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The Tarnished Angels

The Tarnished Angels

Drama · 1957

In the 1930s, once-great World War I pilot Roger Shumann performs as a daredevil barnstorming pilot at aerial stunt shows while his wife, LaVerne, works as a parachutist. When newspaper reporter Burke Devlin arrives to do a story on the Shumanns’ act, he quickly falls in love with the beautiful--and neglected--LaVerne.

Movie details

The Tarnished Angels

“The Book They Said Could Never Be Filmed!”

1957 Drama 1h 31m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

In the 1930s, once-great World War I pilot Roger Shumann performs as a daredevil barnstorming pilot at aerial stunt shows while his wife, LaVerne, works as a parachutist. When newspaper reporter Burke Devlin arrives to do a story on the Shumanns’ act, he quickly falls in love with the beautiful--and neglected--LaVerne.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Tarnished Angels?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Douglas Sirk

Written by

George Zuckerman

Rock Hudson

Rock Hudson

Burke Devlin

Robert Stack

Robert Stack

Roger Shumann

Dorothy Malone

Dorothy Malone

LaVerne Shumann

Jack Carson

Jack Carson

Jiggs

Robert Middleton

Robert Middleton

Matt Ord

William Schallert

William Schallert

Ted Baker

Alan Reed

Alan Reed

Colonel Fineman

Court is in session

Put The Tarnished Angels on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.