Product: Angel On My Shoulder (UK PAL Region 0)
Rating: 4.0
Good Movie
This movie, first released in 1946, is a good piece of entertainment. The story ... a hardened criminal suffering in hell is brought back to earth and goes through an Ebineezer Scrooge type transformation ... is brought to life very well by the extraordinary acting talents of Paul Muni and Claude Rains.The script also is excellent ... giving these two performers plenty of good lines to mold and shape to their liking.The supporting cast is OK. Anne Baxter as the fiancee is OK. George Cleveland as the man-servant is also OK. But ... they are minor leaguers to the major league talents of Mr. Muni and Mr. Rains. And, when neither of these two gentlemen are on the screen, there is a definate lull or emptiness in the action.Claud Rains is better here than he was in Casablanca (where his performance was sort-of choppy) and he is an excellent Satan ... very nefarious and, um, unctuous. Paul Muni is the better talent here, however. He is always working ... using subtle little gestures when he's not talking ... always moving, always adding a little something to the character ... and the result is a complete, very believable gangster who has a change of heart.Even after 60 years, this is still a pretty good 100 minutes of entertainment.