What a waste of my time!!!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Someone commented that this film is better than 'Laura'. I'd have to say that I agree, but that is no ringing endorsement for 'Fallen Angel', because there are at least two too many unbelievable characters.We get quite early on that Dana Andrews is your quintessential ne'er do well con artist. His cheeky move of marrying a virtuous girl with money (Alice Faye) to eventually use his new-found wealth to romance the very sexy Linda Darnell, is a tad outrageous.The only believable character is the teasing Darnell. She looks very fresh and lovely here.Alice Faye looks out of place in this film noir, as she had that oh so sweet blonde innocent look. I was literally scratching my head trying to figure out why such a nice girl would be so taken with the obvious bum Andrews.So, no, I didn't 'buy' the movie, as i didn't 'buy' 'Laura'. But the ending I must admit was very clever and a wonderful bit of off-type casting.The ending is almost as good as Preminger's ambiguous finish to his masterpiece 'Anatomy of a Murder'.I recently rewatched this film and I found myself enjoying it even more. Darnell is gorgeous in her role...someone's review talked about Linda as 'out of place' playing a 'bad girl' but I think she fits it perfectly.I fell in love with Ms. Darnell as 'Stella', much like every male in the cast did! 'Stella' is the classic film noir femme fatale. I came to appreciate Charles Bickford's role as the sadistic cop, but I still could not make heads or tails of Alice Faye's blind faith in the greasy Dana Andrews' character.This is a flawed film, but I must say, I enjoy it much more than 'Laura'. Preminger seems to have a real affection for the genre. The con man/spookchaser role played by John Carradine allows the actor to ham it up magnificently as only Carradine can.Poor Alice Faye still seems out of place. She at first appears as your Cardboard Virtuous Blonde. It's interesting that Faye tried to reinvent herself in this film noir film, it may have worked with a better screenplay. Closer examination of Ms. Faye reveals a very lovely woman. Her appeal is still quite obvious in this mid forties' flick.

Two things usually call out to me upon watching a film, and especially a film noir. Most important is structure, resonances between the world of the film and anchors where feel and authorship of that world is decided inside the film. Just below this but closely attached is the personality of the camera, how experience of this world colors our eyes and are we perhaps among the authors by seeing story a certain way.I say especially in a film noir, because noir in my view is not about dames or bepop murder, not as a first principle at least. It's about a story that is both story, and reflections cast by the anxious mind. (anxious because of life in the big city and all that)So far as structure is concerned, this is a mess. A conman falls for a sultry waitress, but in order to earn her he has to enact a charade around a second woman and her sister, rich but sheltered. Karmas at work; the charade is presaged early on by a spiritist show rolling into town and our man getting to work selling tickets for them to gullible folks. The staged hokus pokus directly addresses the two sisters and losing money by falling for the wrong guy, but of course only because this has already happened in the past and the magician has done his research.There are changes of heart that you'll just have to swallow, but that's not the problem. There is no commitment to one or multiple dreamers of the story as in Laura, this is, much less the fluid streams of identity and self that are so characteristic of noir at its best. It takes its romance and drama at a lot of face value. It is very much a doomed love story, about this man who discovers only too late that the wrong woman was really right for him. So as noir, this isn't much—it's no Shanghai, Detour or Deadline at Dawn.No, this is really worth it for the camera and mood of the sleepy West Coast town, a lot of latenight snooping around in shadows, promise of sex in the salty air. This is where connections to Vertigo pay off. There is a marvelous shot where the transition from neon night into early morning is reflected on a glass panel, but this is just it. It is color without personality in the story.

Down on his luck drifter Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) is dropped in a backwater between LA and Frisco after trying to extend his ticket to ride. Having a way with words he is soon involved with the town hottie, waitress Stella (Linda Darnell) as well as a local pillar of the community June Mills (Alice Faye). While Mills is a little naive to the ways of the world and easy to manipulate the more experienced Stella juggles a handful of suitors much to Stanton's frustration. In order to get Stella he's going to need cash and decides to marry June to get it. A murder however short circuits Stanton's plans. Under the meticulous and subtle style of director Otto Preminger Fallen Angel's storyline unfolds with a restrained urgency with its cast of ambiguous characters holding their intent close to their vest. In doing so Preminger stretches the mystery and the number of possible suspects right up until the final moment with clever distractions to keep the audience off balance. Andrews is excellent as the cynical protagonist Stanton, a surly and unpredictable con man whose about to reach a crossroad in his life. Linda Darnell's man eater Stella is one sexy force of nature who can teach Stanton a thing or two about manipulation but she is also capable of attracting sympathy and understanding given the path of lies and broken promises her desirability has attracted from men. Faye's June is a little reticent and gullible at first but gains strength and independence as the film progresses. Charles Bickford, Ann Revere and Percy Kilbride in crucial roles also acquit themselves well.Along with Laura this is Preminger's best early effort as he displays his proficient craftsmanship with the same tension found in the glossier bright lights big city pic. The main set piece may be the counter area in a small town greasy spoon but with Otto as its cook it transforms into three star.

While traveling to San Francisco, the drifter Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) is thrown off the bus late night in Walton for not having the necessary money to buy the complete ticket. He wanders to the "Pop's Eats" diner, where he meets the sexy waitress Stella, an easy woman that uses to date clients after-hours. Eric has a crush on her but the cynical Stella tells that he can not afford to have her. Eric decides to seduce the lonely June Mills (Alice Faye), a wealthy woman that lives with her controller sister Clara Mills (Anne Revere), to have money to move with Stella. Eric goes to San Francisco with June and Clara, and gets married with June. They return to Walton and in the wedding night, Eric sneaks out to meet Stella that has a date. On the next morning, Stella is found murdered and the brutal investigator Mark Judd (Charles Bickford) is assigned for the case. When Eric becomes the prime-suspect, he investigates the murder seeking the identity of the real killer."Fallen Angel" is a disappointing film-noir by Otto Preminger. The unreasonable story has only unlikable characters and situations very hard to believe. The conclusion with Eric Stanton resolving the case by distance is awful. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Anjo ou Demônio" ("Angel or Demon")