Product: Angel On My Shoulder (UK PAL Region 0)
Rating: 5.0
"I'll be behind you, whispering in your ear. It's all part of the plan."
Seems to me that Paul Muni was one of those ambitious thespians we only ever saw in prestigious productions. 1946's ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER is one of them rare times in which he got to play a comic part. This is the movie I think of when Paul Muni's name gets dusted off. It's his most fun picture. It's a marvelous fantasy in the same vein asThe Devil & Daniel Webster (The Criterion Collection)andHere Comes Mr. Jordan.Surly St. Louis gangster Eddie Kagle (Muni) has just served four years in penitentiary and now he's out. But on the same day of his release, he gets plugged by his own pal, Smiley, and with his own gun. Suddenly Eddie finds himself wandering in a nightmarish place that smells like rotten eggs. He runs into a sly fellow (Claude Rains) named "Nick" whom he thinks is a smooth-talking con man... and he's not wrong. For Nick will pull a fast one if you're not alert. Nick makes a deal with Eddie: He'll break him out of this joint if he agrees to impersonate someone out there. Eddie Kagle happens to be the spitting image of a crusading judge what's been getting under the skin of the Prince of Evil. And now this judge is running for governor, where his benevolent influence could only expand. It's time to launch a diabolical smear campaign.Back on Earth Eddie's soul slips into the judge's comatose body, and, oh, now see how the judge's demeanor has altered, gone from sober dignity to aggressive c0ck of the walk. Anne Baxter is fantastic as the judge's secretary and fiancee Barbara Foster who grows very concerned at the judge's radical behavior. Due to the judge's recent illness, the doctor advises Barbara to play along, to go along with this odd behavior. I guess it's hard to put faith in a judge what's got his hat set on a jaunty angle. And who now surveys the world with skepticism and hostility.And maybe goodness rubs off. "Nick," ever at Eddie's side - although no one else can see him - and constantly whispering in his ear, can't help but notice that each effort to sling mud at his judgeship fails stupendously. He begins to question Eddie's motivation. Has the judge's innate goodness begun to thwart this hardened thug's baser instincts? Or perhaps it's the love of a good woman? Or maybe it's Eddie's resistance to being played for a mug? Eddie's no good at taking orders, see? And maybe you, too, will pump a fist in the air when a fed-up Eddie finally confronts Nick: "Stop whispering in my ear, Devil!"This is Claude Rains at his most playful. He's electric as the Devil, and generous with those mischievous smiles and those sly glances directed skyward at You Know Who. He steals plenty of scenes from Muni, but that's something you'd expect of Beelzebub. When he espies something that momentary gives him pause, he blurts out: "What in my domain is that?" Heh.Paul Muni, as well, seems to delight in his send-up of a tough guy role. What's not to love about playing an out of sorts ghost in the shell? And how cool is it when the possessed judge unexpectedly applies jujitsu on a bunch of rabblerousers? I tell you, stuff likeI Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gangor THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR orThe Life of Emile Zola (Special Edition)may be more ambitious works, but I don't ever look for those pictures when I'm looking for a fun time at the movies. Give me Rains and Muni's sparkling interplay any day.