Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Irishchatter I absolutely love this movie. I like how it's different because we see a deceased gangster who was trapped in a polite judge's body in order to kill his killer.Paul Muni's attitude and accent was just so spot. I was even glad that Claude Rains from the "Invisible Man" movie was Satan on this. Yea I know hes known as Nick in the movie, but you know well he's playing as the lord of the fire underground! I definitely give this a 9/10, it's brilliant and like you would wish they didn't have to do an 80's version of this! This is better, watch this instead please!

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . that everyone has an evil twin (unless they're evil, in which case they have an honest double) in his film, ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER. One of the most famous proofs of this notion came in the 1900s during World War II, when Doppelgangsters Adolf Hitler and Charles Chaplin dominated the Big Screen (as Hitler starred in TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, and Chaplin actually subbed for Hitler in THE GREAT DICTATOR, just as evil Paul Muni subs for honest Paul Muni in ANGEL). Of course, things do not always work out as neatly in Real Life as they do in ANGEL. In cases such as O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, or Mel Gibson, the Yang seems to permanently replace the Yin. On the other hand, there are opposite examples, such as the youth scout genocide participant from a distant land whose double got a Nobel Peace Prize as soon as he became the Leader of the Free World. Good or evil, Paul Muni looks particularly creepy in ANGEL, which may dissuade many viewers from looking into mirrors for awhile.

Jay Raskin Paul Muni is intense and dumb as the gangster Eddie Kagle. Claude Rains is gleeful and wicked as the Devil. They're the main reasons to watch this classic and enjoyable film. This was Archie Mayo's last film. He had directed some very good ones in the 1920's through the 1940's, including "the Petrified Forest." It is not a bad film to end a career on. Basically, this is a medieval morality tale brought up to date by putting it squarely in the Gangster Film genre of the golden age of Hollywood. For the most part evil/sin/hell is equated with gangster/violence/ignorance. The post theological, scientific view that crime is a function of social and economic conditions in a society is abandoned for the more primitive religious view that evil souls are placed in material bodies at birth. Salvation comes through love, sacrifice and the good fortune of hearing religious anti-devil preaching. While communist/socialist writers and actors did influence many movies of the period, we should remember that the rigid Catholic Morality Hays code was king at this time, and quasi religious films involving angels and devils were quite common. In one way these films are so absurd they subvert the conceptual paradigm of angels and devils. On the other hand, they lend support to and reinforce this type of primitive thinking. Anne Baxter (All About Eve) is delightful in the small role of Muni's fiancé. The sets, cinematography and sound are all top notch for the period. This is a good companion film to "Here Comes Mr. Jordan."

MartinHafer Paul Muni plays a gangster who is murdered towards the very beginning of the story and is sent to Hell. This gangster seems an awful lot like his character from the movie SCARFACE (1932) and although Muni's acting is far from subtle, it is very entertaining. The Devil is also entertained by how awful the man is--especially since this evil deceased gangster looks just like a nice judge who he wants to discredit. Lucifer lets Muni out of Hell and gives him the judges body--and Muni being such a dumb mug never realizes that it's the Devil helping him or that he was even in Hell!! This seems like a big stretch, but considering the movie IS a fantasy, it can be forgiven. This plan all backfires, though, when Muni unintentionally does good as the judge and the Devil is less than amused.The acting by Muni, as I said before, is pretty broad. However, Claude Rains is wonderful as a much more subtle Devil--one of the better ones Hollywood created--probably second to Laird Crager's version in HEAVEN CAN WAIT. All in all, this movie is just a lot of fun and has quite a few laughs as well. While not great theology, it's immensely entertaining.