Interesteg
What makes it different from others?
Diagonaldi
Very well executed
Connianatu
How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.
JohnnyLee1
Hudson is mesmerising as newspaper reporter Burke Devlin who is besotted by fly-by-night characters, especially sultry daredevil parachutist LaVerne Schumann (Dorothy Malone). His character is worth all of the others put together. In the acting stakes too he shines brightly, adding nuance to his performance. Unfortunately the script is tarnished especially if we are to believe Hudson's infatuation for LaVerne who proves herself to be mostly unlovable. If you like Depression era dramas, that will help you enjoy this more. And if you like the early world of flying, that will help too. But mostly watch it for Rock Hudson's intelligent performance. Based on a story by William Faulkner.
Tony Montana
The Tarnished Angels is a pure melodrama. Black and White excellent cinematography and good performances from all the cast. That's the Douglas Sirk way. Building the story with strong elements and hidden lines about the American way of life and the bitter behind the curtain. The man is a master. Melodrama is a Greek word so you have to know what exactly means. There is a big difference between melodrama and "melo". The film is a masterpiece. Sirk was a director with strong elements of morality. The region 2 DVD from Universal is in very good condition. No extras. The film has guts. The plot is not as simple as it seems with the first view. The scenes with the airplane "battles" are so fast and full of adrenalin. A trio of losers, an alcoholic but deep moralist journalist, a kid with an only friend that was called loneliness and a mindless woman make this film unforgettable. Highly recommended.
Neil Doyle
ROBERT STACK is a barnstorming stunt pilot in the '30s who'd been a hero aviator during the first World War. He's abusive to his loyal wife (DOROTHY MALONE) and his expert mechanic (JACK Carson) and anybody he comes into contact with. For some strange reason, newspaperman ROCK HUDSON is interested enough in this threesome to want to do a news story on them as they prepare to enter various air contests. After briefly encountering them, he even puts them up at his place when they're out of lodgings and soon becomes enmeshed in their lives.But Hudson does deliver a solid monologue at the end when he storms into the newspaper office to give his boss the lowdown on what kind of story he uncovered. It's one of his best moments and he carries it off like a real pro.Stack plays his sullen heel with his usual brash, solemn demeanor. A flabby looking Jack Carson plays the mechanic who's secretly still in love with Stack's wife, Malone. Malone is quietly effective as the wife who suffers and suffers while Stack's mistreatment goes unchecked, except by Hudson. Surprisingly, this is all taken from a William Faulkner novel which must have had stronger characters and situations than are depicted here.It's a stormy emotional drama that makes little sense, directed with a certain amount of style by Douglas Sirk even though it does not use his usual trademark--Technicolor. All the emotional strife makes it a pretty heavy-handed, florid melodrama. Hudson's noble turn at the end makes a new woman of Malone, who decides to accept his offer to return to her roots in Iowa with her little son. None of it seems to ring true, at least to me.Best feature: the flying air scenes are well staged and photographed for maximum effect--but it's hard to care about any of the characters.Trivia note: TROY DONAHUE has a small role as an ill-fated pilot competing against Stack. On the debit side, DOROTHY MALONE's costuming and hair style doesn't suggest the 1930s at all, but the 1950s.
David (Handlinghandel)
Dorothy Malone is a libidinous librarian in "The Big Sleep." Here, in the prime of her stardom, she again appears in a Faulkner movie. She looks sensational. In some ways, her echt-50s look is the best part of this movie. We see her long legs stretched out under her early on and later see her with wind-swept hair. (Blonde, which really suited her.) The movie itself is for die-hard Sirk fans. I admire his skills but do not worship at his altar.I haven't read the novel on which it's based. Something appears to have been lost in the screen adaptation: We are asked to find small-down air daredevils not only fascinating but in fact the stuff of Greek tragedy. Maybe some are. People in all walks of life have the potential.But nothing here earns the respect we are clearly intended to pay. Malone is gorgeous. Her on screen husband Robert Stack gives a sketched-in performance. Rock Hudson is -- Well, he's OK as the reporter who lionizes these people and is (inexplicably) accepted into their closed circle.Jack Carson gives a good performance as the other man in a sort of triangle involving Malone and Stack. He really is good. So is the black and white cinematography. Otherwise, it leaves me kind of scratching my head in bewilderment.
