Jean Simmons, Howard Hughes and the story of ANGEL FACE (1955)

[@aisforapple2494]

I really enjoyed this seemingly forgotten noir and especially the ending! One of my favorites.

[@hollywooddarling]

one of my top 5 film noirs. Jean Simmons' character was horrifying and I LOVED HER! Thank you for spotlighting this incredibly underrated film noir. Robert Mitchum really had the best of the best film noirs.

[@CinemaCities1978]

You're welcome. Angel Face does not get enough love.

[@CinemaCities1978]

The real life villains in the making of Angel Face were Howard Hughes and Otto Preminger who made the life of the film's star, Jean Simmons, a nightmare. The interviews with Jean Simmons and Jane Greer were featured an episode of the 1987 documentary THE RKO STUDIO STORY: HOWARD'S WAY you can watch it here ➡ kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZPHcqmjo9-Id68

[@GrandOldMovies]

Enjoyed your lovely video, which captures that weird, unsettling aura of Simmons' performance, that sense that, even with her father obsession and all, you still feel you don't know what makes her tick. Preminger was really a monster, infamous for his rages at his actors (it was said his whole face and head would turn bright red from his anger). He was notoriously abusive to Jean Seberg, an untrained teenager, during the making of Saint Joan; and his abuse and personal insults towards poor Tom Tyron during the making of The Cardinal so devastated Tyron that he eventually quit acting and became a writer instead. His books are well-regarded, especially his best-known work, The Other.

[@art.and.lit.matters]

Stunningly brilliant, fascinating and fun treatment of "Angel Face." Your mashup of background cultural history, the complex and contradictory narratives of 1950s Femme Fatales, and close scene analysis kind of took my breath away. Great Job. Free time this weekend is going to be spent binge-watching your site. This was thrilling.

[@robertdoherty2001]

A real favourite. I saw it projected in 35mm, and the whole audience cringed at the sight of both those car crashes. It was like they were coming right at you.

[@CinemaCities1978]

The first time I saw Angel Face I had no idea about the plot so when those crashes happened my jaw dropped. They're so violent, brutal and graphic.Seriously shocking stuff, and they still manage to shock today.

[@evaphillips2102]

As a young woman with deep mother wounds this movie is everything.

[@CinemaCities1978]

❤️

[@phantompanther648]

Wow , "....As a youn ..•°~`'''' .. " Such form.....🤮

[@betsyrocks]

Angel Face was excellent. I found the ending quite shocking.

[@CinemaCities1978]

yes, the ending really is brutal. I think it was perfect.

[@track1949]

It was...I remember after my first viewing saying... Holy sh!t at the end. 😮

[@Ari-ih2nl]

Q U I T E ! ! !

[@TheMocao]

Now I’ve GOT to see it 😂

[@TheMocao]

I love Jean Simmons - some of her best roles is as a neurotic. But, Robert Mitchum has a special place in my noir heart - he was so sexy in a laidback way

[@1feloniouspunk]

Wow! Not your run of the mill classic movie vids. This one has real original analysis, and it's still fun. That oops though! 5:31 XD Brrravo!

[@lindamattioli7943]

Excellent

[@CinemaCities1978]

Thank you so much 😀

[@VamshiOhgs]

Really love the thumbnail for this video, the overall feel to it perfectly fits the tone of the video

[@CinemaCities1978]

I really like the tumbnail too. This video was such a pain to get finished I think I've blocked it from my mind already. 😂

[@VamshiOhgs]

@@CinemaCities1978 I can understand your pain, sometimes it feels like everything is deliberately going against you in the process of making a video

[@DavidSmith-fv1jf]

love your commentary

[@CinemaCities1978]

thank you so much!

[@MoxieMcMurder]

Another excellent video. I loved Angel Face.

[@CinemaCities1978]

thanks! Making this one was really rough going. I'm glad it worked out. . . finally 😂

[@MoxieMcMurder]

@@CinemaCities1978 Oh it definitely did!

[@Dpb-236]

so Good

[@MiriamVintageClassics]

Such an interesting take on Angel Face, as you know by my video, I really love this film as well. Great job at spreading the word on why this film is so brutal and also telling of an era and the role of women and their surroundings. I really did struggle too when making the video and having to deal with all the awful circumstances involving its making. Not pleasant at all. Just in terms of the final film though, it is so fascinating.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I watched an interview with Eddie Muller where he mentioned that during a screening of the movie "Angel Face," Jean Simmons left the theater as soon as the film began because she couldn't bring herself to watch it. She really suffered serious abuse and trauma during the production that left a lasting mark. I really struggled with finding a way to reconcile the behind-the-scenes terror with the fact that the end product is a really great film.

[@Kjt853]

Another Jean who fell under the domination of Otto Preminger in the ‘50s was Jean Seberg, whom he cast as the lead in “Saint Joan” (1957). Virtually inexperienced, she was, as she later admitted, totally out of her depth in the film. Although the downward spiral her life experienced in the late ‘60s and ‘70s can’t be laid at Preminger’s feet, according to a biography released 40 or so years ago, even as an adult Seberg would practically freeze up whenever Preminger called her on the phone.

[@BrokebackBob]

I think you forgot to include the factual detail that after a few takes of Mitchum hitting Jean, he went over and slapped the shit out of Otto Preminger and told him that the scene was finished.

[@CinemaCities1978]

that's such a great story. I included clips of Jean SImmons and her husband Stewart Granger telling it here: 10:20

[@fjp3305]

I love it!

[@tomripsin730]

@@CinemaCities1978 Mitchum had a reputation for defending cast and crew from tyrannical directors.

[@davidhull1481]

Thanks for asking about this. I didn’t know if he had done so, and I was going to ask.

[@davidhull1481]

@@CinemaCities1978 Were there any repercussions for Mitchum, or Preminger? Also, as I mentioned in an earlier message, you and Karina Longworth complement each other nicely..

[@MarceloCarmello-y8s]

Very good job! Thank you.

[@CinemaCities1978]

you're welcome! thank you for watching!

[@fishtolizard3930]

We must’ve missed the spoiler alert on the ending giveaway, but then that’s what we get for delving deeper than we should into a film that we’ve yet to see... Our bad. Still shocking, though and we appreciate your difficult, balanced work on the subject. Thanks with Cheers!

[@MoreMovies4u]

Great video. I dont know the film, so thanks CC. Diane you silly goose, and as for Frank... what a sap! As always, i love your delve into the stories behind the cameras and juxtaposition of the femme fatale portrayals on screen being cajoled and manipualted off screen by the evil machinations of the homme horriblés in charge of the studios and pictures. This thread about Hughes reminded me of Hitchcock's abusive treatment of Tippi Hedren, keeping her under contract and spoiling her career. Disgraceful. Superb work my friend! 👍🙏🎬

[@CinemaCities1978]

This video was so stressful to make. Im glad you enjoyed it, but I have to admit, I rushed the ending (if you couldn't tell) bc I just couldn't deal with ANGEL FACE anymore. While making this I kept thinking about the Tippi Hendren/Hitchcock stories. Oh Hollywood. So much abuse and exploitation that sometimes it's hard to reconcile the love of the art form with the how disgusting some of the creation it is.

[@reddwing4368]

That music at the beginning of this video Is so ominous and Down right creepy! I love it How can I hear all of it ? Please tell Thanks

[@CinemaCities1978]

It's called Master Plan you can listen to it here ➡️www.epidemicsound.com/track/FIEVMJQlJX/

[@reddwing4368]

@@CinemaCities1978 thanks so much I wish it was on KZbin also

[@valmarsiglia]

I saw the restored version of this a few years ago at Film Forum in NYC, such a great film.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I’m so jealous! I’d love to see this on the big screen!

[@valmarsiglia]

@@CinemaCities1978 That's a great theater, they specialize in restorations of classics and revivals of unfairly-forgotten films from the past. I've seen a few films there over the years, though my favorite was probably Bunny Lake Is Missing because Keir Dullea himself was there to give an intro and take questions after. That is one dude who has aged gracefully: looked basically the same as he did in 2001, but with white hair. Great film too, of course, which I likely wouldn't have ever known about it if not for Film Forum.

[@bobsanders9114]

Excellent.

[@stevensica89]

Jean Simmons is an unusual choice for a film noir. Thank Howard Hughes and his complicated ownership of RKO>

[@PokemonFiles]

Excellent video. May I ask where you got the HD clips of the movie?

[@CinemaCities1978]

I screen recorded it. I got lucky, usually I buy the film and rip it but this one was online.

[@FrederickTheGrt]

Gene Simmons rocks in this video.

[@stuartmw8156]

Great film

[@colincampbell7027]

Wow!

[@derblae52]

Thank you for making this available. Were the emojis necessary ?

[@wsegen]

just love mona freeman.

[@CinemaCities1978]

She's great!

[@Bibidrego578]

Can you make a video of Lilith (1964)? the film tells of a trainee occupational therapist named Vincent (Warren Beatty), who becomes dangerously obsessed with the seductive, artistic, schizophrenic patient Lilith (Jean Seberg).

[@CinemaCities1978]

I don't know. I haven't seen Lillith. I can watch it and if it moves me I can put it on my list. But, I must say, your description has got me intrigued. . .

[@Bibidrego578]

@@CinemaCities1978 its got an incredible peculiar vibe, shes a seductress inside an insane asylum

[@jettrink7510]

I like the way Jean Simmons moves around inside that blouse.

[@Gertyutz]

She's one of my favorite actresses, but I've never seen "Angel Face." It's on my list.

[@Charlottemadeleinec]

Gosh I loved this movie as a kid. I thought jean simmons was amazing

[@melissavidic2895]

I saw this film for the first time quite recently, and I was taken aback especially the ending. Oh my gosh, I was not expecting that. Great acting, love Robert Mitchum even more for slapping the Director, who obviously was a freaking asshole along with Howard Hughes.

[@drnoir33]

While not one of my favorites, ANGEL FACE is a very solid film which Jean Simmons completely owns; you may have inspired me to rewatch it. The problem - endemic to many films noir - is that the ending tends to block out the rest of the film. I had thus forgotten much of the story, including how tortured Simmons' Diane is. Pulling back the lens a bit, meanwhile, someday I will (maybe) write an essay about how rare "femmes fatale" actually are in film noir. A handful of strong examples obscures this fact - and just how many "hommes fatale" there were (heck, this was kind of Robert Ryan's career outside of THE SET-UP), but that does not have the same alliterative appeal. :) Far more interesting, as you address well here and in your video about LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, is just how women in general are portrayed in these films, not-too-subtly reflecting the indentured realities of the studio system. So many of them are simply trying to escape stifling circumstances that deny them any genuine agency (Linda Darnell's Stella in FALLEN ANGEL comes to mind). As a result, when they appear at all (there about half as many female lead characters as male characters in these films, based upon being named in the credits), they are generally either subsumed partners/wannabe partners, vixenish schemers or plot-device wallpaper. Anne Baxter's Norah Larkin in THE BLUE GARDENIA and Ann Sheridan'a Eleanor Johnson in WOMAN ON THE RUN, among many others, are fine people who get caught up in terrible dangers through no fault of their own. And then there is the good/evil contrast in such films as THE MALTESE FALCON (looking at you, Effie Perine), IMPACT, RAW DEAL, OUT OF THE PAST, ACT OF VIOLENCE, MILDRED PIERCE (in multiple directions), NIGHTMARE ALLEY, FALLEN ANGEL, REBECCA (widely cited as noir)...and, of course, ANGEL FACE. What makes THE RECKLESS MOMENT so fascinating and so good is just how strong Joan Bennett's Lucia Harper is - all while still managing her suburban home sans husband. No wonder James Mason's Martin Donnelly falls so hard for her. I apologize for how long this comment is. As my handle suggests - I have a longstanding fascination with these films. Heck, I even wrote a book about it. Chapter 6 is a real pip. :)

[@CinemaCities1978]

The good-evil contrast is on display in Angel Face as well with Diane vs. Mary. It's very true that the ending of Angel Face completely overshadows the rest of the film. It's a spectacular finale. It's jaw dropping. When it comes to the complicated women of noir, I think of Gilda. She's trapped in the middle of a weird love triangle with Johnny (definitely the Homme fatale) and Ballin, and she reacts to the way the men in her life treat her. I find her to be one of the most sympathetic female characters in noir. Then there's Naked Alibi. It would be easy to label Gloria Graham's Marianna as a femme fatale, but she's someone who has been manipulated and terrorized and is simply trying to survive.

[@drnoir33]

@@CinemaCities1978 Gilda is a great example, if only because Rita Hayworth's own life was so tragic. (Incidentally, she plays my mother in the film noir version of my life. Edmond O'Brien plays my father. I think the wonderful Farley Granger plays me. ;) ) Far more recently, there is Linda Fiorentino's Bridget Gregory in the oft-overlooked THE LAST SEDUCTION. She is not really "fatale" until an abusive and vile Bill Pullman drives her to become a ruthlessly manipulative schemer; Pullman was revving up to play an even more fatale homme three years later in LOST HIGHWAY. Bridget then discovers hidden strengths and tactical brilliance. And talk about a gutpunch ending. Poor old Joe Breen would have fainted in horror.

[@deboraha.tucker8022]

Wow!!

[@tomswift3835]

I always considered this film a failure as noir. It has virtues as some other kind of movie; just something other than noir. The building disaster of the classic noir plot, the increasing tension as complex plans gradually go awry, is missing. The constant noir feeling of "damn, what now? How could things get worse?" is entirely missing. Here we have a disturbed woman who starts off disturbed, continues to be disturbed, and still later is still disturbed. Nothing really builds; after an hour all the viewer can say is yep, I'm convinced, she's disturbed. Not scheming, not calculating, not particularly manipulative, not treacherous, just disturbed. Yes, there's a garish ending, but that's about all that's memorable about the whole thing.

[@maartenlemmens8628]

Simmons even cut off her hair in the hope that Hughes would fire her. In the movie she wears a wig.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I do love the wig. But, I couldn't imagine having to work under such circumstances in such a toxic environment.

[@XxDyneXxFreeEnergyx]

They've recycled the plot from postman rings twice: 1: Car goes off cliff 2: Man and female accomplice tried and found not guilty 3: then some shocking Twist ending you never saw coming

[@phantompanther648]

Otto Preminger....😵‍💫

[@fjp3305]

I wonder how she made the car go in reverse.

[@soda989]

3:30 there was an odd edit at 'sympathy'; I was certain they were about to be found *'guilty!'* 😅

[@larry1824]

Don't spoil the ending!!!!!!😮😮😮

[@JamesBond-uz2dm]

hot diamonds, cold hard cash clean getaways, dirty coppers stand up guys, low down rats two - timing dames, only one way out This is film noir. What's your angle, sister.

[@marcbahn5487]

This review seems to be more about Howard Hughes than about Angel Face. Hughes was definitely a contrarian and he certainly offended many very powerful people who've gone to great lengths over the decades to make him look terrible. I recommend also listening to those who have had more positive opinions of him before completely buying into the more publicized side, at least in an attempt at objectivity. Wish I could advise the same about Preminger, who worked hard to earn his negative reputation, even if he did make some great films - including this one.

[@CinemaCities1978]

No, this video is not about Howard Hughes at all. In fact, in a 13-minute video, a little under four minutes are dedicated to discussing Hughes. The focus of this video is on Angel Face, the femme fatale, and Jean Simmons. The abuse that Jean Simmons suffered at the hands of Preminger and Hughes is well-documented and is a significant part of the story of the making of this film. While I'm aware of the positive things that others have said about Hughes, as well as his many accomplishments and firsts in the field of aviation, this video is not about that. Furthermore, whatever his accomplishments may be, they do not diminish or excuse what happened to Jean Simmons while she was at RKO and her experiences with Hughes.

[@MoreMovies4u]

​@@CinemaCities1978 absolutely. Hughes and Preminger may have had talent, but this does not excuse their abusive and manipulative behaviour. To suggest this video is more about Hughes is ridiculous. 🤦‍♂️

[@arctic6650]

You might lookinto how Angel Face was re-tooled into become Basic Instinct, including using the same last name for the femme fatale

[@44032]

Why would you build your driveway next to a cliff?

[@patrickfreeman8257]

Wait...wait...wait...wait. She rigs the car to go in reverse instead of drive? Haha how did she do that? Switch the letters R and D on the steering column? Even in the 1950s I'd be yelling at the screen, "Oh, Come On!"

[@nosajdabeno]

Jean Simmons, the inspiration for Gene Simmons. True story, look it up! 😂

[@dextercool]

Spoiler alert 😅

[@kidmohair8151]

ah yes. the misogyny of the golden age of Hollywood. that would never happen today would it....

[@plasticweapon]

"kid, fuck off, okay"? - john McEnroe

[@tss77]

Diane has an obvious Oedipus Complex toward her Father.

[@daltonanderson3718]

Wonder what Richard Brooks would've done?