Angels Over Broadway

Plot synopsis:
Bill O'Brien is a New York con man in search of a suitable gullible person to make some money on. In a fancy nightclub he finds Charles Engle, a man ridden by guilt and on the brink of committing suicide after embezzling a large sum of money that he has spent on his high-maintenance wife.
Charles has the appearance of a common hillbilly from out of town visiting the city and Bill decides to scam him for his money. Bill is unaware that the desperate Charles only has until 6 am to pay back the money he has embezzled before the crime is discovered.
One of the showgirls at the club, Nina Barona, is persuaded by Bill to help trick Charles into entering a poker game to win back the money. The game is arranged by a gangster named Dutch Enright.
Another disillusioned man at the club, playwright Gene Gibbons, learns about Charles's misfortune from the suicide note he discovers in his coat, and wants to write the man a story with a happier ending.
He tries to get a valuable brooch from his ex-girlfriend, to give to Charles so that he can get the money, but his plan fails because the brooch is a cheap copy. Instead he overhears Bill telling of his poker scam against Charles, and persuades Bill to change the plan so that Charles wins the first rounds and is allowed to escape from the game after that. A deal is made, that Bill gets whatever Charles wins over the $3,000 he needs to pay the money back.
However, Gene passes out while waiting for the game to start, and when he wakes up he does not remember the deal he made with Bill, but goes home to his wife. Bill discovers that Gene is gone, and Dutch finds out about Charles's planned escape, and tries to stop him. Nina convinces Bill to do the right thing and help fend off Dutch's men when they try to get Charles and the money back.
Bill is changed by his discovery that behaving honorably has a positive effect on him; he falls in love with Nina, who returns his feelings. Thus they get a happy ending of their own.

Tags: comedy

Review:
Popular writer Ben Hecht certainly was no stranger to the Broadway cornucopia of gangsters, molls, hoofers, & sharpies and mixes them all in a non-glamorous look at the Great White Way.Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in a bit of offbeat casting plays Bill O'Brien, Broadway sharpie who thinks he's latched on to a sure thing in steering rube John Qualen into a fixed poker game.
Fairbanks ain't as sharp as he thinks, but with the help of inebriated playwright Thomas Mitchell he tries to bluff his way through the gangsters and turn a profit.Always appealing to Fairbanks's better nature is Rita Hayworth who does a good job of arousing the noble and the carnal at the same time.
But Hayworth is just magnificent in this part.Thomas Mitchell is always given kudos for his part and they are deserved, but one who's not talked about is John Qualen.
He was a fine, but underrated actor and another favorite of John Ford.It's worth it just to see Rita Hayworth as always and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. with that New York City accent..
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 together courtesy of Charles Engle's {Qualen} intention to kill himself over a huge debt.
Mistakenly thinking that Engle has loads of cash to burn, Bill O'Brien {Fairbanks} enlists Nina Barona {Hayworth} in the hope of luring Engle to a poker game run by seedy gangster types, and thus fleecing him of his cash, where of course the pair of them will get a cut.
Yet boozy playwright Gene Gibbons {Mitchell}, upon learning of Engle's suicidal leanings, hatches a plan to turn the tables on the poker fiddlers and turn Engle's life around.
Naturally tho, not everything is going to go to plan!A smashing film that shines brightly with quality acting and comically astute writing, so if you get the chance then give it a go and you might be as surprised as I was.
1940's "Angels Over Broadway" is actually a little play on words, since the name of one of the main characters is Engle, which in German means Angel (actually spelled Engel).
Written by Ben Hecht, the film stars Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell and John Qualen.
It's an interesting and sweet film with very good performances, but you would swear it's based on a play because it is extremely heavy on dialogue.The story concerns four people who wind up joining forces: a wheeler dealer named Bill O'Brien (Fairbanks Jr.), a suicidal man, Engle (Qualen), a lonely performer, Nina (Hayworth) and a drunken playwright, Eugene Gibbons (Mitchell).
Engle needs to come up with $3,000 that he embezzled by morning; O'Brien thinks Engle is a rich sucker; Nina is looking to meet someone successful; and Gibbons has written another flop.
Nina goes along, interested in O'Brien, even after she finds out he's broke.One of the most amusing aspects of the film is that everyone - including the mobsters - knows who the Gibbons character is.
The film is interesting as well because is that although this is really four individual stories, the plots converge so that the film is not in the least episodic.Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is marvelous as usual.
Qualen has precious little dialogue but he, too, does a great job as a desperate man.Definitely recommended for the acting and the structure of the film, which is masterful..
ANGELS OVER Broadway (Ben Hecht and Lee Garmes, 1940) ***.
Co-directed by a writer (Hecht made seven films in this multiple capacity, but this is the first one I've watched!) and a cinematographer that were second to none in their respective professions, it's small wonder that the film is brimming with sparkling dialogue (particularly as delivered by Thomas Mitchell, here in his trademark role of philosophical drunk) and inventive shadowy lighting.The main roles, however, are equally well-filled: Mitchell, as I said, wasn't really stretching himself here but his three co-stars - Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Rita Hayworth and John Qualen - had rarely been offered such an opportunity to shine up to this point.
Fairbanks' best-known role had been his 'smiling villain' Rupert of Hentzau in THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937; where's that DVD, Warners?) but he had already made other impressive ensemble pieces, such as THE YOUNG IN HEART (1938; see my review elsewhere) and GUNGA DIN (1939); actually, his role here is sort of similar to that of the former - though he's a harder character, an utter heel, but whose scheme of 'taking' a man he believes to be a millionaire rebounds on himself and actually ends up involved in the 'taking' of his 'business partners' to the benefit of the latter (who's really an embezzler on the brink of suicide)!
The unwilling crook is played by John Qualen, the great - if largely unsung - diminutive and mild-mannered character actor, whose other notable roles included the murderer in HIS GIRL Friday (1940), a victim of the Oklahoma Dustbowl in THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940) and "Miser" Stevens in THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (1941).
The film's feminine interest, then, is provided by a young Rita Hayworth who, again, exceeds all expectations with her role of a star-struck girl who forsakes her dreams of glory in order to do a good deed (even if she's initially drawn into the 'plot' purely on a whim by Fairbanks); indeed, the characters' individual reformation - more so than in THE YOUNG IN HEART, and done in a much less sentimental manner - adds an undercurrent of spirituality to the film's prominent sophistication and hard-boiled veneer, which is not so surprising coming from Hecht!
For its time, ANGELS OVER Broadway must have seemed like a B-movie with pretensions; while it falters here and there under the strain of its own self-indulgence, because it is unique, the film doesn't feel all that dated today and is bound to give detailed pleasure on every viewing..
This early Rita Hayworth movie shows off her more youthful charms of innocence and good will.
The unlikely casting of glamour boy Douglas Fairbanks Junior as a small-time chiseller is a surprise.
The film features a fine performance from sad-sack character actor John Qualen as 'Charles Engle', a rather obvious pun on the title of the film, 'Engel' being German for angel.
I've always been a Ben Hecht fan so it was good to see something I'd never seen before - in the old days, Bill Kennedy out of Windsor/Detroit showed many old films on his TV show at 1 pm but I don't remember ever seeing this one.
I'm a fan of such actors as John Qualen and Thomas Mitchell.
I also liked finding two new actors to look for in old films, Jack Roper, the boxer who played Eddie, and Eddie Foster who played Louie Artino.
This is a wonderful film that many reviews say was way ahead of its time, and it was not a roaring success due to this fact.
and Rita Hayworth both act supremely, which luckily saves the film from being a killer.
(Anyone ever notice how many drunks and loud-and-obnoxious characters Mitchell played?)The writers also gave Rita Hayworth some sappy dialog as she tried to be Douglas Fairbanks' girl.
John Qualen is good as the mousy man who really is at the center of this story.
It is so easy to write off beauty as the reason an actress achieves great rank in Hollywood, and it is what also plagued Marilyn Monroe - the desperate need to be taken seriously for your talent rather than your looks once you have become famous for beauty alone.I myself had never given Rita Hayworth props for anything other than her luminous visual persona.
So it was with great delight that I came across this exceptional film, with its screwball comedy timing and humor, and its amazing ensemble casting - from a sleazy but compelling performance by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. to the ironic portrayal of the has-been drunk played to iconic perfection by Thomas Mitchell.But the two real gems are John Qualen as a suicidal bookkeeper who is the target of a 2 bit mob scam, and Rita Hayworth in a portrayal as exceptional to me as Rosalind Russell in The Front Page, or Marilyn Monroe in 7 Year Itch - a star-struck wanna-be who is barely making it in shady circumstances, yet manages to convey tremendous innocence and idealism in spite of her deeply compromised situation.The most striking thing to me of all is how uncanny it is to watch what one would consider to be a classic Monroe performance coming from an actress seven years prior to Marilyn having been given her first on screen part.
Suddenly I felt like I understood how Marilyn had crafted her persona - hours of sitting in darkened theaters watching Rita Hayworth concoct her brilliant magic of innocence and seduction like it was real and not a carefully crafted act.In my humble opinion, I don't believe Marilyn would have been nearly as iconic had she not had Rita Hayworth's example to follow, and this portrayal in Angels Over Broadway is the link that, to me, irrefutably proves my point!
On that night she and Hermes Pan (master choreographer)were slumming to show her what a coffee house was like, and my roommate who knew Hermes invited them to the hippie like house in an alley way in West Hollywood we shared.We both were in love with the Goddess and did black magic (amateur)to see that Hermes would bring her and it worked.Rita was 38 an still beautiful,a gypsy who drank our cheap wine,and we talked and laughed till dawn.
From that day forward,we spent three or four nights a week at her home on Hartford and she often burnt dinner for us and we drank Dom Perignon and we danced and laughed and she told stories and her Brooklyn accent would come out (I hear it a lot in ANGELS) Rita always insisted she could act and this film showed her talent and some of her incredible allure which was emerging.I think she did BLOOD AND SAND the next year where she was outrageously sensual and cruel.She was great in that.Paulene Kael disliked her because she was dubbed by Anita Ellis in most films even though Rita had a decent voice.
I found this Hecht film to be far ahead of its time with terrific casting and dialogue which sounded like Mankiewicz in a way,and a touch of Damon Runyon with sophistication.It is an odd, and terrific film and my Rita was really good and I watched her and she "listened" to other actors like a seasoned performer.She still is magical and her presence on film still excites..
The 2-time Oscar winner (both wins, and all six nominations, were for screen writing 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 with Dirty Faces, Gunga Din, His Girl Friday, The Shop Around the Corner, Foreign Correspondent, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Gilda, Notorious, Rope) from ones I have personally seen and adored.I must admit I'm more familiar with Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s work than that of his son here, and it's really different watching Rita Hayworth at this stage of her career, playing a shy, naïve waif--nothing like the force of nature she would become just a few years later with 'Gilda' and her short, tempestuous marriage to Orson Welles.In short, the story works for me, that of a boozing playwright, struggling actress and hustler helping a suicidal man out of a jam.
Underrated gem about three strangers (Rita Hayworth, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Thomas Mitchell) in a nightclub coming together to help out a suicidal embezzler (John Qualen).
The script, smart and full of dark humor, plays like a Damon Runyan plot with cynical Hecht characters.
The cast is good, with Hayworth, Mitchell, and Qualen all standouts.
A gamester looking for prey ends up with a suicide candidate, a drunk and Rita Hayworth..
The story is typical of his going to extremes about everything - there is a suicide candidate, a drunk, a reckless adventurer, a gang of gangsters setting up poker games to kill the victim, a loose young lady, a loser playwright, and a lot of intrigue.
Although the character of the film is dark like an early noir, it's actually a charming comedy.
One is Charles Engle (John Qualen)--a guy who embezzled some money but who others in the club mistake for a millionaire.
And, there's the sharpie (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and a woman he enlists to help him (Rita Hayworth).
While there are some nice moments in the film and some of the acting is pretty good (I particularly liked Qualen), too often the film comes off as a play clumsily brought to film.
Additionally, while I generally like Fairbanks in films, here he seems a tad miscast and out of place.
Perhaps the film's only major fault is its ambitiousness -- like the inebriated has-been playwright played in the film by Thomas Mitchell, this film sets up too much for it to satisfactorily resolve.
When Mitchell's character begins to refer to Rita Hayworth and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as characters that he is re-writing into the hero and heroine, we know we're in for something special, and we're not wrong.Hayworth's acting here is more effortless than usual, allowing her charm to come full to the fore.
The film also presents a rare opportunity for a real performance from John Qualen, as well.
The script by Ben Hecht and the performances of Thomas Mitchell and John Qualen make this sardonic drama of clichéd Manhattan types all the more fun to follow.
Qualen has written a suicide note after stealing $3000 from his partner, and with the help of a down on his luck playwright, a con man and a chorus girl, he discovers a possible way out of his predicament.
This leads Qualen to end up in a card game with a group of serious gamblers, and with Mitchell, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Rita Hayworth, he has the possibility of not only paying back his partner but also making a bit of a profit.The leads are Fairbanks and Hayworth, but it will be the two supporting characters that you will remember.
Mitchell is the play-writer and Qualen, every bit as pathetic here as he was in His Girl Friday, is the embezzler without an escape plan.
While the plot isn't 100% believable, it is done with fine acting, a script that keeps you interested, and a direction that helps the movie flow perfectly.
Writer and co-director Ben Hecht seems at times to be creating a blueprint for his later Miracle In The Rain but the main interest is in the four disparate characters who come together for a few life-changing hours one rainy night.
Least convincing by a country mile is Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, cast improbably as a 'Broadway' wise-guy-cum-chiseller which he plays equally improbably to the point of embarrassment.
John Qualen has to carry the burden of the plot and he does it superbly, Thomas Mitchell by this time could have phoned in his philosophical lush but the real revelation is Rita Hayworth who is ill at ease (as the script demands she should be) as a nice girl going on the make and whose ultimate sincerity shines through.
Make no mistake, "Angels Over Broadway" is nothing more than a vehicle for upcoming Columbia star Rita Hayworth.
It's a budget conscious "B" programmer at best with a "B" storyline despite the presence of Ben Hecht as writer/producer/director.Disgruntled Charles Engle (John Qualen) has been caught by his boss Mr. Hopper (George Watts), with his hand in the till to the tune of $3,000.
Street hustler Bill O'Brien (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) thinks Engle is a millionaire and plans to con him into a high stakes poker game and make off with the proceeds.
Gold digger Nina Barona an out of work dancer, enters the picture and O'Brien plans to utilize her in his scheme.Down on his luck boozy playwright Gene Gibbons (Thomas Mitchell) accidently stumbles upon Engle's suicide note and decides to help him.
Now aware that Engle is broke, O'Brien and Gibbons hatch a plan whereby Engel will still participate in the poker game but with a mind to take off as soon as he "wins" the $3,000 he needs to repay Hopper.
O'Brien then plans to take whatever money Engle wins over $3,000 for himself.They four go to a cheap hotel where the gangster laden poker game will take place.
He excuses himself to go check on Gibbons but...........................................................................................Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is totally miscast as the gum chewing con man with the New York Accent.
Rita Hayworth was still being built up as a major star at this time and is given several generous close ups through out the film.
Veteran character actors Mitchell and Qualen steal the film.
Some over-acting by Thomas Mitchell, or maybe his part was over-written.
The sudden turnaround of the Fairbanks character and his decision to stick with Rita Hayworth in, literally, the last five seconds of the movie rang totally false.