Fallen Angel

Fallen Angel is a 1945 crime drama set in a small California coastal town. Eric Stanton, a drifter with no money, is put off a bus and ends up in a diner, where he becomes fixated on Stella, a waitress who wants nothing to do with a man who cannot pay his way. At the same time he courts June Mills, a quiet, well-off woman, and his pursuit of Stella turns into a scheme that draws June into it. The arrangement gives way to a killing, leaving the three of them entangled in suspicion. Dana Andrews plays Eric, with Linda Darnell as Stella, Alice Faye as June and Charles Bickford as Mark Judd.

Otto Preminger directed, produced and made the film directly after Laura, his 1944 breakthrough. It is the second of the sixteen features he directed, ahead of Forever Amber, and the screenplay is by Harry Kleiner. Alice Faye took a dramatic role here rather than the musical parts she was known for, appearing opposite Andrews, Darnell, Bickford, Anne Revere and Bruce Cabot among a credited cast of forty-two. The film runs 98 minutes.

It was released by 20th Century Fox in November 1945 and took about two million dollars worldwide. On TMDB it holds a 6.6 rating from 135 votes, while the critics' rating is 7.2 from thirteen reviews, so reviewers rated it somewhat higher than the wider audience did.