Angel Heart

**Angel Heart** is a 1987 American neo-noir psychological horror/drama film directed & written by Alan Parker which was released on March 6, 1987 by TriStar Pictures & Carolco Pictures.

It is based on William Hjortsberg's 1978 novel, "Falling Angel."

## Plot

A private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite, but the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.

## Cast

* Mickey Rourke as Harry Angel
* Robert De Niro as Louis Cyphre
* Lisa Bonet as Epiphany Proudfoot
* Charlotte Rampling as Margaret Krusemark
* Stocker Fontelieu as Ethan Krusemark
* Brownie McGhee as Toots Sweet
* Michael Higgins as Dr. Albert Fowler
* Elizabeth Whitcraft as Connie
* Charles Gordone as Spider Simpson
* Dann Florek as Herman Winesap
* Kathleen Wilhoite as Nurse
* Pruitt Taylor Vince as Detective Deimos

## Production

### Background

Following the publication of his 1978 novel, "Falling Angel", William Hjortsberg began working on a film adaptation. His friend, production designer Richard Sylbert, took the book's manuscript to producer Robert Evans.

The film rights to the novel had been optioned by Paramount Pictures, with Evans slated to produce the film, John Frankenheimer hired to direct, and Hjortsberg acting as screenwriter. Frankenheimer was later replaced by Dick Richards, and Dustin Hoffman was being considered for the lead role.

After Paramount's option expired, Hjortsberg discussed the project with Robert Redford and wrote two drafts; however, Hjortsberg felt that no film studio was willing to produce his script. He reflected, *"Even with [Redford] behind the script, studio executives weren't interested. 'Why can't it have a happy ending?' every bigshot demanded."*

In 1985, producer Elliott Kastner met with Alan Parker at Pinewood Studios to discuss a film adaptation of "Falling Angel". Parker (who had read the book following its publication) agreed to write the screenplay. He met with Hjortsberg in London, England before moving to New York, where he wrote most of the script.

After completing the first draft in September of 1985, Parker traveled to Rome, Italy, where he brought the script to Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna. The two producers agreed to finance the film through their independent film studio, Carolco Pictures, and Parker was given creative control.

Pre-production work on "Angel Heart" began in January 1986 in New York, where Parker selected the creative team, reuniting with several of his past collaborators including producer Alan Marshall, director of photography Michael Seresin, camera operator Michael Roberts, production designer Brian Morris and editor Gerry Hambling.

### Writing

Parker made several changes from the novel, titling his script, "Angel Heart" because he wanted to distance his film adaptation from the source material.

While "Falling Angel" is set entirely in New York City, Parker had the second half of his script take place in New Orleans, based on the novel's perpetual allusions to voodoo and the occult. He discussed the story-setting change to Hjortsberg, who approved of the decision; the author revealed to Parker that he had also thought of setting his novel in New Orleans.

"Angel Heart" is set in the year 1955, whereas in the book the events take place in 1959. He explained, *"The book is set in 1959 and I moved it to 1955 for a small but selfish reason. 1959 was on the way to the 1960s with its changing attitudes as well as environments. 1955 for me still belonged to the 1940s—and, because of the historical pause button of World War II, conceivably the 1930s—so quite simply, setting it in this year allowed me to give an older look to the film."*

Other script changes from the novel involved characterization and dialogue. Parker sought to make Harry Angel a character that evoked sympathy. He said, *"In the tradition of the down-at-heel gumshoe, his phlegmatic surface disguised an intelligence capable of unraveling a complicated, larger-than-life story with a degree of belief and conciseness. Also he had to be attractive to audiences while enlightening them, little by little, along the way."*

Parker also established Angel as being born on February 14 (Valentine's Day, the same date as his own birthday). He explained that it was *"for no particular reason other than Valentine’s Day might be easy to remember in a labyrinthine script and the heart reference seemed to have some resonance".*

Parker also wanted to create a realistic depiction of Louis Cyphre as opposed to the character's *"larger-than-life"* personality in the novel.

### Casting

Parker originally wanted Robert De Niro to play the role of Harry Angel, but De Niro expressed interest in making a cameo appearance as mysterious benefactor Louis Cyphre; however, he did not fully commit to the role until after frequent discussions with Parker.

Alan Parker reflected, *"I had been courting [De Niro] to play [Cyphre] in Angel Heart for some months and we had met a few times—and he had continued to bombard me with questions examining every dot and comma of my script. I had walked him through the locations we had found, read through the screenplay sitting on the floor of a dank, disused church in Harlem and finally he said ‘yes’."*

Jack Nicholson and Mickey Rourke were also considered for the role of Angel. Parker met with Nicholson in Los Angeles to discuss the project, but he ultimately passed on the role. Parker said, *"I did my pitch and he was most gracious, although, to be honest, he was quite distracted at the time... my movie and the possibility of him taking part seemed to slip from his immediate area of concentration and interest."*

Parker then met with Mickey Rourke, who expressed a strong interest in playing Angel and secured the leading role after a meeting with Parker in New York.

Various actresses auditioned for the role of Epiphany Proudfoot before Lisa Bonet secured the part. Bonet was then known for her role on the family-friendly NBC network sitcom, "The Cosby Show" and her casting in the film sparked significant controversy.

Before securing the role, Bonet discussed it with Bill Cosby, who encouraged her decision to appear in the film. Parker cast her based on the strength of her auditionand was unaware of her role on "The Cosby Show." He said, *"I didn't hire [Bonet] because of The Cosby Show. I have never even seen the show. I hired her because she was right for the role."*

On preparing for the role, Lisa Bonet said, *"I did a lot of meditation and a lot of self-inquiry. I did some research on voodoo. My earnest endeavor was really to let go of all my inhibitions. It was really necessary for me to be able to let go of Lisa and let Epiphany take over."*

Parker had difficulty finding an actress for the role of Margaret Krusemark. He said, *"Although it’s a small part in the film, the character is omnipresent in the dialogue and [the actress] had to have the right balance of class and eccentricity. I read many actresses for the part without much success."*

Rourke then suggested English actress Charlotte Rampling, who secured the role after Parker contacted her to discuss the part.

In January of 1986, Parker held an open casting call at a New York nightclub known as The Kamikaze, with more than 1,400 people auditioning for various roles. He said, *"I managed to read a short scene with 600 of them as they were filtered through to me."*

Actress Elizabeth Whitcraft (who had a small role in Parker's previous film, "Birdy") was cast in the role of Connie, a journalist who aids Angel in his investigation.

Parker held another casting call in New Orleans, Louisiana where he requested that local musicians audition for possible roles in the film. Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Deacon John Moore were among the many musicians who auditioned for roles. Moore was cast as Toots Sweet's bandmate. Parker then returned to New York, where he auditioned other musicians such as Bo Diddley and Dizzy Gillespie.

Blues guitarist Brownie McGhee, who plays Toots Sweet, was cast during the film's principal photography.

### Filming

During the casting process for "Angel Heart," Alan Parker and producer Alan Marshall began scouting locations in New York City. The director looked at Harlem, believing that the neighborhood was "as un-photographed as other parts of New York are over-used."

On January 20, 1986, he travelled to New Orleans, where he continued writing the script. Parker looked at unused buildings located on Royal Street that would act as a hotel and an abandoned house on Magazine Street that would serve as the home of Margaret Krusemark (Rampling).

He returned to New York, where he looked at Staten Island and Coney Island. Parker's script for Angel Heart required that a total of 78 locations be used for filming between New York and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Principal photography for "Angel Heart" began on March 31, 1986, and concluded on June 20, 1986, on a budget of $18 million.

Filming began in Eldridge Street, Manhattan, New York City, which acted as Harry Angel's neighbourhood. Production designer Brian Morris and the set-decorating team spent two months designing the set prior to filming, hoping to recreate 1950s New York.

Due to the warm weather conditions, ice trucks were used to create fake snow. Filming then moved to Alphabet City in Manhattan where several bar scenes and Angel's intimate bedroom scene with Connie (Whitcraft) were filmed.

The production team then moved to Harlem to film a chase scene set during a procession before moving to Coney Island, where the cast and crew underwent severely cold weather conditions.

The location was used to film a scene in which Angel questions a man, Izzy (George Buck), about the whereabouts of Johnny Favorite while Izzy's wife Bo (Judith Drake) stands waist deep in the ocean.

The original actress who was cast as Bo was injured when she was knocked off her feet by a wave while delivering her first line. The actress refused to reshoot the scene, which led to her being replaced by her stand-in, Judith Drake, whom Parker found to be a better actress for the role.

Production returned to Manhattan to film the opening credits sequence. Filming then moved to Harlem, New York where a hospice was used to film a scene involving the character Spider Simpson (Charles Gordone) and many of the hospice's elderly residents acted as extras for the scene.

On April 17, 1986, the production team moved to Staten Island to film exterior and interior scenes involving the character Dr. Fowler (Michael Higgins).

Filming then moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, which doubled for a scene set in a New Orleans train station. From April 28 to April 29, 1986, the production team returned to Harlem, where Parker filmed Rourke and De Niro's scene in a Harlem mission. The two actors next filmed a scene at Lanza's, an Italian restaurant located on the Lower East Side.

By May 3, 1986, production had moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. In the town of Thibodaux, Louisiana, Parker and his crew discovered an entire plantation workers' village that would serve as a graveyard.

Parker said, "We had the good fortune to find an entire plantation workers’ village almost intact and, with careful dressing, this became Epiphany's world. The graveyard was a dressed set, but much of what we filmed was already there."

An unused Louisiana field was used to create a racetrack where Angel meets the wealthy patriarch Ethan Krusemark (Fontelieu).

On May 13, 1986, the crew encountered some difficulty filming a chase scene involving Angel, as they had to deal with shying horses, trained dogs, gunshots, 200 chickens, and a horse specially trained to fall on top of Rourke’s stuntman.

Production then moved to Magazine Street, where production designer Brian Morris and the art department attempted to recreate 1950s New Orleans.

Parker said of the set, "As in New York, we had dressed and clad every single storefront as far as the eye could see in order to be authentic to the period, and drained everything of all primary colours for our monochromatic look."

Filming then moved to Jackson Square where the crew filmed one of the final scenes of the film, in which Angel runs from Margaret's home.

The production then filmed a voodoo ceremony scene choreographed by Louis Falco. Falco, who had previously choreographed Parker's 1980 film Fame, based the scene on an actual Haitian ceremony.

The sex scene involving Mickey Rourke and Lisa Bonet was filmed in one of the unused buildings located on Royal Street and took four hours to shoot. Parker limited the crew to himself, cinematographer Michael Seresin, camera operator Michael Roberts, and the camera assistant. To make the actors more comfortable, Parker played music during the shoot.

Production then moved to a corner of New Orleans, which doubled for flashback sequences set in 1943 Times Square, New York. The crew then discovered an unused bus depot, which was used to film scenes set in Ethan Krusemark's gumbo hut.

Filming then moved to the St. Alphonsus Church where the crew filmed a dialogue scene between Angel and Cyphre.

Production returned to Royal Street in the French Quarter where the final confrontation between Angel and Cyphre and the film's ending were shot.

### Editing and censorship

After "Angel Heart" concluded filming in June of 1986, Parker spent four months editing the film in Europe, with 400,000 feet of film and 1,100 different shots.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) gave the film's original an X rating, which is widely associated with pornographic films.

The board (which was composed of industry executives and theater owners) expressed concerns over several seconds of the sex scene involving Mickey Rourke and Lisa Bonet in which Mickey Rourke's buttocks are seen thrusting in a sexual motion.

Parker appealed the rating, but did not receive the two-thirds vote required to reclassify the film to an R rating.

Tri-Star Pictures refused to release "Angel Heart" with an X rating, as the film would have fewer theaters willing to book it and fewer venues for advertising;[8] Steve Randall, executive vice-president of marketing for Tri-Star, stated that it was the studio's "firm policy not to release an X-rated film."

With only a few weeks before the release of "Angel Heart", the studio was desperate for the less-restrictive R rating, but Parker was reluctant to alter the film. He filed another appeal on which the board voted 8 to 6 in favor of the X rating. Parker then removed ten seconds of sexual content from the scene.

Parker said: "*That scene was very complex, very intricate, and the cutting quite rapid, involving 60 to 80 cuts in the space of about two minutes. Eventually, I cut only 10 seconds from the scene, or about 14 feet of film."*

On February 24, 1987, the film was granted an R rating. Parker later stated that the MPAA's concerns led to "a wasteful, pointless and expensive exercise."

## Box Office

"Angel Heart" grossed $3,688,721 during its opening weekend, ranking at #4 at the box office behind "Lethal Weapon", "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" and "Platoon."

Overall, the film grossed $17,186,348 worldwide.

## Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, "Angel Heart" has an approval rating of 79% based on a sample of 28 reviews, with an average score of 7.16/10.

Author William Hjortsberg voiced his support of the film adaptation, stating: *"[Alan] Parker wrote an excellent script and went on to make a memorable film. Casting Robert De Niro as Cyphre was a brilliant touch."*

Although he was initially supportive of Lisa Bonet's decision to appear in the film, Bill Cosby dismissed "Angel Heart" as *"a movie made by white America that cast a black girl, gave her voodoo things to do and have sex."*

Initial reactions among film critics were mixed. Vincent Canby of The New York Times praised the cinematography and production design, but criticized Mickey Rourke's performance as being *"suitably intense, but to such little effect."*

Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote that "Angel Heart" *"is over-stylized, and we're over-stimulated when the soundtrack goes berserk, from a few thumpity-thumps to a visceral, ventricles a-pumping score."*

Pauline Kael of The New Yorker criticized Parker's direction: *"There's no way to separate the occult from the incomprehensible... Parker simply doesn't have the gift of making evil seductive, and he edits like a flasher."*

Kael also criticized De Niro's cameo appearance, writing, *"It’s the sort of guest appearance that lazy big actors delight in—they can show up the local talent."*

On the syndicated television program, "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies", Gene Siskel gave "Angel Heart" a "*thumbs down*", while his colleague Roger Ebert praised the film and gave it a "*thumbs up*."

In his review for the Chicago Tribune, Siskel wrote that *"Parker seems more concerned with style and with hiding the film`s big mystery than with pacing." He also criticized the film's controversial sex scene for not being "as shocking as the rating board would have you believe."*

Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing: *"Angel Heart is a thriller and a horror movie, but most of all it's an exuberant exercise in style, in which Parker and his actors have fun taking it to the limit".*

Ian Nathan of Empire called the film a *"diabolical treat with [Mickey] Rourke and [Robert] De Niro in top form."*

Almar Haflidason of the BBC wrote, *"The movie maintains intrigue at every turn and [Mickey] Rourke is spellbinding. Robert De Niro, Charlotte Rampling, and the assembled cast are all excellent. But this is Mickey Rourke's movie, and he puts in a mesmerising performance."*

Writing for Film4, Richard Luck concluded in his review: *"The book's so good it deserves a better movie, but Rourke's performance is such that Angel Heart stands out from the necromancy movie crowd."*

Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote: *"In retrospect, there are gaps in the story, a crucial lack of parallelism about the murders, one interview in which [Mickey] Rourke makes amazing leaps of knowledge from we-don't-know where. But the performance that fuels it all, Rourke's unfolding portrayal of a man on a spiraling slide downward toward a truth he doesn't want to learn, may be enough to carry us beyond quibbles."*

Rita Kempley of the Washington Post called the film *"as fascinating as it is frightful."* Variety wrote: *"Even if it may be a specious work at its core, Angel Heart still proves a mightily absorbing mystery, a highly exotic telling of a small-time detective's descent into hell, with Faustian theme, heavy bloodletting and pervasive grimness."*