We're No Angels (1955)

Best movie ever!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

This fabulous black comedy about three convicts who are planning steal and kill to escape of Devil's Island....but somehow they get involved with a good family and make everything to help them....fantastic christmas tale well adapted to the big screen,all casting is delightful colored,the three convicts are irretrievable from human nature,good when needs to be,and a little bad for a few seconds only,in every single scene is an exercise of full pleasure,a smart dialogues is like a flowers scent,funny jokes with a bit black irony...anyway a must to see...one the greatest and innovative comedy of all time!!!Great Boggie!!!!Resume:First watch: 1985 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 9.25

So says Aldo Ray, one of three wise con-men in this Avant Garde black comedy. It's Christmas on devil's island and Ray, along with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov, escape from prison, and hide out in the shop of kind-hearted but broke Leo G. Carroll and Joan Bennett, finding themselves not only fixing the leaky roof but Christmas dinner as well, and eventually their lives. But along comes imperious cousin Basil Rathbone, miserly owner of the shop, and his handsome nephee (John Baer) who broke the heart of Carroll and Bennett's daughter Gloria Talbott because of his desire to get his hands on his uncle's money. It's up to the three crooked angels who have their own ideas of how to handle the nasty Rathbone.Clever, dark and often very sweet, this is the type of film that will provide you with laughs even when you're shocked by the goings on. I was probably horrified by the convict's plans for robbing and killing Bennett and Carroll, but everytime they talk about it, they are delayed by a kindness they perform, such as stealing a live turkey for dinner, doing the dishes and dealing with the arrival of Rathbone and his son. The way they decide to deal with the nasty cousin is extraordinarily clever, not seen yet hysterically dealt with as the three men await for the inevitable. Bennett is still gorgeous, as far from her film noir femme fatale roles as she can be, while Carroll is of course as droll as ever. As for Rathbone, I can't think of anybody else who could play this part. He is the epitome of pompous cruelty yet extremely funny everytime he sneers or barks orders. This is a very well written and clever comedy, directed with a brisk pace by Michael Curtiz. The color photography adds to the delightful atmosphere. Bogart, facing a health crisis around the corner, shows no signs of slowing down, and everyone seems to be having a blast. While this was remade in the 1990's, I'd be hard-pressed to watch it concerning how enjoyable the original is.

" . . . you meet a better class of people there," notes master forger Joseph (Humphrey Bogart) at the close of WE'RE NO ANGELS. The purpose of this 1955 flick is to use Christmas as a backdrop to explain how the world works to young people. ANGELS exposes rich people (represented here by Andre and Paul) as society's biggest thieves, out to cheat their "inferiors" at every turn. Andre short-changes his taxi wagon driver 56%. Paul burns an unfavorable will. Both threaten to ruin their Middle Class relatives Felix, Amelie, and Isabel if it will add as much as a nickel to their own hoards of wealth. "Civilization" is depicted here as a legal system with one goal: to let the Rich (that is, the Master Thieves) get richer. As the Kangaroo Court convened by "angels" Joseph, Jules, and Albert rules, there can be just one fit sentence for the Rich: Death! Adolphe, their pet, is a viper or snake--the universal symbol of Evil. Since Evil got Andre and Paul into their riches, it is up to Evil to get them out, and Adolphe makes quick work of this pair of Rich Bozos. Though there are fewer jingling bells in WE'RE NO ANGELS than in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, even Adolphe winds up with a halo at the end.

I'm a huge Bogey fan but I gotta say this isn't even close to the quality of his other work.I think my main quibble with this film is the casting. Specifically...Aldo Ray. He's just terrible in this. Ustinov is OK but if they would have givin him more lines and eliminated the Ray character it could have worked for me. Aldo Ray has mainly played the same character in about everything he did and after watching "Pat and Mike", I had enough of that. When I popped this one in and saw him I thought..."Uh Oh". I honestly think his career was due to 2 things...his good looks and the fact he was in WW2 as a navy frogman. Maybe some producer thought was an interesting take but I think actual acting ability needs to be considered...and I don't think he had much.The premise is OK but it's just not that special of a film. You won't ever remember this over say...African Queen or High Sierra. I think if they would have just concentrated on the family who own the shop it would have been better but what we get is a Bogey vehicle to bring in the movie goers.In the end it just didn't work for me. I wasn't remotely impressed with this one.