Devil or Angel

I wanted to see Angel on My Shoulder (1946) mainly because it is sort of the same movie as one of our favorites, Here Comes Mr. Jordan. In that classic, angel Claude Rains sends the prematurely deceased boxer Robert Montgomery back to Earth in the body of a rich banker. In Angel, crook Paul Muni is sent back to Earth by a devil, also Claude Rains. And he plays the two roles almost exactly the same.

Muni plays a gangster just released from prison. His lieutenant picks him up and promptly shoots him, sending him straight to Hell. He is determined to break out, so when Rains offers him a chance back on Earth, he takes it. He will be in the body of a judge running for governor - a judge who is too honest and good for the powers of Evil to allow to go unmolested. Muni’s job is to derail his run for office, and hopefully mess up his reputation entirely.

Two things go wrong. First, the opposition party are a bunch of criminals. When they send a couple of goons to strong arm him, he fights back, and his reputation as a crime fighter is only enhanced. The other is the judge’s girl, Anne Baxter. He begins to fall in love with her. And even though he is crude where the judge was cultured, she kind of likes his new, straight-forward style.

It’s hard for me to believe that Paul Muni was both Louis Pasteur and Emile Zola. He makes a perfect mug. He’s much more convincing as a gangster than Montgomery as a boxer. Rains is great as the anti-Mr. Jordan. But we’ll always prefer Mr. Jordan, because it features the great James Gleason as trainer Max Corkle.