Angel Face must be added to my list of film noirs featuring ladies with black hair, big eyes, who are out of their minds. Robert Mitchum, cool, but not so smart, and Jean Simmons (she ain’t doin’ Shakespeare here) weirdly magnetic, do a pas de deux that ends up in reverse. Not a very compelling storyline, but as the critics all say, Otto Preminger does it very well. You can’t get that final acceleration out of your mind.
Everything in their relationship is centered around this sports roadster and the throaty roar of its engine: their meetings; their lovemaking; their future; his past; and the denouement.
