Angel on My Shoulder (1946)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   Angel on my Shoulder has Paul Muni as a gangster getting killed and going to a phantasmagorical Hollywood hell in the opening minutes, then offered a deal by Claude Rains' brilliant Satan to return to Earth in his physical double's body, a humanitarian judge the Devil wants to ruin. It's basically Bizarro Here Comes Mr. Jordan, but Rains is great whether angel or devil. So a pretty convoluted set-up, but one in which our gangster may or may not get redemption, if only he can resist temptation (in particular, the revenge he feels he owes his double-crossing killer). It's unfortunate then that for most of the picture, Muni's character is one of those dunderheads that just doesn't get the rules of the game. It's a particular bugbear of mine, and I know this is an unusual situation, but he's supposed to be impersonating a judge, and never once attempts to change his dialect, is always speaking to Old Nick who no one else can see, and for the longest time goes "huh?" when someone calls him by his assumed name, always referring to "the judge" in the third person. The film gets away with it by bringing in a psychologist and everyone believing the judge is having a breakdown, or is part of a sting to get the crooks, but it doesn't change the fact that Muni is stupid. The film also fails to stick the landing for me. I'm loathe to spoil even an 80-year-old movie, but let's just say they went for a good ending when a great ending was within reach. Then again, that great ending, while more emotionally satisfying, might have seemed too "easy". I wonder. As is, there are some great scenes (Muni's confrontation with his killer and Rains in general), but I wanted it to be more clever. 3 years 11 months ago

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