Angel on my shoulder
USA, 1946
Director: Archie Mayo
Screenwriters: Harry Segall and Roland Kibbee
Genre: Fantasy
Soundtrack composer: Dimitri Tiomkin
Production company: Charles R. Rogers (United Artists)
Main actors
Paul Muni (Eddie Kagle / Judge Parker)
Anne Baxter (Barbara Foster)
Claude Rains (Nick, the Devil)
Onslow Stevens (Dr. Matt Higging)
George Cleveland (Albert)
Erskine Sanford (Minister)
Marion Martin (Mrs. Bentley)
Hardie Albright (Smiley Williams)
Plot
Eddie Kagle, head of a gangster gang, is released from prison after serving a long sentence. His friend and lieutenant Smiley is waiting for him at the prison gates. Together they drive away. The organization has grown bigger and more powerful. Suddenly, Smiley pulls out his gun and shoots his boss several times.
When Eddie wakes up, he is in hell. It takes him a while to realize that he is dead, and that he has been treacherously murdered by his “friend” Smiley, someone in whom he had placed all his trust. Eddie, furious, wants revenge at all costs. The Devil himself hears of his arrival, and decides to propose a deal. Taking advantage of the enormous physical resemblance between Eddie and Judge Frederick Parker, Satan wants Eddie’s soul to return to the physical world to enter the judge’s body and bring about his downfall. In return he will grant him the opportunity to take revenge on Smiley…
Eddie’s ghost, accompanied by the Devil, returns to Earth. Both, invisible to the human eye, enter a courtroom where Judge Parker is conducting a trial. Without apparent cause, the magistrate vanishes; and then the Devil causes Eddie’s soul to take possession of his body. When Parker awakens, it is Eddie who lives inside him – which, as expected, will cause countless misunderstandings.
Everyone is struck by the sudden change in the personality and behavior of the exemplary judge. Parker now behaves like a thug, with a slum-like vocabulary and manners. This is of great concern to his servant Albert, and even more so to his secretary and fiancée Barbara. Suddenly, after coming to, Parker talks about settling accounts with a certain Smiley, someone no one knows who he is; and he constantly communicates with “Nick”, an “imaginary friend” whom only he is able to see (and who is none other than the Devil). Dr. Matt Higgins, a friend of Fred Parker and Barbara, specializes in psychiatry and suggests that the magistrate is suffering from a personality disorder. He doesn’t think there is cause for alarm, however, and is convinced that the waters will rectify themselves.
Judge Parker is also a candidate for governor, and the campaign for the upcoming election is in full swing. Parker/Eddie is supposed to deliver a speech at a party event, but he is fixated on the fixed idea of finding Smiley in St. Louis. The Devil insists that he participate in the campaign, and he will whisper in his ear what he has to say.
Meanwhile, Parker’s rival for the gubernatorial nomination does not hesitate to use unorthodox methods to sabotage his opponent’s campaign. He decides to ally himself with a major organized crime boss, nicknamed Smiley…
Comment
Interesting and unknown classic starring Paul Muni, an outstanding actor in gangster roles in the film noir of the ’30s and ’40s; and whose most important role is undoubtedly that of Tony Camonte in the first and original “Scarface” (Howard Hawks, 1932).
This underrated and supernatural Mephistophelian comedy is very original and entertaining. The confusions derived from the possession of the fair and model judge by the brawling gangster will lead to funny and dangerous consequences at the same time. From the darkness, and protected by invisibility, the Devil who guides Eddie’s soul will try to direct the course of events. But not even he, with all his cunning, will be able to prevent his “puppet” from gradually transforming: Eddie, who now has a good social position and the love of his girlfriend Barbara, finds himself very comfortable in the body of the judge and becomes “good”; thus rebelling against his master’s plans. Barbara, played by Anne Baxter, still loves the man she considers Fred, even though he now behaves so differently and extravagantly. The love of that woman will be the main responsible for the notorious change that is taking place in Eddie’s condemned soul.
It is curious the great physical resemblance between the Devil’s servant in Hell (who can be seen in the first scenes) and the actor Telly Savalas (famous for the series “Kojak”); who many years later would play the sinister butler (and alter-ego of the Devil) in the gothic giallo “Lisa and the Devil” (Mario Bava, 1973).
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