A lot of the best post-War noir was a man drifting downward, a dark reflection of disillusionment from ex-servicemen who couldn't reconcile what they'd seen in the war with the comfy insularity back home.
Dana Andrews is a favorite of mine. Linda Darnell and Alice Faye too. None of them get the credit they deserve. I love this movie - a terrific film noir. Great choice, Steve!
Dana Andrews should have won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1946's THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, not Fredric March who had already won one for DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE.
@@murrayaronson3753 Oh Murray, I SOOO agree!! I just watch "best Years' the other night and thought the same thing. March is such a ham bone in it and Dana is so emotionally broken up and sincere.
Linda Darnell gives us a master class in how to make an entrance Love how she can't be bothered to swallow her food before talking: "Gimme a home first Buster and then I'll *think* about not talking with my mouth full."
The epitome of as Lily Tomlin used to say "The kind of woman who gave too much, too soon, too often, to too many." This is my favorite role of Darnell's, she is enigmatic, insolent and calls no nonsense. I feel so sorry for her when she opens up to Andrews in the beach scene, about wanting to make something of herslf and how she's made up her mind. The minute she's dead I miss her for the rest of the picture. I love the way she looks slowly up at Bickford and says, almost inaudibly; "Okay...so I'm back." speaks volumes. Thanks for watching.
Linda Darnell was absolutely beautiful, I think she was incapable of taking a bad picture. No matter what angle or type of lighting the camera just seemed to love her. Tragically she was killed in a house fire. There's no nice way of putting it, she was burned to death. How the fire started is speculative. What is known is that she was burned over 90% of her body trying to making it out of the house from an upstairs bedroom. She was only 41 and still beautiful. :-(
Steve. What makes you so great is that you are like a living, film encyclopedia. Just listening to you rattle of stuff could keep me entertained for hours! :)
Ah, you mentioned Kathleen Byron at the end of your review. Nice to hear her name out of the blue. Yes, indeed, the AMAZING Linda Darnell. A beauty like none other. And a good actress as well. Dana Andrews, very under-rated and a beauty, too! Always liked Alice Faye and the really good support cast in this semi-classic - one after another: Revere, Kilbride, Bickford, Cabot, Carradine - a touch of heaven. You're a lot of fun, Steve. And I agree with most of your reviews so it makes you even more fun!
@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Yep, no one says "You make me sick" like Linda in this movie, and any gal who can turn down a prime cut of Dana Andrews at any price is one tough cookie.
@@slc2466 You got that right. To her, every man in the joint is the same, want the same thing and "ain't gonna get it, 'til they anti up" with whatever she wants. I love Stella. Once she's gone, she lingers on and I miss her for the remainder of the movie. So glad you like this one and darling Darnell as much as I do. I wish she'd been given more interesting projects and that men and the system hadn't perpetually let her down. "A Letter To Three Wives" and "No Way Out" werer the only ones to really utilize her gifts to the fullest after this one. I also have ' a thing" for "Forever Amber". I think with the right director and if the sensors hadn't meddled, it could have been an Oscar vehicle for her. But, she loathed Preminger , he could be such a beast, and the studio undremined her and made her feel she wasn't good enough. I think Michael Curtiz or Mankiweicz could have done wonders directing that picture. Oh well, so much for the Holywood '"what ifs". They didn't. Done deal. Thanks for watching! Happy Summer! Steve
@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Darnell was always great with edgy parts- she was famous at a very young age of course, and came across in films as though she knew the score and how to play the Hollywood game. "Angel" and "Three Wives" are two of my top 1940's films, and in both cases Darnell has much to do with that. I love the fact in "Angel" she's not playing an out-and-out bad girl- Stella's been hurt before and is shrewdly working on coming out ahead this time- good for her, even if things don't play out because, you know, it's noir. If you haven't seen Linda's appearance on "What's My Line" circa 1956 I highly recommend it- she was one of the best Mystery Guests ever, with a great sense of humor to match her still-overwhelming beauty.
Love your reviews Steve - I like the way you talk about the film and interject with little bits of interesting background info! Super choice too, film noir is one of the great genres that tends to be overlooked, so hopefully this will attract some new fans!!
Oh, God! Me Too!!!! Especially in this one. Sultry and so sexy. The ultimate Film Noir Femme fatale. The way she looks at him over her coffee cup. I melt. Happy New Year and thanks for watching! Best; Steve
@@stevenhayes4063 I play WW2 flight sims. Linda is the babe I have a picture of in my cockpit 😅 Happy new year to you too. You have the best channel for reviews of the classics.
Steve, you are amazing. I look forward to your short films, and I'd never seen this one, so thank you for the invitation and the information. Love you!!!
Agreed, Linda Darnell was exquisite but also a wonderful actress. She was good in Letter To Three Wives and My Darling Clementine; I think she even portrayed the Virgin Mary in Song of Bernadette. What a range!
Not tomention; " No Way Out", Hangover Square" and " Summer Storm" . Very underrated! I loved Linda! Have an autographed photo of her looking at me as I write this! "GoodmorningTOQ"! "Goodmorning, Linda!" LOL!
Just found your channel the other night. Now I am hooked. I LOVE your reviews.These old movies are wonderful, and Film Noir are some of my favorites. Keep these reviews coming please.
Alice Faye always puts out the story that she left the movies to raise her two daughters. But the truth, as Steve Hayes started to tell it, was that Alice was not pleased when she saw the final cut of Fallen Angel. Alice's blood boiled when she saw the final cut of the film in the studio projection room. She saw that many of her scenes had been cut to favor Linda Darnell. Alice stormed out of the projection room, got into her car and sped off the studio lot, almost running over a few people. She never returned to the studio lot, breaking her contract with Fox. As a result, Alice was unable to get any more work in films as a star.
It should be remembered that Alice and her second husband, Phil Harris, had a successful radio program following her departure from Fox and films. Alice didn't just drift into obscurity.
Thanks for the Charles Bickford nod in this fine cast & story, Steve. Too bad Preminger poor-mouthed most of his films from this era--they may be his best. Btw, Bickford's outburst with Mayer was only one of the incidents that may have stymied the actor's career: He also popped William Wyler on the set & verbally dressed down De Mille! On top of all that, he was attacked by a lion on the set of East of Java (1935) & it took him years to recover, but he never really lost his moxie--or talent.
Another great review Steve. Your choices are so varied and interesting. Your enthusiasm is appreciated as well. Alice Faye looks like June Lockhart. Steve you have great hair. I could see you has a questionable character in film noir. But I want to see you play a pentacostal preacher. I can see it now.
YIKES!!! Dathatn, you're funny! I suppose I could do it. I played a priest in "Hooked" and "GOD" in "The Big Gay Musical". Two movies. And I wasn't struck down by a bolt of lightingng for either, so...
It was not Preminger who cut some of Faye's important scenes. It was Darrell Zanuck. She got along fine with Preminger. It was after she saw the finished film when she walked out.
Read up on Wikipedia about Linda Darnell. She was sort of the bad girl in real life with many, many marriages. Seemingly she never found the love she wanted. Dana Andrews with his good looks was cast as such in his films. Later in life be became an alcoholic, reformed later, but died of Alz disease in Los Alamitos care facility. I confuse him with Hugh Beaumont, as they sort of look and act alike.
she was married 3 times, which is hardly "many, many", even by hollywood standards. her reputation had her being a good girl, friendly, open, real..beaumont was a pleasant actor, but hardly on an equal with andrews. and that's my defensive 2 cents.
@@danielstanwyck2812 Linda Darnell did have a hectic love life. When she first came to Hollywood, she had her own apartment and was completely on her own at 16 years old, according to an interview I read with her, reprinted about 30 years ago. Otto Preminger treated her so horribly on the set of "Forever Amber" that Cornell Wilder decked him. Tab Hunter starred opposite her very early in his career and she was wonderful to him. He had only good things to say about her in his memoir.
She is so sexy in this, with that "You want it? You gotta' work for it." attitide. She does the same thing to more comic effect in A Letter To Three Wives". I love Linda! Thanks for watching and stay SAFE! Best Wishes; Steve
@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Whaddaya think I'm doing? Staying at home, going through all your reviews. Love the backstory stuff. Just watched the one on Titanic with Barbara Stanwyck. She is so intriguing to me. Beautiful, husky voice, capable of being tough, and what I can only describe as an aura of integrity that has such a butchy appeal. Think that's it. She has integrity wafting off her that you usually see only in men, like maybe Mitchum or Wayne or Bogart. Really hot. You stay safe, too. I know you stick to good movies, but one of the things I remember from my youth is the B war movies with all the stereotypical portrayals of German and Japanese soldiers. They were always shouting, and the Japanese had extra racist round, super-thick coke bottle glasses. To this day, I can shout in fake Japanese and fake German from watching those movies. "Hoko sato kiri toro gato miko san!" "Schwan sie duffen tagenfielenBiergarten!" : )
A great film. 👍
A lot of the best post-War noir was a man drifting downward, a dark reflection of disillusionment from ex-servicemen who couldn't reconcile what they'd seen in the war with the comfy insularity back home.
Dana Andrews is a favorite of mine. Linda Darnell and Alice Faye too. None of them get the credit they deserve. I love this movie - a terrific film noir. Great choice, Steve!
Dana Andrews should have won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1946's THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, not Fredric March who had already won one for DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE.
@@murrayaronson3753 Oh Murray, I SOOO agree!! I just watch "best Years' the other night and thought the same thing. March is such a ham bone in it and Dana is so emotionally broken up and sincere.
Linda Darnell gives us a master class in how to make an entrance Love how she can't be bothered to swallow her food before talking: "Gimme a home first Buster and then I'll *think* about not talking with my mouth full."
The epitome of as Lily Tomlin used to say "The kind of woman who gave too much, too soon, too often, to too many." This is my favorite role of Darnell's, she is enigmatic, insolent and calls no nonsense. I feel so sorry for her when she opens up to Andrews in the beach scene, about wanting to make something of herslf and how she's made up her mind. The minute she's dead I miss her for the rest of the picture. I love the way she looks slowly up at Bickford and says, almost inaudibly; "Okay...so I'm back." speaks volumes. Thanks for watching.
Linda Darnell was absolutely beautiful, I think she was incapable of taking a bad picture. No matter what angle or type of lighting the camera just seemed to love her. Tragically she was killed in a house fire. There's no nice way of putting it, she was burned to death. How the fire started is speculative. What is known is that she was burned over 90% of her body trying to making it out of the house from an upstairs bedroom. She was only 41 and still beautiful. :-(
I loved Linda. One of my favorite Film Noir femme Fatalaes. She was also terrific in comedies. "Letter To Three Wives".
Steve. What makes you so great is that you are like a living, film encyclopedia. Just listening to you rattle of stuff could keep me entertained for hours! :)
Glad you think so and grateful you do!
Ah, you mentioned Kathleen Byron at the end of your review. Nice to hear her name out of the blue. Yes, indeed, the AMAZING Linda Darnell. A beauty like none other. And a good actress as well. Dana Andrews, very under-rated and a beauty, too! Always liked Alice Faye and the really good support cast in this semi-classic - one after another: Revere, Kilbride, Bickford, Cabot, Carradine - a touch of heaven. You're a lot of fun, Steve. And I agree with most of your reviews so it makes you even more fun!
So glad you do and glad you watch! Many thanks!
One of my favorite noirs- it's a perfect 2:00 a.m. movie.
Absoutely. LINDA DARNELL!!!!! Even as a tawdry waitress in a seedy diner, the ultimate film noir femme fatale. Thanks for watching! Steve
@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Yep, no one says "You make me sick" like Linda in this movie, and any gal who can turn down a prime cut of Dana Andrews at any price is one tough cookie.
@@slc2466 You got that right. To her, every man in the joint is the same, want the same thing and "ain't gonna get it, 'til they anti up" with whatever she wants. I love Stella. Once she's gone, she lingers on and I miss her for the remainder of the movie. So glad you like this one and darling Darnell as much as I do. I wish she'd been given more interesting projects and that men and the system hadn't perpetually let her down. "A Letter To Three Wives" and "No Way Out" werer the only ones to really utilize her gifts to the fullest after this one. I also have ' a thing" for "Forever Amber". I think with the right director and if the sensors hadn't meddled, it could have been an Oscar vehicle for her. But, she loathed Preminger , he could be such a beast, and the studio undremined her and made her feel she wasn't good enough. I think Michael Curtiz or Mankiweicz could have done wonders directing that picture. Oh well, so much for the Holywood '"what ifs". They didn't. Done deal. Thanks for watching! Happy Summer! Steve
@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Darnell was always great with edgy parts- she was famous at a very young age of course, and came across in films as though she knew the score and how to play the Hollywood game. "Angel" and "Three Wives" are two of my top 1940's films, and in both cases Darnell has much to do with that. I love the fact in "Angel" she's not playing an out-and-out bad girl- Stella's been hurt before and is shrewdly working on coming out ahead this time- good for her, even if things don't play out because, you know, it's noir. If you haven't seen Linda's appearance on "What's My Line" circa 1956 I highly recommend it- she was one of the best Mystery Guests ever, with a great sense of humor to match her still-overwhelming beauty.
@@slc2466 Thanks! I'll check t out. Best; Steve
Linda Darnell and Dana Andrews in ZERO HOUR - terrific picture.
Yes, I love disaster & potential disaster movies. "Zero Hour" was a perlude to Karen Black flying the jet in "Airport 75". " I can't fly this plane!"
Love your reviews Steve - I like the way you talk about the film and interject with little bits of interesting background info! Super choice too, film noir is one of the great genres that tends to be overlooked, so hopefully this will attract some new fans!!
Thanks so much for watching! Please take a moment and push the "LIKE" button. It really helps!.
@berjaboy , and she was afraid of fire. So ironic, terrifying and tragic.
You rock Steve! Loved your review of one of my very favorite films!! Fallen Angel❤️🌈xo
Just like every other guy in town, I fell in love with Linda Darnell when she walked through that door. I've been obsessed ever since.
Oh, God! Me Too!!!! Especially in this one. Sultry and so sexy. The ultimate Film Noir Femme fatale. The way she looks at him over her coffee cup. I melt. Happy New Year and thanks for watching! Best; Steve
@@stevenhayes4063 I play WW2 flight sims. Linda is the babe I have a picture of in my cockpit 😅
Happy new year to you too. You have the best channel for reviews of the classics.
Linda is so perfect in this; you root for her even though she's a kind-of bad girl.
Linda Darnell should of received an Oscar nomination for this movie.
And "A Letter To Three Wives" . I love her in this though. My favorite role of hers. Insolent/enigmatic "Stella".
@86482099 , because at the time he had two children, and men who had two children or more were not allowed to join the service.
Linda Darnell ...
hubba! Hubba!! HUBBA!!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Absoluetly. She makes sipping a cup of coffee the hottest thing this side of the cup.
Steve, you are amazing. I look forward to your short films, and I'd never seen this one, so thank you for the invitation and the information. Love you!!!
Thanks so much for watching! Please take a moment and push the "LIKE" button. It really helps!.
Wow, the first movie you have done that I have'nt seen. I will have to see if my library has it. Any Idea why Dana Andrews wasn't in the service?
Nope. Thanks so much for watching! Please take a moment and push the "LIKE" button. It really helps!.
Agreed, Linda Darnell was exquisite but also a wonderful actress. She was good in Letter To Three Wives and My Darling Clementine; I think she even portrayed the Virgin Mary in Song of Bernadette. What a range!
Not tomention; " No Way Out", Hangover Square" and " Summer Storm" . Very underrated! I loved Linda! Have an autographed photo of her looking at me as I write this! "GoodmorningTOQ"! "Goodmorning, Linda!" LOL!
@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Lucky you!
Just found your channel the other night. Now I am hooked. I LOVE your reviews.These old movies are wonderful, and Film Noir are some of my favorites. Keep these reviews coming please.
So glad! Welcome aboard! Thanks so much for watching! Please take a moment and push the "LIKE" button. It really helps!.
Excellent review.
I adore this movie. It's like character actor central, the cast is marvelous.
Right? And that Darnell dame. Hot, hot, hot!
Your reviews are a DELIGHT!
Thank you!
Alice Faye always puts out the story that she left the movies to raise her two daughters. But the truth, as Steve Hayes started to tell it, was that Alice was not pleased when she saw the final cut of Fallen Angel. Alice's blood boiled when she saw the final cut of the film in the studio projection room. She saw that many of her scenes had been cut to favor Linda Darnell. Alice stormed out of the projection room, got into her car and sped off the studio lot, almost running over a few people. She never returned to the studio lot, breaking her contract with Fox. As a result, Alice was unable to get any more work in films as a star.
YUP.
It should be remembered that Alice and her second husband, Phil Harris, had a successful radio program following her departure from Fox and films. Alice didn't just drift into obscurity.
Charles Bickford punched out Louis B. Mayer? All the more reason to like him.
No kidding! That guy was SUCH a JERK! BRAVO, Charles! I'd have given him an Oscar for that!
Charles never too nuthin' from nobody! Irracible and endearing. here he is menacing.
This film sort of reminds me of "The Postman Always Rings Twice" for some reason. Gotta see this one.
Terrific.
Thanks for the Charles Bickford nod in this fine cast & story, Steve. Too bad Preminger poor-mouthed most of his films from this era--they may be his best. Btw, Bickford's outburst with Mayer was only one of the incidents that may have stymied the actor's career: He also popped William Wyler on the set & verbally dressed down De Mille! On top of all that, he was attacked by a lion on the set of East of Java (1935) & it took him years to recover, but he never really lost his moxie--or talent.
Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes and passing them used lots of skill
nicely done.
Another one to add to my cue. ;)
Thanks Steve.
Thanks so much for watching! Please take a moment and push the "LIKE" button. It really helps!.
Another great review Steve. Your choices are so varied and interesting. Your enthusiasm is appreciated as well. Alice Faye looks like June Lockhart.
Steve you have great hair. I could see you has a questionable character in film noir. But I want to see you play a pentacostal preacher. I can see it now.
YIKES!!! Dathatn, you're funny! I suppose I could do it. I played a priest in "Hooked" and "GOD" in "The Big Gay Musical". Two movies. And I wasn't struck down by a bolt of lightingng for either, so...
Linda Darnell is almost reincarnated in the modern day actress Jennifer Beals of "Flash Dance" and "Devil in a Blue Dress" with Denzle Washington.
For me, it's Jennifer Connelly in "Mulholland Falls" ('96).
Alice Faye was apparently so disgusted that she left the set without even emptying her dressing room - and never went back for her things.
Wish I'd been there, I'd have cleaned out her dressingroom...and worn most of them around the lot.
It was not Preminger who cut some of Faye's important scenes. It was Darrell Zanuck. She got along fine with Preminger. It was after she saw the finished film when she walked out.
Alice Faye married to The bare necessities guy from Disneys Jungle Book.
Phil Harris and they stayed married.
Read up on Wikipedia about Linda Darnell. She was sort of the bad girl in real life with many, many marriages. Seemingly she never found the love she wanted. Dana Andrews with his good looks was cast as such in his films. Later in life be became an alcoholic, reformed later, but died of Alz disease in Los Alamitos care facility. I confuse him with Hugh Beaumont, as they sort of look and act alike.
she was married 3 times, which is hardly "many, many", even by hollywood standards. her reputation had her being a good girl, friendly, open, real..beaumont was a pleasant actor, but hardly on an equal with andrews. and that's my defensive 2 cents.
@@danielstanwyck2812 Linda Darnell did have a hectic love life. When she first came to Hollywood, she had her own apartment and was completely on her own at 16 years old, according to an interview I read with her, reprinted about 30 years ago. Otto Preminger treated her so horribly on the set of "Forever Amber" that Cornell Wilder decked him. Tab Hunter starred opposite her very early in his career and she was wonderful to him. He had only good things to say about her in his memoir.
With that sneering pout, Linda Darnell looks like she could be related to Elvis
She is so sexy in this, with that "You want it? You gotta' work for it." attitide. She does the same thing to more comic effect in A Letter To Three Wives". I love Linda! Thanks for watching and stay SAFE! Best Wishes; Steve
@@STEVEHAYESTOQ Whaddaya think I'm doing? Staying at home, going through all your reviews. Love the backstory stuff. Just watched the one on Titanic with Barbara Stanwyck. She is so intriguing to me. Beautiful, husky voice, capable of being tough, and what I can only describe as an aura of integrity that has such a butchy appeal. Think that's it. She has integrity wafting off her that you usually see only in men, like maybe Mitchum or Wayne or Bogart. Really hot. You stay safe, too.
I know you stick to good movies, but one of the things I remember from my youth is the B war movies with all the stereotypical portrayals of German and Japanese soldiers. They were always shouting, and the Japanese had extra racist round, super-thick coke bottle glasses. To this day, I can shout in fake Japanese and fake German from watching those movies. "Hoko sato kiri toro gato miko san!" "Schwan sie duffen tagenfielenBiergarten!" : )
Linda Darnell is almost too good in this film. Whenever she's not onscreen, I just didn't care.