Angel Face (1952)

ANGEL FACE  (1952)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
    D: Otto Preminger
    Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Herbert Marshall,
    Mona Freeman, Barbara O'Neil, Leon Ames, 
    Kenneth Tobey, Jim Backus
An ambulance driver gets involved with the daughter of a burned-out novelist, a dark-eyed beauty who stands to inherit a fortune when and if her stepmother passes on. What distinguishes this film noir is that the protagonist, played by Robert Mitchum, isn't really being duped. He can see what the femme fatale is up to, and tells her to her face. But she's played by Jean Simmons, and when a girl like that is crazy, it can make you crazy, too, and not in a way that's likely to lead to a long and happy life. Watch out any time somebody in this movie puts a car in reverse.