ANGEL FACE (1953)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes 53 Seconds
Audio: English DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: B&W 1080p HD Full Frame (1.37:1)
Director: Otto Preminger
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Mona Freeman, Herbert Marshall
In Otto Preminger's vicious noir thriller Angel Face (1953) ambulance driver Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum, The Night of the Hunter) has a chance encounter with the attractive Diane Tremayne (Jean Simmons, The Big Country) during emergency call to the Tremayne household after her stepmother Catherine (Barbara O'Neil, Tower of London) nearly dies from a suspicious natural gas-leak. Diane takes a liking to Frank and pursues him single-mindedly, and she's not letting something like him having a girlfriend, Mary (Mona Freeman, Huk!), stand in the way of her happiness, setting out to sabotage that relationship toot sweet, and the setting about convincing her wealthy father to hire Frank on as a chauffer, digging her hooks deeper into him.
In Otto Preminger's vicious noir thriller Angel Face (1953) ambulance driver Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum, The Night of the Hunter) has a chance encounter with the attractive Diane Tremayne (Jean Simmons, The Big Country) during emergency call to the Tremayne household after her stepmother Catherine (Barbara O'Neil, Tower of London) nearly dies from a suspicious natural gas-leak. Diane takes a liking to Frank and pursues him single-mindedly, and she's not letting something like him having a girlfriend, Mary (Mona Freeman, Huk!), stand in the way of her happiness, setting out to sabotage that relationship toot sweet, and the setting about convincing her wealthy father to hire Frank on as a chauffer, digging her hooks deeper into him.
Frank doesn't initially realize that Diane, while quite pretty on the surface, is a raging psychopath underneath, a young woman who will do literally anything to get what she wants. To that end she sets her sights on eliminating her hated stepmother, which results in an unintended casualty. The manner of the plotted murder and it's execution onscreen is quite vicious for the era, but I wouldn't want to spoilt the thrills of where this noir shocker goes so I won't detail it any further than that, it's worth experiencing fresh and I would highly recommend it. There are two shocking moments in this one that are so utterly mean-spirited that it blew my hair back, that finale, oh my God!. I totally was not expecting this to be so violent, and while there are a few long stretches of drawn out melodrama that slow it down a bit I absolutely loved it.
Audio/Video: Angel Face (1952) arrives on region-free Blu-ray with a spanking new 2023 1080p HD master from 4K scan of best preservation elements. Despite the nebulous source information this black and white shocker looks pretty fantastic on Blu-ray, the 3K restoration offers well-managed grain, excellent contrast and solid depth and clarity with deep blacks. A couple of shots looks a tad softer than others, but overwhelmingly the picture looks terrific. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA dual-mono with optional English subtitles. There is some sporadic hiss present but it never rises to the level of distracting, dialogue is never a chore to decipher, and the score from Dimitri Tiomkin (The Old Man and the Sea) sounds wonderful.
Archival extras include an Audio Commentary by Eddie Muller; note that this commentary because of the way it was originally authored is only available to view while watching a separate standard-definition version of the film that utilizes the previous DVD master, which is not ideal but it's a solid commentary and I am glad they were able to include it here. We also get the 2-min Original Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie artwork.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Eddie Muller
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:17)
