Almost Angels

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!

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 movie seems to have quickly passed into obscurity as a piece of fluff worthy of no more consideration than a dated 1960s travelogue. So I considered it myself when first viewing it in the cinema, as a contemporary of Peter and the other older choristers portrayed, shortly before perceiving how precious it was to have enjoyed, even on a humbler scale and for only a matter of weeks, a similar experience. One could take such things (films and choirs) for granted in those days, but what a mistake that was: in the ensuing decades, boychoir after boychoir in America was sabotaged on whatever conceivable pretext proved most expedient. They are now a gravely endangered species, as little sympathy as that may evoke from people oh-so-concerned about endangered species of other kinds.

It was a movie, however, which I never forgot. I soon yearned to be able to see it again, and it has been quite galling to see it systematically neglected even in places which purport to specialize in offering Disney movies of the period. Finally finding it, I marveled at its authenticities: the fine music to which it treated the audience; the vocal training and technique which it adumbrated; the power and glory of possessing a beautiful treble voice, such that boys otherwise as eager as any to mature into manhood could shed tears at its passing. I doubt that any such genuine presentation would be considered viable for American audiences now. Surely such an attempt would be trivialized and bastardized today even to a much greater extent than perhaps it was then.

Popular attention is finally devolving, if belatedly and only as an issue of self-preservation, upon the legacy of incompetence which socio-political trends have bequeathed to the raising of boys in the past generation. I commend this film, and the institution which it shows, as one redress whose value, proved over centuries, remains undiminished and ripe for recovery.

It can go slow in parts, but all in all I actually enjoyed 'Almost Angels'.

It's a sweet little story, admittedly it is one that could've been expanded upon and made more awe-inspiring than it is - similar to Disney's 'The Littlest Outlaw' from 1955 in that regard.

None of the child actors are all that great, yet are still perfectly suitable for their roles. Peter Weck is the best member of this film, as he brings a charming and kind quality to Max Heller. It's a relatively small cast.

The plot isn't perfect, as the film literally starts with one protagonist but ends with another - to the point where it kinda feels like they didn't know which story they wanted to tell most. As alluded to near the top, I would've loved if this was more grittier and harsher - so it would feel like we went on a journey with Tony (Vincent Winter) and Peter (Sean Scully).

With that said, this is still a production that leaves positive thoughts.

This movie should have much exposure than it did. I can't really add much more to the existing comments.

It's a marvelous family movie, and especially heartwarming for any boy who has any musical talent - singing or playing - to watch.

Why Disney hasn't put this and some of their other timeless classics onto restored DVD's, I have no idea. I'd be waiting in line to buy this one if it were available.

So if any of you greedy format-inventing Disney dorks are reading, get some of the old stuff out and remaster it. You'll be even richer than you already are!