Paul Muni fans are going to rent The Last Angry Man. It's a fact. After a famous retirement from Hollywood, Paul returned in 1959 to make his last film and earn one last Oscar nomination. Due to Ben-Hur's well-deserved sweep during the 1959 awards season, Paul didn't stand a chance, but it was nice to see him nominated.
Remember all those decades ago when Paul was a young man and would don age makeup and a white wig? In The Last Angry Man, you can either pretend he's doing the same thing he always did, or you can see him without the need for the prosthetics. Whichever view you take, he's still playing someone older than he was at the time. Paul plays a doctor who's been practicing in the same Brooklyn neighborhood for forty-five years. His patients are poor and he treats them without asking payment. When his ambitious nephew, Joby Baker, writes a newspaper article praising the big-hearted doctor, a television station gets wind of the human interest story and tries to exploit it. David Wayne gets involved, as the television producer, and tries to convince Paul to go on television, even when Paul doesn't want to.
An unexpected treat for viewers is a very young Billy Dee Willliams in his first movie! He plays one of Paul's difficult patients, and while it serves the story to show how devoted Paul is to Billy, it would have been more effective if Paul was shown giving the same selfless devotion to multiple patients. It's easy to sympathize with Paul Muni, as always, but the film had the potential to be even sadder and more poignant. You'll definitely want to rent this one, and you'll be rewarded by a solid performance to watch that makes you wish Paul Muni hadn't retired.
Remember all those decades ago when Paul was a young man and would don age makeup and a white wig? In The Last Angry Man, you can either pretend he's doing the same thing he always did, or you can see him without the need for the prosthetics. Whichever view you take, he's still playing someone older than he was at the time. Paul plays a doctor who's been practicing in the same Brooklyn neighborhood for forty-five years. His patients are poor and he treats them without asking payment. When his ambitious nephew, Joby Baker, writes a newspaper article praising the big-hearted doctor, a television station gets wind of the human interest story and tries to exploit it. David Wayne gets involved, as the television producer, and tries to convince Paul to go on television, even when Paul doesn't want to.
An unexpected treat for viewers is a very young Billy Dee Willliams in his first movie! He plays one of Paul's difficult patients, and while it serves the story to show how devoted Paul is to Billy, it would have been more effective if Paul was shown giving the same selfless devotion to multiple patients. It's easy to sympathize with Paul Muni, as always, but the film had the potential to be even sadder and more poignant. You'll definitely want to rent this one, and you'll be rewarded by a solid performance to watch that makes you wish Paul Muni hadn't retired.