Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A man undergoes a dramatic personality change for reasons known only to the audience. For this story to work, the audience must accept its premise: that there are things going on that can only be accepted as a matter of faith. The existence of spiritual forces beyond the five senses is an idea as old as civilization itself. It is a fundamental basis for religion. As regard to this movies, the intercession of these forces have both comical and serious consequences, comical in how people react to the judge's radically changed character and how the judge himself reacts to his new persona, and serious that the movie conveys the message that even within the nastiest persons there is a kernel of goodness. Paul Muni gives a great performance as Eddie Kagle, gangster turned good guy. Anne Baxter is wonderful as the judge's fiancé who stays loyal to the judge. This movie is worth watching.

When I was a kid I had a friend whose sister, roughly a generation our senior, was an avid collector of film magazines and annuals. This was in the UK so I'm referring to essentially 'fan' magazines such as Picture Show, Picturegoer, F. Maurice Speed's Film Review, etc. I beguiled many a rainy hour leafing through this ephemera and a 'still', from a film I'd never heard of, Angel On My Shoulder, stayed in my mind. Is showed Claude Rains and Paul Muni emerging from the ground with some bizarre metal arc over their heads. That was the last I heard of Angel On My Shoulder from that day to this, when it was screened on BBC2 at six-fifteen a.m. This I had to see, still knowing nothing about it, and so I got up early. I shudda stood in bed, as they say in New York. In the few films in which I've seen him I've always found Paul Muni so mannered as to make Emil Jannings look laid-back and this was no exception. In the early scenes especially he looked for all the world like someone in a Silent film being directed to express 'terror' or 'zombie', it was hard to decide. As for hell itself it resembled nothing so much as a German 'Expressionist' version of Gene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape. Claude Rains was his usual suave self but forget any chemistry between him and Muni and forget even more strongly any chemistry between Muni and his 'love interest' Anne Baxter. A couple of days before I'd seen Baxter attempting to scare up some chemistry with Monty Clift in I Confess, so it seemed she was, for a time, lumbered with leading men off whom she was unable to strike sparks. It was definitely worth seeing, especially after waiting a lifetime on the strength of one 'still', but once is definitely enough.

Paul Muni shines in this 1946 film. What else is new? He beautifully conveys the title role of a mug shot to death by a gang friend wanting to take the organization over. While in Hades, he meets up with Claude Rains as Lucifer. He goes back to extract revenge by exchanging roles with a look-alike judge.This excellent film conveys the possibility of redemption even on the part of such a hardened criminal.Amazing that Anne Baxter, as the judge's girlfriend, has a part that is relatively so benign here. This is the same Baxter who marched down that Oscar aisle that same year for her splendid performance as the ill-fated Sophie in "The Razor's Edge."The film is a great one and should not be missed.

The comparisons for Angel On My Shoulder and Here Comes Mr. Jordan are too obvious to belabor the point. Naturally since the same guy, Harry Segall wrote both screenplays. But in this one Claude Rains goes to the dark side. As Mephistopheles he's ruler of the underworld where the damned toil at their labors for eternity. But even Rains gets quite a handful when Paul Muni makes a sudden trip their courtesy of Hardie Albright.This part of the story is taken right out the plot of Angels With Dirty Faces. You remember that James Cagney took a hiatus from the rackets via a stretch in Sing Sing. When he came back he expected to resume where he left off, but Humphrey Bogart didn't see it that way. But Hardie Albright must have seen Angels With Dirty Faces because he plugs Paul Muni with four shots after picking him up at the prison gate. When Muni arrives in Hell he's only got one thing on his mind, crashing out and getting his former pal. Seeing a resemblance to a respected judge who he's trying to ensnare in sin or disgrace, Rains decides to let Muni out on parole so to speak. Of course he goes with him.When Muni enters the judge's body courtesy of Rains, Rains expects him to just behave in his usual hoodlum manner and disgrace the judge. But somehow the best laid plans of the devil keep getting gummed up. And Muni finds himself falling for the judge's fiancée, Anne Baxter and slowly changing his ways.Angel On My Shoulder was a charming fantasy that marked only the second time Muni returned to a gangster role other than his famous Scarface portrayal. While he was at Warner Brothers Muni rejected gangster parts over and over again. According to his co-star Anne Baxter, Muni was hoping to revive his career with this one. It was not to be. Muni returned to the stage after this film except for two films in the Fifties.Best in this film without a doubt is Claude Rains. Then again he's never bad in anything. If you liked him in Here Comes Mr. Jordan you will equally like him on the dark side. Angel On My Shoulder is an entertaining fantasy, but far from the work Paul Muni did in the Thirties.