Angels Over Broadway

A film of many firsts: Rita Hayworth's first lead in an "A" picture, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.'s first attempt at producing, and Ben Hecht's first film as director without long-time partner Charles MacArthur. Hecht's script begins with a timid clerk (John Qualen), who's been caught embezzling. Knowing he can't repay the money, he contemplates suicide. The "angel" is con artist Fairbanks, who, having nothing better to do that evening, decides to rescue the guy from his predicament, aided by a wide-eyed call girl (Hayworth) and a drunken playwright (Thomas Mitchell). However, the "cure" could be deadlier than the "disease".  Hecht clearly relished these characters, especially Mitchell's, who is handed a truckload of bravura lines and delivers them with gusto. Glisteningly photographed by Lee Garmes (who shares co-director credit with Hecht), ANGELS OVER BROADWAY was ahead of its time. Hecht received an Oscar® nomination for Original Screenplay and has a cameo as a defendant in the night court scene.