule for July 16th and 26th of 2005, is the gem of a movie, known as "Angel Face"! If ambulance driver Frank Jessup [Robert Mitchum] had followed this Aesopian admonition, when dealing with prim yet still femme fatale, Diane Tremayne [Jean Simmons] in Otto Preminger's black ode to obsession "Angel Face"[1952]...he would have been a lot more lucky in love. Spoilers ahead! I once read...if in your dreams, you are at the helm of whatever vehicle is being depicted, it shows that you are seemingly in control of your life. This Freudian perception never took into account though, the wily machinations of one Diane Tremayne, who put Frank into the driver's seat in his nightmare world of noir, and was the real power behind the dashboard. After the suspicious gas poisoning of Diane's stepmother [barbara O'Neil] Frank encounters the refined yet seductive Diane, during one of her expositions on the piano, of a fine and moody Dimitri Tiomkin score. Frank's slap to reduce her seeming hysteria, is met with a slap back and as he says later.."It might be love..but with a girl like you, who knows?" Immediately Diane sets her cap for Frank, by promising financial help for his fantasy of owning a car repair shop, and her encouragement in using her Jaguar in an upcoming race, and like Hertz..putting him in the proverbial driver's seat again. In conniving attempts to control all aspects of his life [like the encroachment over his girlfriend Mary as played by perennial good girl Mona Freeman] that would make Honore de Balzac's character "Cousin Bette" proud, Diane manages to have Frank hired as the family chauffeur for her father [a noted but currently wordless wordsmith and novelist, played by the genial and talented Herbert Marshall] and her stepmother, who holds all the pursestrings, due to her prior holdings. Once Frank becomes ensnared, Diane does all she can to isolate him from others, and entreat him to join in her distaste for the hated [perhaps unfairly] stepmother. Due to Simmons striking good looks and ability to portray many sides of a character, some redeeming [such as her honest love and adoration of her father] but also the deceitful and manipulative side, which wants Mrs. Tremayne out of the way, we are presented with a complex picture of a woman looking for love in all the wrong places, and ending up on trial with a possible sojourn in the gas chamber. The shocking and resounding denouement, which occurs due to Diane's fear of being alone, brings into sharp focus the concept that Mitchum has been usurped of all power, in spite of his belief that he is the captain of his own destiny, but rather he is but a dupe for Diane's predestination, as she takes the wheel of the fateful Jag for the last time... This film was admirably directed by Otto Preminger, and written by Chester Erskine and supposedly based loosely on the true life story of Beulah Louise Onerall [sp?] who blew up her parents on a yacht. An able cast make it a success including Leon Ames, Kenneth Tobey, and Jim Backus. Background on...the Gas Chamber. Poisonous gas, which had first been introduced in WWI by the Germans with chlorine gas and later mustard gas, and the Americans who came up with phosgene, was finally outlawed in war...but was thought to be ideal in the 1920's for public executions. Major D.A. Turner of the U.S. Army Medical Corps developed the prototype of the modern gas chamber, where various mixtures of water, sulfuric acid or cyanide pellets could be combined to produce deadly fumes. California introduced the most famous chair at San Quentin in 1938, and one of the most famous executees was Caryl Chessman in 1960. As there were questions of how humane it was, to ask a person to auto-suffocate themself in a tortuous asphyxiation, which sometimes took up to eleven minutes, eventually the search was on for new, more kindly methods of termination. Who else is a fan of this noirish Preminger classic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loliteblue Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 when isaw this movie for the first time and the ending (I won't give anything away for those who haven't seen it) I GASPED..... AND YELLED AT MY T.V. OH NO!!''... LOLITE:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lux0786 Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Well, I really feel compelled to watch this movie. Not sure whether I've been influenced more by the very fine review of therealfuster, or the more fleeting but spontaneoous and infectious enthusiasm of Lolite. In any case, it's marked down on the calendar. Thanks to you both. Lolite, your reaction mirrors my own after viewing Three on a Match for the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shainablue1 Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Oooh, Robert Mitchum is such a manly man- whew! Thanks for the heads up- I love it when people suggest movies. TCM serves up such a wonderful smorgasbord of movies, it's hard sometimes to figure out which ones are worth seeing really. Now I wouldn't miss this for the world. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealfuster Posted May 27, 2005 Author Share Posted May 27, 2005 so right! The ending is quite the shocker, hopefully not giving anything away by saying that. I'm so glad that this film has other fans, like you who dug it. Thanks for sharing your cute take on how the film affected you. TRF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealfuster Posted May 27, 2005 Author Share Posted May 27, 2005 your very kind words! I think Lolite captured the true essence of the film's denouement better than my long wordy exposition though and set up. The film just makes me want to talk about it though, it is so dark and perverse. I hope you enjoy the film! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealfuster Posted May 27, 2005 Author Share Posted May 27, 2005 welcome and being that I can see you too admire the "talents" of Mitchum, I hope you will recommend for me sometime one of your favorites of his films for me. Enjoy this one and report back after you've seen it please! TRF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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