The Dark Angel

1935
Approved
1h 46m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

988

YOUR RATING

Herbert Marshall, Fredric March, and Merle Oberon in The Dark Angel (1935)

In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we're celebrating a trio of actors who fearlessly blazed trails in Old Hollywood. On this IMDbrief, we present just a few of the Unsung Asian American Pacific Islander Heroes of Film History.

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Drama Romance

The close relationship between a woman and her two male childhood friends is tested when she accepts a marriage proposal from one of them, while the burgeoning First World War threatens to c... Read allThe close relationship between a woman and her two male childhood friends is tested when she accepts a marriage proposal from one of them, while the burgeoning First World War threatens to change their lives forever.The close relationship between a woman and her two male childhood friends is tested when she accepts a marriage proposal from one of them, while the burgeoning First World War threatens to change their lives forever.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

988

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 2 nominations total

Betty Gallop
(as Fay Chaldicott)

George P. Breakston

Joe Gallop
(as George Breakston)

Andrew Arbuckle

Mr. Gallop
(uncredited)

Louise Bates

Hunt Guest
(uncredited)

James C. Baxter

Alan as a Child
(uncredited)

Jimmy Butler

Gerald as a Child
(uncredited)

Helena Byrne-Grant

Hannah
(uncredited)

Colin Campbell

Vicar
(uncredited)

Robert Carleton

Man in Dormitory
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Herbert Marshall, who plays a British army officer in World War I, actually served in that war and lost a leg in combat.

Goofs
Although the bulk of the story takes place during World War I and the time immediately thereafter, all of the women's clothes and hairstyles, particularly those of Merle Oberon, Janet Beecher, and Frieda Inescort, are strictly in the 1935 mode.

Connections
Referenced in The Epic That Never Was (1965)

Soundtracks
It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary
(1912) (uncredited)
Written by Jack Judge and Harry Williams
A few bars played in the score

User reviews24

Review

Featured review

6/10

Merle Oberon's Oscar Nominated Performance

"The Dark Angel" belongs to a sub-genre of war films released between the two world wars that set melodramatic romances against backdrops of dread. "Three Comrades" from 1938 is a perfect example, and a better film than this one. The overwrought swooning in these movies that would otherwise make them tedious is tempered by the mood of foreboding and death that pervades them.

Because they were made before we knew we'd be entering another world war, they didn't feel obligated to give audiences a morale boost, so war is treated as the dark horror that it actually is. In "The Dark Angel," that horror is given literal form by a strange breeze that blows across the scene periodically throughout the film, chilling the characters and alerting them to the fact that something bad has or is about to happen.

This movie reminded me a lot of the 1945 film "Pride of the Marines" with John Garfield and Eleanor Parker. Or I guess it's more accurate to say that the 1945 film reminded me of this. Both are about service men who are left with permanent scars, literal and figurative, and who distance themselves from their loves when they return home in order not to cause them pain. "The Dark Angel" becomes a bit much to take by the time it's over, but it will probably satisfy those looking for a not very challenging studio film from the 1930s.

The film strangely won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1935. Strangely because the movie is mostly set in unremarkable country living rooms and bedrooms. There is one scene that takes place in a WWI bunker, but it hardly seems like an award-worthy achievement. Merle Oberon received the sole Oscar nomination of her career for Best Actress in a year that saw six nominees in that category. Again, it's not really an award-worthy performance. And the film capped off its trifecta of nominations with a nod for Best Sound Recording.

Grade: B.