Angels Over Broadway

No demons, just excellently written angels.

Produced, directed and written by Ben Hecht, Angels Over Broadway is a film that I personally hadn't heard of until it showed up on one of the British Freeview stations this last week. The first thing what surprised was the bona fide classy cast list, Mr Charm himself, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Miss Beautiful 1940, Rita Hayworth, Mr Ever Watchable, Thomas Mitchell & Mr Undermentioned, John Qualen. The next thing that surprised me was during a bit of research I learned that critics of the day gave the picture a hard time for not soft soaping the audience, madness really, because this is a razor sharp and highly efficient picture.

Set around one night on Broadway, our four main characters come tog...

This was a fun watch, included in my oddly-titled yet truly economical Mill Creek 'Classic Romances' 8-pack, which I purchased because I love old movies and it was only $10. Though if you really stretch the definition of 'romance', the designation fits, that aspect is but a very minor component of this, and the other films', workings. The 2-time Oscar winner (both wins, and all six nominations, were for screenwriting prowess) Ben Hecht directed this, and he did a decent job, even throwing in the odd bit of idiosyncratic flair. I must admit though I admire him more for his writing--he's made such a mark on cinema with simply the handful I'll casually mention here (Underworld--an Oscar-winner, The Front Page, Scarface, Nothing Sacred, Angels ...