Archie Mayo's curio "Angel on my Shoulder" is virtually unknown despite a cast headed by Paul Muni, Claude Rains and Anne Baxter. It's a fantasy along the same lines as "Here Comes Mr Jordan" and "It's a Wonderful Life". It came out in the same year as "It's a Wonderful Life" which may be one reason it's gotten lost in that movie's grander shadow or perhaps it's simply because it's not really that good. Muni seems totally lost in the role of a dead gangster fuelling the fires of Hell before he's brought back to inhabit the body of a 'good' judge the Devil is trying to get his hands on, (watching this you would never think Muni was once considered a great actor). Rains, on the other hand, looks like he's enjoying this nonsense though it's hardly what you would call acting; more like smirking as he goes through the motions. The ridiculous plot has Muni and Rains returning from Hell so that Rains' Devil can get the righteous judge down below, (and give Muni's gangster the chance to get revenge on the guy who plugged him). Of course, considering he's the Devil, Rains seems singularly unprepared for Anne Baxter's sweetness-and-light fiancée whose goodness messes up his plans somewhat. Naturally, it's a comedy and it's not unamusing in a daft kind of way but it's hardly memorable. Par for the Archie Mayo course, in fact.
Review of Angel on My Shoulder
