The Black Angel (Siyah Melek)

Siyah Melek (Zincirler Kırılırken, also known as The Black Angel) is a 1961 black-and-white Turkish historical drama directed by Sami Ayanoğlu from a screenplay by Yılmaz Tümtürk. Set in Istanbul during the Turkish War of Independence, it follows the underground nationalist network that smuggles weapons and ammunition to Anatolia despite the Sultan's forces. The movement's mysterious protector is the Black Horseman, a masked rider whose true identity no one knows. Cafer, commander of the palace guard, hunts him relentlessly, having Miralay Rauf Bey and Doctor Şinasi Bey killed, though Rauf Bey's daughter Nesrin is rescued by the Horseman. Nesrin eventually discovers that the hero she loves is in fact İrfan, her aunt's seemingly foppish nephew who has just returned from France. Cafer, who desires Nesrin himself, tries to use her to trap the Horseman, and a dropped tie pin finally betrays İrfan's identity. Rescued from execution by his comrades, İrfan keeps fighting, but Nesrin loses her life in the struggle. The film stars Orhan Günşiray, Türkân Şoray and Öztürk Serengil.