Angel on My Shoulder

I have loved this version of this movie for many years. Peter Strauss and Barbara Hershey are so good together. I first saw this movie in the 1980's and absolutely loved it. I have looked for it everywhere ever since, but haven't been able to find it. I saw this version first, before the original. Later, when I saw the original, I didn't think it held a candle to this version. The acting was so stilted in the original, and the filming was much more real in this later version. I agree with Peter McKay, when he said that Stauss's accent was just fine. It sounded authentic enough to me. I don't know where Tiny-13 is coming from when he says it is horrible. I definitely don't agree with him. I think that most people who view this film will enjoy it for what it is: a great remake!

Had I been involved in the production of this remake I would have had it end with Eddie Kagle losing all memory of his criminal past and being reincarnated as the child of the judge and his bride.

Sometimes a remake should wait for a qualified hand at the tiller before precious time is wasted. This film is like a lasagna with no garlic a BLT without the mayo or the B, if Paul Muni was ever accused of Hamming it up in the original our leading man is so wooden he is at best a box of tooth picks. Peter Strauss who has been in better films, probably would rather forget this turkey. 20 minutes in I lost all will to live and started skipping ahead to see if it got any better, and no it doesn't. Right after Eddie and Satan arrive up top it's all down hill. Aside from the "I'm not Jewish" line which is great and the required "boy have things changed in 30 years" stuff, it's painful. The DA is terminally dull, the gangster a caricature of a caricature of a mobster from the 40's and the supporting cast are one dimensional first year drama students. Muni may have put some mustard on but he did it with panache and in context while delivering a sympathetic character for which he can be forgiven for a bit of Cagney over the top. Peter Strauss however delivers a death blow to an already deeply flawed production that was never more than a bad idea to fill a few hours air time with. Watch only if you are a masochist. You have been warned.

This is your basic cheapie TV Movie-of-the-week that takes a great film from the 1940's and absolutely ruins it. The writing is horrible, the acting is worse. Barbara Hershey looks as though she's moving through the film with one thought on her mind, "I'm going to fire my agent for getting me this gig." Peter Strauss who is a fine actor, turns in what is arguably his worst performance ever. Strauss assumes the silly accent of a New York Mafioso from the 1940's. It's as thin as his acting. There is nothing about this particular remake that gives reason for its being made. No original ideas here; bland, bland, bland. At least they could have put some interesting spin on the material. It pales in comparison to the original 1946 classic.

First watched this in the early eighties when TV movies were a burgeoning market given the demise of the cinema and the arrival of the video player.

This one either turned up on channel 4 or I caught it on a video tape I can't quite remember however on watching it again just recently remembered fondly how enjoyable it was.

The story is a simple one , a dead gangster stuck in hell is reincarnated in the body of a boring District attorney and this man goes from a stiff but well spoken man to a boorish yob with an Al Pacino/ James Cagney swagger to rubbish the angelic DA obviously.

It doesn't quite work out as the gangster Eddie played well by Peter Strauss charms all of his peers and even does some good work in the local community as well as romancing the office girl played by Barbara Hershey.

Of course nobody calls in the mental health people which is surprising given the dramatic change in the main character however this is fantasy and comedy after all.

An entertaining feature film that could easily have made the big screen and with only mild violence and profanity is one that any family could sit and enjoy.

Good performances from the cast and I enjoyed watching it again and it's still just as good as the first time.