Movie Type: Heavenly Comedy, Heaven-Can-Wait Fantasies
Themes: Deal With the Devil, Reincarnation, Fish Out of Water
Main Cast: Paul Muni, Paul Muni, Anne Baxter, Claude Rains, Claude Rains, Onslow Stevens, George Cleveland
Release Year: 1946
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
Plot
In this comedy, Paul Muni plays a recently murdered gangster who finds himself roasting in Hell. Muni can't believe that he's in for All Eternity and keeps trying to "bust out," which brings him to the attention of the Head Man (Claude Rains), who calls himself Nick. Nick strikes a bargain with Muni: There's a troublesome honest judge on Earth who's been shipping too many souls to Hell; if Muni will take over the judge's body and begin performing bad deeds, Nick will set him free. Muni readily agrees, eager to settle the score with the ex-partner (Hardie Albright) who bumped him off. Once he "becomes" the judge, however, Muni discovers that he is utterly incapable of performing any misdeeds--and when he falls in love with the judge's fiancee (Anne Baxter), Muni becomes determined to wriggle out of his agreement. Angel on My Shoulder is based on a story by Harry Segall, whose previous play Heaven Can Wait was filmed as Here Comes Mr. Jordan, also with Claude Rains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The flip side of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Angel on My Shoulder is an amusing and engaging fantasy comedy that suffers a bit from its structural similarities to the earlier "repossessed body" picture. The gimmick in Angel, of course, is that it is the Devil that is offering a soul a second chance at life, and for nefarious reasons; but the basic throughline is much the same as in the Jordan. Still, Angel has its own style of humor, with its fish-out-of-water premise given a few nice twists, and the screenplay in general bubbling along with snappy dialogue and nifty little turns. Angel works, however, because of it gives its two male leads the chance to shine. Paul Muni over-the-top performance is a load of fun, made the more so when one realizes that it's over the top in a remarkably controlled way. This fine actor knows that there are ways to underplay one's overplaying, and he demonstrates this time and again throughout. As the Devil, Claude Rains makes "sinister" seem like a heavenly compliment. He rages, he thrashes, he insinuates, he cajoles, and it's all as appealing as one might wish. Add in Anne Baxter, doing quite well with a "reactive' part, and some swiftly paced direction by Archie Mayo and the result is a spiffy way to pass some time. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Bernard Herzbrun - Art Director, Robert Martien - Costume Designer, Maria P. Donovan - Costume Designer, Archie Mayo - Director, Al Clark - Editor, Asa Boyd Clark - Editor, George Arthur - Editor, Dimitri Tiomkin - Composer (Music Score), Ern Westmore - Makeup, James Van Trees - Cinematographer, Charles R. Rogers - Producer, Edward Boyle - Set Designer, Howard A. Anderson - Special Effects, Harry Redmond - Special Effects, Frank Webster - Sound/Sound Designer, Roland Kibbee - Screenwriter, Harry Segall - Screenwriter
Angel on My Shoulder (1946) is a Americanfantasy film about a deal between the Devil and a dead man. It was an independent production, produced by Charles R. Rogers and David W. Siegel, directed by Archie Mayo, written by Harry Segall and Roland Kibbee, and released by United Artists. The film was Mayo's last before his retirement. It starred Paul Muni, Claude Rains and Anne Baxter.
Gangster Eddie Kagle (Paul Muni) is killed by his partner and trusted friend since childhood, Smiley Williams (Hardie Albright). Kagle ends up in Hell, where "Nick" (Claude Rains) offers him an opportunity for revenge in exchange for help with a problem. He looks exactly like Judge Frederick Parker, an upright man who is entirely too honest and liable to cause more trouble in future, since he is running for governor of his state. Kagle readily agrees.
Nick arranges to have Kagle take over Parker's body. Then, funny things start happening. Kagle pursues his goal with evil intent (though often at cross purposes with the Devil), but everything he does to smear the judge's reputation somehow ends up making Parker look better. Along the way, Kagle becomes acquainted with Barbara Foster (Anne Baxter), the judge's fiancée. He falls in love with her himself, causing him to question his whole outlook on life. Finally, he rebels.
Exasperated and defeated, Nick takes Kagle back to Hell, leaving Judge Parker much better off than before. Nick threatens to make the reformed man's existence even more painful than usual, but Kagle blackmails his would-be tormentor; in return for not talking about how Nick messed up so badly, Kagle gets himself made a trustee.
The film is now in the public domain in the United States, because the producers, Rogers and Siegel, neglected to renew the copyright in 1973. Outside of the U.S., the film's rights status varies from country to country, with the worldwide remake rights retained by producer Todd Baker.[1] It was remade once for television in 1980, starring Peter Strauss as Eddie and Richard Kiley as Nick. The film was released at 100 minutes, with the currently-shown print on Turner Classic Movies running somewhat longer.
