{"id":3491,"date":"2013-08-21T00:19:40","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T23:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=3491"},"modified":"2013-08-24T06:22:14","modified_gmt":"2013-08-24T05:22:14","slug":"the-tarnished-angels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2013\/08\/21\/the-tarnished-angels\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tarnished Angels"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Tarnished Angels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Blu-ray

\nRelease date:<\/B> 26 August 2013

\nDistributor:<\/B> Eureka Entertainment

\nDirector:<\/B> Douglas Sirk

\nWriters:<\/B> Douglas Sirk, George Zuckerman

\nBased on the novel:<\/B> Pylon<\/I> by William Faulker

\nCast:<\/B> Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Jack Carson, Alan Reed

\nUSA 1957

\n91 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The beautiful thing about The Tarnished Angels<\/i>, director Douglas Sirk\u2019s adaptation of William Faulker\u2019s novel Pylon<\/i>, set during the Great Depression, is that the film remarkably encapsulates the human condition in a mere 90 minutes, using only a handful of characters and locations. Desire, love, greed, avarice, sorrow and tragedy are all present, though the film itself is a departure in style from the more overblown melodramas that Sirk is famed for. It\u2019s a remarkable feat \u2013 that it also looks gorgeous, with its perfect silvery hues (it was shot in black and white Cinemascope, rather than in colour) and features terrific performances from Rock Hudson, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone, adds to the film\u2019s appeal. <\/p>\n

Roger Shumann (Stack) is a former First World War pilot, now daredevil, who travels from air show to air show to compete for the top prize. His blonde bombshell wife, LaVerne (Malone), fell in love with a poster of Shumann she saw during the war; and in a desperate bid to gain his affection, became a parachute jumper, gliding down to earth in a white floating dress. But to her driven, obsessed and foolish husband, she\u2019s little more than an accessory, even if she is the mother to their small child, Jack, who is already itching for his own seat in a plane. It\u2019s left to Jiggs (Jack Carson), their loyal mechanic, to worship the ground that LaVerne walks on. That is, until Burke Devlin (Hudson) arrives on the scene. The film is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and Devlin, a wise-cracking journalist with a drinking problem, and a thorn in his editor\u2019s side, wants to write a human interest story about the Shumanns \u2013 about how a flying ace and all-American hero ends up scraping the barrel, living hand-to-mouth, while risking his life to compete against much younger hot-shots. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tight, claustrophobic picture, with much of the action taking place at a carnival, with the pilots racing in the air above the fair ground, flying a circuit that sees them swoop around pylons, inching ever closer to fly the tightest line. The crowd, cheering them on, will play their own role in the tragedy that unravels at the end of the film. But until then, the Mardi Gras parties and carnival atmosphere are the perfect foils for the characters\u2019 inner torments. LaVerne has never had the chance to live her life to the full; instead she\u2019s spent it chasing after a man\u2019s withheld love; beautiful, charismatic, she\u2019s endured a luckless life full of lonely nights. <\/p>\n

Devlin, of course, falls for LaVerne, who\u2019s charmed by his attention \u2013 although at first, he seems more interested in probing her for personal details about her marriage and life with Shumann for his newspaper story. But by insinuating himself into their lives, Devlin also has the perverse effect of eventually bringing the married couple closer together \u2013 but only after a shocking trade that the pilot tries to make with a greedy businessman: a new plane in return for his wife. Despite being portrayed as impossibly heartless, Shumann is eventually given one last shot at redemption \u2013 yet it comes at a terrible price. <\/p>\n

Brought to life by Irving Glassberg\u2019s expressionistic cinematography, and with an exceptional performance from Rock Hudson, who delivers a terrific epilogue to the sad story of the Shumann, The Tarnished Angels<\/i> is an intriguing, unmissable slice of Americana. <\/p>\n

Sarah Cronin<\/i><\/B><\/p>\n

Watch the original trailer:<\/B><\/p>\n