# Fallen Angel (1945 film)
**Fallen Angel** is a 1945 American film noir directed and produced by Otto Preminger for Twentieth Century-Fox, with a screenplay by Harry Kleiner adapted from Marty Holland's novel. It stars [Alice Faye](https://www.edgepedia.org/alice-faye), Dana Andrews, and [Linda Darnell](https://www.edgepedia.org/linda-darnell) in a story of a drifter who marries a woman for her money while pursuing a waitress who is later murdered.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24403)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / producer | Otto Preminger, for Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24403) |
| Source | Screenplay by Harry Kleiner from the 1945 novel by Marty Holland (a pseudonym for Mary Holland)[2](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-hollywood-ladies-of-serie-noire) |
| Principal cast | Alice Faye (June Mills), Dana Andrews (Eric Stanton), Linda Darnell (Stella), Charles Bickford (Mark Judd), Anne Revere (Clara Mills), Bruce Cabot (Dave Atkins), John Carradine (Professor Madley), Percy Kilbride (Pop)[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/410211/fallen-angel-1945-fallen-angel) |
| Length and format | 97–98 minutes, black and white, 11 reels, 8,767 feet[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24403) |
| Release | World premiere in Dallas, TX on 7 November 1945; Los Angeles opening the week of 14 December 1945[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24403-FALLEN-ANGEL) |
| Key crew | Cinematography Joseph La Shelle, music David Raksin, editing Harry Reynolds, art direction Leland Fuller and Lyle Wheeler[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24403) |
| Aftermath | Alice Faye left Fox after the film and did not make another picture for 16 years, returning in State Fair (1962)[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/410211/fallen-angel-1945-fallen-angel) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Drifter Eric Stanton ([Dana Andrews](https://www.edgepedia.org/dana-andrews)) is put off a San Francisco-bound bus in the small California coastal town of Walton because he has not paid the full fare. At Pop's diner he finds the owner distraught over the disappearance of his waitress Stella (Linda Darnell), who soon returns. Stanton talks his way into promoting the traveling "psychic" act of Professor Madley ([John Carradine](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-carradine)), then pursues Stella, who will not consider him without money. To obtain it he courts and marries June Mills (Alice Faye), an organist whose family holds an inheritance of which her sister Clara ([Anne Revere](https://www.edgepedia.org/anne-revere)) still keeps $25,000 in a safe deposit box.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24403-FALLEN-ANGEL)
When Stella is murdered, Stanton becomes the prime suspect and flees to San Francisco with June, who believes in his innocence. His own inquiries point to retired detective Mark Judd ([Charles Bickford](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-bickford)), who had given Stella the watch found at the scene and killed her when she agreed instead to marry jukebox vendor Dave Atkins ([Bruce Cabot](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-cabot)). Judd confesses in Pop's diner and is arrested, and Stanton rejoins June.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24403-FALLEN-ANGEL)
## Production
Preminger's reward for directing the hit *Laura* (1944) was an order from studio head [Darryl F. Zanuck](https://www.edgepedia.org/darryl-f-zanuck) to do it again. Bringing back much of the crew behind *Laura*, he hired Joseph LaShelle to shoot it, David Raksin to write the music, Leland Fuller and Lyle Wheeler to handle art direction, Thomas Little for set decoration, and Bonnie Cashin for the costumes, while Dana Andrews took the lead role once again; Dorothy Adams, a bit player, showed up in both pictures as well.[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/410211/fallen-angel-1945-fallen-angel) • [5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/117950/fallen-angel-otto-premingers-fallen-angel-1945-film-noir-on-dvd)
**Casting changed repeatedly.** A September 1944 news item reported [Joan Fontaine](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-fontaine) under consideration for a lead role; in February 1945 the trade press announced [Ida Lupino](https://www.edgepedia.org/ida-lupino) as June Mills, and in March 1945 that [Anne Baxter](https://www.edgepedia.org/anne-baxter) would co-star with Linda Darnell. Alice Faye ultimately took the role. According to a studio press release she turned down 35 scripts before settling on the film, and she exercised her standing to choose her leading man, selecting Dana Andrews.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24403) • [6](https://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/fallen-angel-1945-2/)
Filming ran from 1 May to 28 June 1945. Legal records list California locations including the Ocean Park Bowling Center, the California Bank at Vine Street and [Hollywood Boulevard](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-boulevard), Sycamore Pier in Malibu, the city of Orange, and San Francisco, with filming ending in Palos Verdes.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24403)
## Alice Faye's departure
The film ended Alice Faye's career at Fox. Faye, one of the studio's most bankable stars after a decade of musicals, had wanted a dramatic role and had asked Raksin to write her a song; she chose one called "Slowly." After recording it she found her version unused, with the song sung in the film by [Dick Haymes](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-haymes). Finding that Zanuck and Preminger had cut her scenes in favor of Darnell's, she walked off the lot, leaving Zanuck a note she described as unprintable, and did not make another film for 16 years, until *State Fair* (1962).[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/410211/fallen-angel-1945-fallen-angel) • [7](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/fallen-angel-review/bq0l0oyj2)
## Reception and assessment
Contemporary response was lukewarm. TIME's November 1945 review called the film "melodramatic fiddle-faddle" whose whole was "far more trivial than the sum of its individual parts," though it credited Preminger's direction and the performances of Andrews and Darnell.[8](https://time.com/archive/6783459/the-new-pictures-nov-12-1945/) The advertising campaign trumpeted "The creator of 'Laura' does it again!"; later commentators have generally judged the film inferior to *Laura*, citing a choppy script and editing.[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/410211/fallen-angel-1945-fallen-angel) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 85% critics' score from 13 reviews and a 61% audience score.[9](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/1155983-fallen_angel)
**Later views have been more generous.** A Slant Magazine review argues the film deepens Preminger's use of moral ambiguity, with a moving camera that gives the dueling points of view equal weight and characters whose introductory traits are contradicted as the film proceeds.[10](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/fallen-angel/) The Encyclopedia of Film Noir calls it an intriguing style piece made early in the classical noir cycle, while noting that the plot resolution is hurried and unconvincing.[11](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/Encyclopedia%20of%20Film%20Noir%20%28Geoff%20Mayer%2C%20Brian%20McDonnell%29.pdf) MoMA describes the film as structured as a face-off between Fox's two most significant female stars, with Preminger's mise-en-scène suggesting that a future with Faye's virtuous June is its own kind of trap.[12](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/7577) [Guillermo del Toro](https://www.edgepedia.org/guillermo-del-toro) cited the film as one he studied while writing *Nightmare Alley* (2021).[13](https://itpworld.online/2022/01/18/fallen-angel-us-1945/)
## References
1. [Fallen Angel (1945), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24403)
2. [The Hollywood Ladies of Série Noire, Los Angeles Review of Books](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-hollywood-ladies-of-serie-noire)
3. [Fallen Angel (1945), by Jay Carr, TCM](https://www.tcm.com/articles/410211/fallen-angel-1945-fallen-angel)
4. [Fallen Angel (1945), full AFI Catalog page](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24403-FALLEN-ANGEL)
5. [Fallen Angel: Otto Preminger's Fallen Angel (1945) on DVD, by Jeremy Arnold, TCM](https://www.tcm.com/articles/117950/fallen-angel-otto-premingers-fallen-angel-1945-film-noir-on-dvd)
6. [Fallen Angel (1945) film notes, Toronto Film Society](https://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/fallen-angel-1945-2/)
7. [Fallen Angel Review, by Don Groves, SBS](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/fallen-angel-review/bq0l0oyj2)
8. [The New Pictures, Nov. 12, 1945, TIME](https://time.com/archive/6783459/the-new-pictures-nov-12-1945/)
9. [Fallen Angel, Rotten Tomatoes](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/1155983-fallen_angel)
10. [Review: Fallen Angel, by Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/fallen-angel/)
11. [Fallen Angel entry, Encyclopedia of Film Noir (Mayer & McDonnell, 2007)](https://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Books/PDF%20Files/Encyclopedia%20of%20Film%20Noir%20%28Geoff%20Mayer%2C%20Brian%20McDonnell%29.pdf)
12. [Fallen Angel. 1945. Directed by Otto Preminger, MoMA](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/7577)
13. [Fallen Angel (US 1945), by Roy Stafford, ITP Global Film](https://itpworld.online/2022/01/18/fallen-angel-us-1945/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Film noir and neo-noir films › Released 1940 to 1975*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license