Almost Angels

I saw this many years ago as a boy soprano and came home wanting to be in the choir. I got a VHS copy on ebay a few days ago and watched it again -- it probably will affect today's kids differently. (But I mean to show it in episodes to my kid's choir at church anyway.) The movie is about the odd and beautiful thing that is an accomplished boys choir. How odd it strikes us that these kids respond to the musician's discipline, they strive for excellence, and they connect with great music. Are they from another planet? This movie bears a compelling witness to an alternative to how we could view the future men of our society.

The plot provides just enough of an excuse for the wonderful music and scenery. This is not an example of great visual story telling. It has a scrubbed Disney look and feel, but it's not even up to Disney's standards. In one scene you see the camera's shadow on the wall before it dollys back out of the light. But take it for what it is: it lets you see and hear something good and fine that you might never otherwise experience.

Almost Angels would certainly benefit from a digital remastering, because the pictures and the music deserve to be as vivid as possible.(But who knows why Disney does anything? "We've got a lot of terrific material - let's lock it in the vault and not sell it to anybody, okay?" "Great idea, chief!")

This is an excellent movie, especially for those who enjoy listening to The Vienna Boys Choir. There is nothing better, as far as I am concerned, than listening to the soprano voices of a Boy's Choir. I myself, was once a choir boy, and enjoyed the many years that I sang in three different boys choirs. To this day, I still sing in a choir.

Back to my report on this movie. This Disney movie utilizes the world renowned Vienna Boy's Choir, as the bases for its plot. The movie itself, is not a best seller, but the singing throughout the movie is beautiful. I find myself rewinding the film and playing the songs over and over. The star of the movie is a young boy Tony Fiala, played by Vincent Winter, who wants to become a member of the choir. When his parents finally agree, he goes, but is put on probation. One of the Choirmasters feels that Tony is blessed with an exceptional voice. This does not go over very well with one of the senior boys, Peter Schaefer, played by Sean Scully. I don't want to spoil this movie for you, so you will have to see it to see how this all works out.

In another comment, which you can read on this site, it was mentioned that, and I quote: " there's a scene wherein several of the boys are required to dress as girls for a public performance!" In reading this statement, I feel that there are some overtones, that are not being said out loud. If the person who wrote this, (comment on the movie), had ever gone to a performance of the Vienna Boys Choir, he would've probably seen the boys (himself) dress up as girls. In each of the shows I saw, the boys had to dress as girls, so as to perform the small musical that they put on. It was always and accepted part of the performance, and we, the audience, never thought anything different. To me, I don't think it ever harmed any of those boys. In fact,I myself on one occasion, on a Halloween night in the fifties, got dressed up as the mayor of our city. I won first prize in our school function for my effort. I always thought that was so cool. Today, people are not as relaxed about these sort of situations, which is too bad.

This movie is an excellent movie that the whole family can watch. If you are able to get a copy, do so. They are hard to find. I was able to obtain a copy of it on "e-bay" and paid dearly for it. I have not regretted it one bit. I have also written to Disney to see whether they have any intention of making it into a DVD in the near future. The reply was not favourable at this time, but maybe in the future. I sure hope so. There are a lot of movies out there today that are not half as good as this film is, and they are already on DVD. So, I'm praying for a turnaround at the Disney Studios.

I'll be brief. "Almost Angels" has always been one of my favorite live-action Disney movies because of the singing and the story. As a young boy, I enjoyed music (I still do), and always thought having an experience like Tony's would be wonderful.

Sean Scully, a stock Disney child actor, does an OK job as the older boy whose voice is changing. Not great, but OK. I do have to say that his choral directing technique needs lots of work, however; he would have benefited from some simple instruction.

The movie is delightfully family-safe. Some will love it, some will think it's cheesy (which it may be). If you like music, especially the Vienna Choir Boys, watch the movie. Don't watch it to be intellectually challenged or anything like that. Watch it for the entertainment value. The Boys Choir music is wonderful, the scenery is beautiful. It has a reasonably realistic storyline, and most of the actors do a fair job.

I would love to see this on DVD someday - I would buy it immediately. Until then, you'll just have to look for it at the video store or watch for it on the Disney Channel.

Walt Disney personally supervised the filming of "Almost Angels" and in so doing, invested the film with his own personal magic. Among other requirements, the central staircase at the Vienna Choir Boy's home in Augarten Park, Vienna, had to be changed, so that boys could enter into and disappear from scenes written into the script that called for a specific kind of stairs.

Although dated in some respects, the film is beautifully photographed, and of course the music is the main element, as well as the boys' charm. Actors chosen for the lead roles did not sing, but soundtrack and film were so well matched, most people are convinced they did!

An update of this classic is unnecessary, but it would be a terrific thing if this movie were re- mastered, digitized and released in DVD format!

How beautiful, it must be a real anguish for these boys when they lose their children's voices, however powerful, what voices, what delights ... They deserve much applause, very cute child actors ... Cute...